SEATTLE — Sean McVay ran out of words, timeouts and offensive answers.

The Rams finished six yards short of staging an 11-point second-half comeback and punching a ticket to Super Bowl LX when Matthew Stafford’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete in the end zone and halted the final scoring threat in a 31-27 loss Sunday to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game.

“I’m pretty numb [from] the finality of it,” McVay said. “When you don’t allow yourself to think about anything other than advancing, I thought we were going to be that team on the podium — and we weren’t. I’m never really short on words, and I am right now.”

The Seahawks will face the AFC champion Patriots in a rematch of the classic Super Bowl following the 2014 season.

Stafford’s MVP caliber gunslinging (374 yards and three touchdowns) had covered up other holes all season, but he couldn’t pull a rabbit out of his hat after punt returner Xavier Smith’s costly fumble put the Rams in an 11-point hole and became the lasting image of a season marred by frequent special teams miscues.

Trailing by four points with less than five minutes remaining, on fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line, Stafford looked toward a double-teamed Kyren Williams, who was designed to be open on the play.

But safety Julian Love went with Williams — who had a wide-open touchdown catch earlier in the game — instead of tight end Terrance Ferguson, who ended up as the adjusted target of Stafford’s incomplete pass.

“They kind of lucked into having two guys peel on Kyren right there — that can’t be part of their design,” McVay said. “It was a fortuitous bust by them. But they earned the win.”

The Rams did not touch the ball again until 25 seconds remained, and the clock expired as Puka Nacua tried to hustle the ball to the line of scrimmage from the sideline and allow one Hail Mary.

Never happened.

The Seahawks exploded off the victorious sideline while 68,773 fans in attendance rocked Lumen Field’s stands in full respect to their 12th-man advantage reputation.

Perhaps there would have been more time remaining if McVay had managed his timeouts differently and used a challenge flag instead of his last timeout on Cooper Kupp’s first-down conversion (that really wasn’t) with 3:20 remaining. But McVay could not challenge a play that should have been reversed to a fourth-and-inches and possible Seahawks punt.

The game’s two biggest swings happened in the third quarter and could be called Smith’s House of Horror and Riq Woolen’s Wild Ride — rides worthy of a spot at Disney California Adventure.

It was a five-second implosion that put the Rams season on life support when Smith fumbled a punt for the second time in the game (he recovered the first) and the Seahawks pounced on the loose ball.

“X-Man has been so reliable,” McVay said. “That one was costly. And I love him. But that was a tough one. We get the great [defensive] stop coming out of the half and you feel like you are going to be able to get some good momentum.”

Smith, who was later replaced on punts, stumbled over his own feet and onto his backside as he positioned himself for a fair catch. The ball went through his arms and off his shoulder.

“I told him I love him,” Stafford said. “The guy wants to go out there and make every play he can, and sometimes it doesn’t happen. I’ve been in those situations.”

Smelling blood, Sam Darnold (346 yards and three touchdowns) immediately attacked Cobie Durant for a 17-yard play-action touchdown pass to Jake Bobo and a 31-20 lead.

“He just shut a lot of people up tonight,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said of Darnold, the former Jets draft bust.

The Rams looked finished with 2:20 left to go in the third quarter and an 11-point deficit after Woolen forced an incompletion on third-and-12, bringing the punt team onto the field.

But Woolen was flagged for taunting the Rams sideline after ignoring the official’s hand gesture to move away. Automatic first down.

“He made a poor decision, whatever,” Love said. “We need him. I know people are going to hold him accountable in an aggressive way. Just don’t do it again.”

McVay and Stafford went right after the distraught Woolen with Nacua, who fell backward on his butt into the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown catch and 31-27 new life.

The Seahawks punted on the ensuing possession to feed into the flipped momentum, and the Rams drove to the 6-yard line. It seemed the lead was only one Nacua or Davante Adams touchdown catch away.

But Devon Witherspoon broke up passes on third and fourth down — challenging an All-Pro cornerback might not have been the best way to go — and the Seahawks regained possession until nearly running out the clock.

“The ball didn’t bounce our way,” Rams safety Quentin Lake said, “but a lot of things to be proud of for this season. One thing we wish we could’ve done was turn the ball over.”

Bon Jovi’s “Halfway There” echoed through a stadium sing-along at halftime because the Seahawks’ legendary “12s” home crowd smelled a path to the Super Bowl with their 17-13 halftime lead.

Darnold threw touchdown passes to three receivers, including Kupp, who gained revenge against the team that he won Super Bowl MVP for in 2021. Kupp also drew a late defensive holding penalty for a fresh set of downs.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 10 catches for 153 yards and an 11-yard touchdown that was set up by his 44-yard catch.

It was the third classic game between the NFC West rivals this season, who were separated by one yard and one point in the regular-season battles.

The Rams’ only lead was late in the first half, when Williams ran uncovered out of the backfield for a 9-yard touchdown catch and a 13-10 advantage right after the two-minute warning.