Geno Smith throws career-high 4 TD passes in Seahawks' 30-25 win over playoff-bound Rams

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Matthew Stafford and nearly all of his fellow offensive starters watched the Los Angeles Rams' regular-season finale in street clothes. Coach Sean McVay knew his NFC West champions would fall from the third to the fourth playoff seed if they lost to Seattle, but he didn't care.

Jimmy Garoppolo and the backups nearly beat the Seattle Seahawks anyway, and that looks like an encouraging sign for the Rams next week and beyond.

“We've got some dawgs on this team, man,” Garoppolo said. “I know we're going to show up next week ready to roll.”

Geno Smith passed for 223 yards and threw his career-best fourth touchdown pass to Noah Fant with 3:19 to play, and the Seahawks finished their 12th winning season in 13 years with a 30-25 victory over the playoff-bound Rams on Sunday.

Garoppolo passed for 334 yards and two TDs in his debut for the Rams (10-7), who had already clinched the division title through strength of schedule before they hosted the Seahawks (10-7).

In keeping with McVay’s career-long policy of prioritizing rest and health over meaningless results, Los Angeles sat Stafford along with receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, running back Kyren Williams and four starting offensive linemen.

But the Rams’ first loss since Nov. 24 dropped them to the fourth seed in the NFC playoff bracket behind Tampa Bay (10-7), which beat New Orleans.

That means Los Angeles’ visitor in the wild-card round on Monday night will be the 14-3 Minnesota Vikings, who lost 31-9 at Detroit on Sunday night.

Asked if he cared about the team's first playoff opponent before the Vikings-Lions game, McVay responded: “I really don’t.”

“You know what’s at stake and you have tremendous respect, but I’m excited about seeing who that is, and then we’re going to dive into it," he continued. "We’re going to go for it with no fear.”

Tyler Higbee and Tyler Johnson caught TD passes for the Rams, who had won five straight and nine of 11 since their bye week. Although most of their defensive starters played, the Rams limited their snaps — and McVay even allowed offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur to call the Rams’ plays.

“It’s going to be a great challenge, but I do know this: I’ve been fortunate enough to get into this thing (before), and you can’t worry about ducking people,” said McVay, the youngest coach to win the Super Bowl. “If you ... really expect to make some noise when you get in it, you’re going to have to play people eventually. Felt like it was the smart move for our football team, and really, we had an opportunity to come away with the win.”

Seattle didn't trail until the fourth quarter. After Johnson caught a 4-yard TD pass from Garoppolo, the Rams got the ball back and drove for Joshua Karty’s 38-yard field goal to go up 25-24 with 7:29 to play.

Fant put the Seahawks back ahead by holding on to Smith’s 16-yard TD pass despite landing nearly headfirst in the end zone after getting undercut.

Los Angeles then converted a fourth down while driving to the Seattle 9, but Garoppolo threw incomplete on fourth down with 18 seconds left.

“I’m telling you, man, this team is heading in the right direction,” said Smith, who passed for 4,097 yards in the penultimate season of his contract. “Man, this team is on its way, and that’s with or without me. ... I got a bright future. I think y’all can see that, and I believe we have a bright future together. Obviously, I’m just saying that, but we all have a bright future together.”

DK Metcalf, Jake Bobo and AJ Barner also caught TD passes for Seattle. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had four catches to tie Tyler Lockett’s single-season franchise record of 100 receptions.

The Seahawks won six of eight to close its first season under coach Mike Macdonald. Seattle was the only team in the NFL to win 10 games and still miss the playoffs.

Seattle has missed the playoffs in two straight years for the first time since 2009, yet Macdonald led the Seahawks to 10 wins for the first time in four years.

“We've got the right guys, and they've got the right mentality," Macdonald said. "Just really proud of the cohesiveness, the connection that we’ve built. … It’s ultimately our responsibility to put ourselves in a better situation at the end of the season, but coming out of the weekend, just the resilience and the positivity was really cool. So proud of our guys.”

Lockett had two catches for 28 yards in perhaps his last game with Seattle after a productive decade with the club. He carries a $30.8 million cap hit for 2025.

