The Seahawks’ special teams had been the rock of the team all season — the main reason Seattle had been in every game. And then they went to St. Louis, where the Rams have a history of beating the Hawks on special teams.

Punter Jon Ryan had been a huge factor all season for Seattle. He was the regulation MVP of the overtime win over the Denver Broncos, flipping field position with booming kick after booming kick. He was a big reason the Hawks still had a late chance to win in San Diego. And he helped make sure Washington never started past its 20-yard line in Seattle’s Monday night win.

He and Ricardo Lockette had become their own special battery, Ryan pitching fastballs to his speedy catcher, who typically made it downfield in time to prevent any kind of runback or to keep the return to a minimal gain.

Ryan had punted 18 times, and opponents had returned three of them for a total of 21 yards. Denver returned just two of six punts, and Washington didn’t have a single return on six kicks.

On top of that, Ryan had converted a big fourth down on a fake field goal in the fourth quarter of the win in Washington.

The Hawks had been just as good on kickoff coverage, yielding just 16.6 yards per return. In all, they were one of the league’s top four or five special-teams units.

And then they went to St. Louis, where Jeff Fisher’s staff once again outsmarted Pete Carroll’s. And, once again, the Hawks left with a close loss, 28-26.

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