There were a couple of different moments that led to the Los Angeles Rams‘ Week 16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, but none were more catastrophic than the controversial two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter.
The Seahawks scored an extra two points following their touchdown after the officials ruled Seattle recovered a backwards pass in the end zone despite the original call being an incomplete pass by Sam Darnold.
At the moment, Matthew Stafford wasn’t thinking about the two-point conversion. But afterward he, like many others, thought the play was dead and certainly looked like an incomplete pass.
“It felt like the play was dead, but that’s why you try to get on every loose ball,” Stafford said on the Let’s Go! podcast. “Difficult pill to swallow in at the moment, but there was a lot of football after that and we had our opportunities.
Stafford admitted that “by rule, that is the correct way to officiate that,” but added that when it comes to plays that were unclear and took so long to decide on, “sometimes, common sense should override the rule a little bit.”
“It just, it’s the way it goes,” he said. “There’s tough plays all over the league, when you look at it… they’ve got all sorts of games that have kind of had crazy officiating things come up recently. But, you know, it’s a fast game that’s happening in real time, and it’s difficult to try and get all those things right.”
When pressed by host Jim Gray about why Stafford (and others) are so willing to give referees a pass on controversial calls, Stafford reiterated that he understands how fast the game moves and how hard it is to catch everything.
“I do think it is tough,” Stafford said. “I mean, I’m out there, I feel the speed of the game, I know what’s going on, and I can’t imagine being somewhat of a bystander to that, and trying to officiate all the things that are going on. I think New York’s doing everything they can to try and help out when the time is appropriate, and the time is right. But nonetheless, it’s tough.”
Stafford also mentioned there were other opportunities for the Rams to win the game after the two-point conversion, so the play itself didn’t sink L.A.’s chances to win. Oddly enough, the Rams did lose on a two-point conversion in overtime, although that one was much clearer.
Not everyone was as measured as Stafford was. After the game, receiver Puka Nacua called out the referees in a since-deleted post on X. Days earlier, he openly criticized the referees on an internet livestream, for which he was fined $25,000.
The loss was big for L.A., though, as it knocked the Rams down to the No. 6 seed by the end of Week 16 and made their chances of winning the NFC West and a No. 1 seed in the conference much more difficult. L.A. has two more weeks to get things right with games against the Atlanta Falcons and the Arizona Cardinals to end the season. They’ve at least clinched a playoff spot.