“Because I kind of plan on playing again, I know it’s not the very, very end,” Lockett said. “It would be different if I was retiring. But, yeah, I mean, I think it’s always going to be somewhat sensitive, just because that could have the last time you put on a jersey, so I’m glad I ended with a catch just in case. Glad we ended up with a win.”

Seahawks: Rookie DT Byron Murphy left in the first half after apparently aggravating his back injury. ... Backup CB Tre Brown was ruled out in the second half with a knee injury.

Rams: RB Blake Corum broke his forearm, ending his season. The Michigan product rushed for 207 yards in his rookie season. ... TE Hunter Long injured his knee in the first half.

Seahawks: An offseason of roster decisions, including the possibility of extensions for Smith and Metcalf.

Rams: Their first home playoff game in three years.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (11) is sacked by Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (11) runs through blockers during the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) celebrates after catching a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith is sacked by Los Angeles Rams defensive end Desjuan Johnson (94) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee law requiring pornographic websites to verify their visitors' age was largely blocked in court before it was to take effect Jan. 1, even as similar laws kicked in for Florida and South Carolina and remained in effect for more than a dozen other states.

On Dec. 30, U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman in Memphis ruled that Tennessee's law would likely suppress the First Amendment free speech rights of adults without actually preventing children from accessing the harmful material in question. The state attorney general's office is appealing the decision.

The Free Speech Coalition, an adult entertainment trade group, is suing over Tennessee's law and those in a half-dozen other states. The coalition lists some 19 states that have passed similar laws. One prominent adult website has cut off access in several states due to their laws.

The issue will hit the U.S. Supreme Court for oral arguments regarding Texas' law next week.

No one voted against Tennessee's law last year when it passed the Republican-supermajority legislature, and GOP Gov. Bill Lee signed off on it.

The law would require porn websites to verify visitors are at least 18 years old, threatening felony penalties and civil liability possible for violators running the sites. They could match a photo to someone's ID, or use certain “public or private transactional data” to prove someone’s age. Website leaders could not retain personally identifying information and would have to keep anonymized data.

The Free Speech Coalition and other plaintiffs sued, winning a preliminary injunction that blocks the attorney general from enforcement while court proceedings continue. However, the coalition expressed concern that private lawsuits or actions by individual district attorneys could be possible.

In her ruling, Judge Lipman wrote that parental controls on minors' devices are more effective and less restrictive.

She wrote that under Tennessee's law, minors still could access adult sites using VPNs, or virtual private networks, that mask a user's location. Or, they could view pornographic material on social media sites, which are unlikely to reach the law's threshold of one-third of its content considered harmful to minors.

The judge also said the impact could be overly broad, potentially affecting other plaintiffs such as an online educational platform focused on sexual wellness.

She noted that Tennessee's definition of “content harmful to minors” extends to include text. She specifically mentioned that the phrase “the human nipple,” or crude combinations of keyboard characters, would be considered harmful as long as they lack “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors."

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti's office is asking the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to let the law take effect as the lawsuit proceeds. Skrmetti noted that other appeals courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, allowed similar laws to take effect.

“The Protect Tennessee Minors Act institutes common sense age verification to stop kids from accessing explicit obscene content while protecting the privacy of adults who choose to do so," Skrmetti said.

The Free Speech Coalition has argued the law would be ineffective, unconstitutional and force people to transfer sensitive information.

“This is a deeply flawed law that put website operators at risk of criminal prosecution for something as trivial as a mention of the human nipple," said Free Speech Coalition Executive Director Alison Boden.

As verification laws took effect in Florida and South Carolina last week, website Pornhub cut off access there and posted a message encouraging people to contact political decision-makers. Its parent company, Aylo, says the site has blocked access in 16 states with verification requirements it called "ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous" and not properly enforced. The company is advocating for age verification on individual devices.

Judges had paused the laws in Indiana and Texas. But circuit appeals courts stepped in to allow enforcement.

The Supreme Court declined to halt Texas' law in April while the court action continues. The next step is Supreme Court oral arguments on Jan. 15.

Another age verification law is set to begin in July in Georgia.

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This story has been corrected to show that Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti made a statement about the Protect Tennessee Minors Act, not his spokesperson.

FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen on April 23, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)