Seahawks hold ground in 14-9 win over Rams

ST. LOUIS — The Seattle Seahawks completed a lousy night for St. Louis sports fans.

Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes to Golden Tate, and the Seahawks made a dramatic goal-line stand in the final minute to preserve a 14-9 victory over the Rams on Monday night — less than an hour after the Cardinals lost to the Red Sox in the World Series just up the street.

The Seahawks (7-1), riding the best start in franchise history, were clinging to the lead when they were forced to punt with just over five minutes left in the game.

They managed to pin St. Louis at its own three-yard line, but Kellen Clemens — starting at quarterback in place of the injured Sam Bradford — calmly marched the Rams (3-5) to the Seattle one as time wound down. Daryl Richardson was stuffed on third down, and Clemens threw a fade pass that fell incomplete in the corner of the end zone on fourth down as time expired.

“The defense did a tremendous job, coming up with a huge stop there,” Wilson said.

The Seahawks won despite gaining just 135 yards of total offense — 80 of it on Wilson’s second touchdown pass to Tate — the third-fewest yards in a victory in franchise history.

Wilson was sacked a career-high seven times by the Rams defense.

“The defensive line, they were making plays,” Wilson said. “We have to find a way to slow them down.”

The World Series no doubt contributed to the stale atmosphere inside the Edward Jones Dome, where the announced crowd of 55,966 was in reality much smaller. Many of the fans who did show up wore Cardinals gear, and World Series highlights were shown on the big screen.

The Red Sox polished off their 3-1 victory in Game 5 just before the Rams embarked on their final drive — one that would ultimately leave the hometown crowd even more depressed.

Clemens finished with 158 yards passing for the Rams, but he also suffered two interceptions, one of them by Richard Sherman. Zac Stacy ran for a career-high 134 yards.

“It’s not always going to be pretty,” Sherman said. “You have to be able to win ugly.”