Trailing, 30-14, with just more than 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Darnold and the Seahawks weren’t just staring at an uphill battle, but at some daunting history. Prior to Thursday night, the Seahawks were 0-172 when trailing by 15-plus points in the fourth quarter.
That all changed with a frenetic finish in which Darnold also changed some of his personal history against the Rams.
Playing for the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs against the Rams last year in Glendale, Arizona (Los Angeles’ home game was moved due to Southern California wildfires), Darnold was 25 of 40 for 245 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while taking nine sacks and losing a fumble in a 27-9 defeat.
In Week 11 of this season, the Seahawks lost, 21-19, to the host Rams largely as a result of a whopping four Darnold interceptions.
Leading into Thursday’s rematch, Darnold downplayed any significance about playing against the Rams, deeming them “just another opponent.”
After a pair of second-half interceptions by Darnold, though, it looked very much as though the Rams were the bogeyman the quarterback couldn’t get out from under his bed.
Darnold’s determination and Rashid Shaheed‘s dynamism were able to buck the trend.
“I think for us, for me especially, I’ve had games like this in the past where I haven’t played necessarily my best football and turned the ball over,” Darnold said, “but at the end of the game you see yourself on the other side. It’s not great when you have interceptions and turnovers, you want to limit that, but all you can do is fight back. And for us, I was just gonna continue to plug away and get the ball to open receivers and go through my reads.”
After Darnold was picked by Rams defensive lineman Kobie Turner, the Seahawks defense forced a three-and-out. That set up Shaheed’s histrionics on a punt return, as he screamed through the struggle bus that was the Rams special teams for a 58-yard touchdown.
On the ensuing two-point play, Darnold began to rewrite his narrative, finding former Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp for two points and a one-possession game.