RENTON, Wash. — It’s hard to imagine a more chaotic weekend for a defending Super Bowl champion than that just experienced by the Seattle Seahawks.

First came the stunning news on Friday that the team had traded receiver Percy Harvin to the New York Jets for a conditional 2015 draft pick (either a fourth- or sixth-round selection), news the team received as it boarded the buses to head to the airport for the trip to St. Louis.

Carroll said he talked to a number of players about the trade on the plane, and not one expressed being upset.

“I took a good accounting of the fellows and just to visit because it happened so suddenly for them,” Carroll said. “I know exactly how they feel about it, yeah. We had a really good talk about it and talked with guys from across the board on our team. I think it was pretty clear that it was accepted as the next thing we had to do and we did the right thing and on we go. It was a team decision.”

Then came a bizarre game in which the Seahawks statistically dominated but lost due largely to three special teams plays — a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown, a 75-yard kickoff return that set up a touchdown and a fake punt that kept alive a final drive by the Rams after Seattle appeared on the verge of getting the ball back.

It added up to a surprising 28-26 defeat against a team the Seahawks had beaten 16 of the past 18meetings, and dropped Seattle to 3-3 on the season, its first consecutive losses since the midpoint of the 2012 season.

Players, though, said they are confident this is just a bump in the road, a sentiment unsurprisingly shared by Carroll.

“We are going to fight our way back through this and see if we can get right,” Carroll said. “The story is not written right now. This is just the starting point.”

Still, the Seahawks appear at a crossroads in their season, already two games behind Arizona in the NFC West, and with no more room for error if they want to win the division, let alone get home-field advantage through the playoffs.

The departure of Harvin helped Seattle re-tool its offense, looking more like the one the team ran a year ago, based on Marshawn Lynch and the running and passing of Russell Wilson. After a slow start, that worked well as Seattle gained 303 of its season-high 463 yards in the second half to almost pull out the win.

Carroll said he was excited at the way the offense came together late in the game saying, “I think you could see the future, and I was really pumped about that.”

Wilson became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for 300 or more yards (313) and rush for 100 or more yards (106) in the same game, and topped the 100-yard rushing mark for the second time in three games.

Defensively, the numbers weren’t bad — the Rams were held to just 272 yards. But Seattle didn’t play well in the red zone — the Rams scored touchdowns on each of their three drives inside the 20. And the defense faltered after Seattle cut the lead to 21-19 early in the fourth quarter, allowing an 80-yard touchdown drive.

And the special teams breakdowns proved disastrous.

Still, the comeback from an early 21-3 deficit said something about the team’s resilience. With Seattle trailing early, many were likely already beginning to say the Seahawks were in shambles.

Seattle players, though, said the rally made clear that the team bond remains strong and that the Seahawks can still achieve their goals.

“I’m sure it will be fixed,” Sherman said of being 3-3. “Obviously, guys have to make a few corrections here and there. But there’s no gaping holes. Guys just have to play better.”

And Carroll is confident the Harvin trade will not send reverberations throughout the locker room.

“I think they handled it really well – they took it in stride,” Carroll said. “I think they trust our decision-making and they’ve stood by us throughout and I don’t think there is any fall out at all. Obviously, like one of our guys said, “You’re human, you react, you have a response to it,” but I don’t think anybody had any problem and everybody was concerned about getting to business of playing football. So I think it was fine.”

REPORT CARD VS. RAMS

PASSING OFFENSE: B – After a slow start as the Seahawks seemed to adjust to a new rotation at receiver, Seattle got the passing game going in the second half, ultimately finishing with a season-high 313 yards as Russell Wilson hit on 23 of 36 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Doug Baldwin played more in the slot with Percy Harvin gone — the spot he played primarily the past three seasons – and responded with his best game of the season with seven catches for 123 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Paul Richardson also got his most extensive action with Harvin gone and had four catches for 33 yards.

And tight end Cooper Helfet, starting due to injuries to the top two players at the spot, chipped in with his first career touchdown catch on a 22-yarder. The protection was iffy as Wilson was sacked three times — the Rams came into the game with just one for the season. But he was able to again make some throws on the run.

RUSHING OFFENSE: C – Even if Harvin hadn’t been traded, the Seahawks figured to get back to basics, meaning a heavy dose of Marshawn Lynch. But with Harvin gone the running game becomes an even bigger focal point. Statistically, it looked okay Sunday as the Seahawks had 171 yards on 29 carries. But Wilson got 106 including 52 on a scramble when he was forced out of the pocket.

Seattle’s conventional running game wasn’t real effective with Lynch rushing for just 53 yards on 18 carries and Seattle getting 65 yards on 22 carries overall from its running backs. It didn’t help that fullback Derrick Coleman broke his foot in pre-game warm-ups and could be lost for a significant time, if not the season. Backup tailback Robert Turbin was called on to play a lot of fullback in place of Coleman.

PASS DEFENSE: C – The Legion of Boom gets a little less fearsome with each game. Austin Davis smartly executed the Rams’ safe-passing game plan to hit on 18 of 21 for 152 yards and two touchdowns, including one to a tight end – the eighth touchdown scored by a tight end against Seattle this season. That fact speaks to what is Seattle’s biggest pass defense problem right now, the coverage by linebackers such as K.J. Wright and Malcolm Smith and obviously ailing safety Kam Chancellor. Also, the pass rush remains an issue with Seattle going without a sack and stuck on seven for the season.

One guy who continues to play well is Richard Sherman, who had just two targets and batted down one on a key third down and turned the other into a loss.

RUSH DEFENSE: B-minus – It wasn’t very good early as the Seahawks allowed 70 yards on 15 carries in the first half as the Rams jumped out to a 21-6 lead. Seattle played without injured middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, and that showed up a few times as the Rams were able to get Seattle’s linebackers out of position. But the run defense stiffened in the second half as the line played well, particularly defensive end Michael Bennett. The Rams ended up with 102 yards on 27 carries, 3.8 per attempt.

SPECIAL TEAMS: F – This was a total disaster as Seattle was fooled for a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown, gave up a 75-yard kick return that led to a touchdown and was also hoodwinked on a fake punt that the Rams pulled off to keep their final possession alive and ultimately run out the clock. Recent injuries haven’t helped as good special teamers such as Derrick Coleman and Luke Willson didn’t play, putting some new players in some unaccustomed spots. Regardless, Seattle likely beats the Rams if just one of those plays doesn’t happen.

COACHING: C-minus – It was a really strange week with the trade of Percy Harvin and the aftermath of the meltdown against Dallas the previous Sunday. Seattle didn’t appear ready to play early in falling behind 21-3. But give the Seahawks credit for rallying and ultimately dominating the stats (a 463-272 edge in yards) and almost pulling out what would have been one of the team’s more improbable comebacks. Still, the special teams errors were glaring, and Seattle also continues to commit too many penalties — 10 for the game including three on defense that spurred one St. Louis drive, and three holding penalties that wiped away big Seattle gains.