EARTH CITY, Mo. — In four of the first five games this season, the St. Louis Rams found ways to lose.

That wasn’t the case Sunday in their 28-26 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. After wasting leads of 21-0 and 14-3 in losses to the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, the Rams almost did it again after leading Seattle 21-3.

However, thanks to a 75-yard kickoff return by running back Benny Cunningham, a stunning 90-yard punt return touchdown by wide receiver Stedman Bailey and a daring fake punt from their own 18-yard line late in the fourth quarter, the Rams held on this time.

As coach Jeff Fisher said, “A young team, you talk about needs to learn how to finish. Well, they learn by finishing, and that’s kind of what we did today. That’s what we talked about, and I just told them, ‘Just find a way.’ I don’t mean to be coach-speak, but it is.

“We found a way to win this game, and we’ll just take it and move from here. I’m looking forward to correcting this thing because it’s certainly much easier to correct after a win.”

The mistakes to correct are fewer this week. The Rams were penalized just twice for 20 yards, and one was a delay penalty they took purposely. They also had no turnovers and allowed no sacks. Through the first five games, the Rams accumulated 44 penalties for 425 yards, 16 sacks and 10 turnovers. Four of the turnovers resulted in touchdowns, and there was also a blocked punt for a score.

Cunningham’s kickoff return led to the Rams’ first touchdown after Seattle took an early 3-0 lead. However, the punt return and fake punt generated the most buzz afterward.

The Rams noticed that when Seattle punter Jon Ryan kicked from around midfield, the ball always went to the left. He did in this situation, but the Rams’ punt return team, led by returner Tavon Austin, ran to the other side of the field as if the ball were going there.

Bailey, whose job normally would have been to block the gunner, instead headed straight down the field to where he believed the ball would land. The Seahawks bit, and Bailey made an impressive over-the-shoulder catch, turned around at the 10-yard line and had clear sailing down the sideline for a touchdown.

The play, called “Mountaineer” because Austin and Bailey played at West Virginia, was installed during the week and practiced Thursday and Friday.

“It was just one of those things that was executed,” Fisher said. “Something that we saw on tape, we took advantage of it.”

Asked about Bailey’s catch, Fisher said, “We executed it in practice. (Rams punter) Johnny (Hekker) gave him a really good look.”

Leading up to the fake punt, the Seahawks had gashed the Rams defense in the second half for three touchdowns on drives that went 82, 91 and 80 yards and totaled 283 yards on 29 plays.

With 2:55 to play and facing fourth-and-3 from the St. Louis 18, Fisher ordered the fake punt that would have been called off if the Seahawks had two blockers on the gunner on each side. They had one gunner to the left, so Cunningham went to that side, and Hekker fired a strike for an 18-yard gain.

Fisher said, “You guys saw the flow of the game; we were having a hard time stopping Russell (Wilson). There was too much time left on the clock right there, and I didn’t want to give the ball back to him and I thought that was our best chance to get a first down.”

There were some tense moments when running back Tre Mason bolted for a first down on third-and-1 but then fumbled trying for additional yardage. After a massive pileup, tight end Cory Harkey got the recovery.

Fisher said, “When the ball went out and there was a pile, I was on the headset, with respect to time left on the clock talking to (defensive coordinator Gregg) Williams about what we needed to do. When they gave us the ball, obviously, I was somewhat relieved.”

As was Mason. One kneel-down ended the game, and the Rams snapped a six-game losing streak against division opponents.

REPORT CARD VS. SEAHAWKS

PASSING OFFENSE: B-plus — There weren’t many yards, but QB Austin Davis was efficient in his approach and hit some big plays when they were needed in the fourth quarter. He finished the day completing 18 of 21 passes (85.7 percent) for 157 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 128.6. It was the second game this season when his rating was over 100, and for the season he has a 94.3 mark. On third down, Davis was 5-for-7 for 56 yards and a touchdown. He ranks third in the NFL with a 122.2 passer rating on third downs, completing 65.5 percent of his passes and piling up seven of his nine touchdown passes.

RUSHING OFFENSE: B-plus — Rookie RB Tre Mason saw his most extensive action of the season and rushed for 85 yards on 18 attempts (4.7-yard average) and scored his first NFL touchdown. Prior to Mason being active for the first time the week before, the Rams hadn’t had a run of more than 18 yards. In two games, Mason has had 24- and 28-yard runs. RB Zac Stacy had no carries in the game, while RB Benny Cunningham had two attempts for 3 yards and WR Tavon Austin ran five times for 16 yards.

PASS DEFENSE: C-minus — The Rams recorded three sacks in the first half, but they had no answers for QB Russell Wilson in the second half. Wilson finished the day with 313 passing yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 110.1. In the second half, he was 14-for-19 for 163 yards and his two touchdowns. The Rams couldn’t stop WR Doug Baldwin (seven catches, 123 yards) and unheralded TE Cooper Helfet (three receptions, 61 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown).

RUSH DEFENSE: A — That is the grade without Wilson’s runs factored in. the quarterback produced 106 yards on seven rushes, doing most of the damage in the second half, when he had a 52-yard run and a 19-yard touchdown. For the third consecutive game, the Rams corralled a top runner, limiting RB Marshawn Lynch to 53 yards on 18 attempts. Robert Turbin (two carries, 7 yards) and Christine Michael (two carries, 5 yards) did little. Those three combined for 65 yards on 22 rushes (2.9-yard average).

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-plus — What more could you ask for? The only glitch was a missed 52-yard field goal by K Greg Zuerlein. Special teams coach John Fassel put in the punt return fake that produced a touchdown as well as the crucial fake punt, and coach Jeff Fisher had the confidence to call them. Most important, the players executed. Cunningham contributed a 75-yard kickoff return that led to a touchdown. P Johnny Hekker is now 4-for-5 for 60 yards in his career as a passer. His touchdown pass to WR Danny Amendola in 2012 on a fake field goal also helped beat the Seahawks.

COACHING: A — In addition to coaching mentions in special teams, Fisher did an excellent job after a tough loss to San Francisco on the previous Monday night getting his team ready for Seattle on a short week. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer smartly called a conservative game plan, but he attacked in the fourth quarter when a touchdown was needed.