When your team loses by less than a touchdown to their biggest rival in their division in a game in which they committed five turnovers, it can be hard to find the silver lining. Still, there’s actually plenty to be encouraged by when examining the Rams 16-10 loss to the Seahawks in Week 5.

While no loss in a 16-game season is good, losing a close defensive game is about as close as it gets in terms of feeling good moving forward. With that in mind, there are a few optimistic takeaways from the loss to Seattle.

The Seahawks defense may not be the “Legion of Boom” anymore, but they’re still capable of being one of the best units on the field at any given time. Their five takeaways on the day were a stark reminder of that fact.

Still, the best defender on the field wasn’t a Seahawk. It was Aaron Donald.

Via PFF.com:

In what was a dominant matchup that many predicted, Donald absolutely manhandled the Seattle offensive line all game long. He made three solo run stops that contributed to his 94.9 run defense grade. Then he racked up two quarterback hits and eight additional hurries rushing the passer. That led to a pass-rush grade of 91.7 for the game.

If the Rams fate had hinged solely on Donald’s performance. they’d have won going away. The three-time All-Pro defensive tackle played as well as any defensive lineman in the league this season, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t continue to do so.

Related Jared Goff had one of his worst career games in Week 5 against the Seahawks

There’s also the fact that the game-tying touchdown was literally in their clutches. Cooper Kupp may not have been able to haul in the reception they needed to stay alive, but he came damn close. And the good news is that the Rams don’t make a habit of dropping passes.

Cooper Kupp dropped a potential game-tying TD. Entering Sunday, only 0.9% of Jared Goff's passes had been dropped, 3rd-lowest in the NFL. — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 8, 2017

There’s really no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Rams lost this game more than the Seahawks won it, so while it may be a consolation prize to know that their mistakes aren’t characteristic, it’s still reason to believe that they’ll only be better for it.

The same reasoning can be applied when assessing those five turnovers.

The Rams have now doubled their turnover total for the season with their 5th of the game https://t.co/82XfdC5cFj — NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 8, 2017

Prior to Week 5, Goff had only thrown one interception on the season, meaning that multiple interceptions in a game aren’t really his modus operandi. There’s also no reason to think the Rams will be fumbling the ball three times a game – that is, as long as Frank Clark isn’t on the other side of the ball.

Sometimes an offense just runs up on a team that just has their number, and clearly that’s what happened to the Rams against their divisional rivals on Sunday. I’d be willing to bet that they don’t make those same mistakes again when they travel to Seattle in Week 15.