When Sam Darnold threw his second interception Thursday night, there was no reason to believe the Seattle Seahawks could come back.
The Los Angeles Rams had clearly been the better team. Darnold was looking shaky again in a big game. Seattle has been in the NFL since 1976 and never had a comeback like the one it needed Thursday night, against a team that had a strong claim as the best in the NFL. Amazon Prime Video pointed out that the Seahawks were 0-172 all time when trailing by 15 or more points in the fourth quarter.
In the biggest game of the NFL season to date, the Seahawks made it 1-172, thanks in part to a gutsy decision to go for the 2-point conversion and the win in overtime.
In one of the wildest comebacks in franchise history, the Seahawks turned a 30-14 deficit with a little more than eight minutes left into a 38-37 overtime win that could completely reshape the NFL playoff picture.
A punt return for a touchdown helped get the Seahawks back in the game. A crazy 2-point conversion, in which a replay review ruled that what looked like an incomplete pass was actually a fumble recovered by Seattle in the end zone, tied it. A missed field goal by the Rams with a little more than two minutes left kept the Seahawks alive, allowing the game to go to overtime.
Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua, who each had monster games, hooked up for a 41-yard touchdown in overtime to give the Rams the lead. But the Seahawks kept coming. The Seahawks drove downfield after that, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba scored a touchdown. Seattle decided to go for the 2-point conversion and the win. Darnold threw to Eric Saubert, who hadn’t had a catch in the game, and the Seahawks had a wild walk-off victory in the NFL’s game of the year. That won’t be topped.
The Rams were on the verge many times of taking complete control of the NFC West and the NFC’s No. 1 seed. They might not even know how exactly the Seahawks came back to beat them.
It seemed like an impossible task for the Seahawks, until they pulled it off.
Rams dominate after slow start
The Seahawks got off to a great start. Then the Rams dominated them for most of the rest of the game.
Seattle got a fourth-and-1 stop on the Rams’ first drive of the game, then a 46-yard screen pass to Kenneth Walker III set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Zach Charbonnet. It was a nearly perfect start.
But the Rams were ready. Their offense was balanced and dominated whether Stafford was throwing it or one of their backs was running it. Stafford was excellent and Nacua had a phenomenal night with several big plays. Their defense contained Darnold, who rarely even tried to throw downfield. The Rams were clearly the best team for most of the game.
In the third quarter, Darnold made the mistake everyone seemed to be waiting for. The Rams disguised a zone coverage, showing man coverage before the snap, and then Darnold threw it right to Rams cornerback Josh Wallace. He returned it 56 yards to the 1-yard line, and Blake Corum scored on the next play.
The Rams dominated Darnold in the playoffs last season when he was with the Minnesota Vikings, picked him off four times in the first meeting with the Seahawks this season, and forced him into a big mistake Thursday night. He made another in the fourth quarter with the Rams leading 30-14, as defensive lineman Kobie Turner dropped into coverage near the goal line and Darnold threw it right to him under pressure.
It looked like the game was over at that moment. Hopefully you didn’t turn it off and go to bed, because it turned into one of the wildest games of this or any other NFL season.
Seahawks’ rally started on a punt. They later got the weirdest 2-point conversion you’ll ever see
The Seahawks’ comeback was stunning in its efficiency. In less than two minutes of game action, Seattle went from trailing by 16 points to tying the game.
Rashid Shaheed had a 58-yard punt return touchdown with 8:03 to go in regulation and the Seahawks got the 2-point conversion to cut the Rams’ lead to 30-22. That gave Seattle some life.
After a quick Rams three-and-out, Darnold hit tight end A.J. Barner for a 26-yard touchdown pass. The 2-point conversion got weird. It looked like a clear incompletion but then there was controversy. The replay showed Darnold threw it backward, and what looked like an incomplete pass was casually picked up in the end zone by Charbonnet.
Because that was actually a fumble on the lateral and a clear recovery, it was a successful conversion and the game was tied with 6:23 to go. It was one of the weirdest 2-point conversions in recent memory.
Rams head coach Sean McVay was perplexed at the call, but managed to keep it together postgame, unlike Nacua.
“I’ve never seen anything or never been a part of anything like that, and I’ve grown up around this game,” McVay said postgame.
The Rams stayed cool and got into field-goal range after that. But Harrison Mevis, who hadn’t missed a kick this season, pushed a go-ahead field-goal attempt wide right. The Seahawks had two possessions after that in regulation and the Rams had one, but neither team scored so the game went to overtime.
Los Angeles almost made the first mistake in the extra period. Stafford’s pass to Corum went off his hands and it seemed linebacker Ernest Jones IV intercepted it. But a replay showed the ball hit the ground. After that, Stafford hit Nacua on a crossing route and Nacua went into the end zone for the score. Nacua had 12 catches for 225 yards and Stafford had 457 yards and three touchdowns. It wasn’t enough.
The Seahawks had one more rally left in them. Darnold led the Seahawks inside the Rams’ 5-yard line. Darnold hit Smith-Njigba for a touchdown. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald had a decision and decided to go for the 2-point conversion and the win. Saubert got underneath and wasn’t covered, and Darnold hit him.
The Seahawks now control the NFC West and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Midway through the fourth quarter, that seemed unfathomable.
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Jack Baer