Xavier Smith

Rams punt returner Xavier Smith made an incredibly costly play on Sunday when he muffed a punt to set up a Seahawks touchdown in the Rams' 31-27 loss.

Rams punt returner Xavier Smith made an incredibly costly play on Sunday when he muffed a punt to set up a Seahawks touchdown in the Rams' 31-27 loss.

What Smith did do was lose his footing on a punt return, letting the ball bounce off his chest and arms and right to the Seahawks. It immediately led to a touchdown in what finished as a four-point loss. Kyren Williams replaced Smith afterwards. Smith battled Tutu Atwell for a roster spot all season and eventually won out because of his work on special teams. Welp. An exclusive rights free agent in 2026, Smith was mostly a shot-play weapon and doesn't figure to have a real fantasy role next season.

We haven't blurbed a Jake Bobo game in all of 2025, as the third-year receiver had just two catches for 20 yards in the regular season. Little did we know it'd all be building to Honkin' On Bobo in the NFC Championship game, as he scored following Xavier Smith's disastrous punt flub while the entire Rams defense followed Jaxon Smith-Njigba across the field. It'd be hard to count on Bobo in Super Bowl LX DFS, but if he got there, it would be very funny.

With roughly five minutes left in the game and a chance to take the lead, Stafford couldn't find anyone open on third or fourth down as the Seahawks dropped extra players into coverage. It obscured a middle two quarters where Stafford absolutely torched a defense that has been mostly untouchable by non-Rams opponents this season, as he stuck haymaker after haymaker to keep the Rams in the game after Xavier Smith's muffed punt put the Rams in an 11-point deficit. The runaway surprise QB1 this year after coming into the season with a scary-sounding back injury, Stafford authored an MVP-caliber 2025, leading the league in passing yards and throwing a career-high 46 touchdowns. He enters 2026 drafts as a mid-range QB1 despite what will be obvious questions about his age (38) and health history.