When we last left the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams , it was looking grim for the Seahawks. Down 30-14 in the regular season home finale with the NFC West title hopes looking like they were going
to be flushed down the drain. Another year, another win for Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay over the Seahawks. Sam Darnold isn’t the guy, Klint Kubiak should be fired, the defense is overrated, the sky is falling.
…But that’s why this is Part 2. This is where it starts a little bit rough but it has a strong ending that every Seahawks fan will appreciate.
Game thread comments on the Rams’ side are courtesy of Turf Show Times.
Sam Darnold throws a terrible interception to Kobie Turner (30-14 LAR)
Rashid Shaheed takes punt back for a touchdown (30-22 LAR)
A.J. Barner wide open for the touchdown! (30-28 LAR)
Two-point conversion to Zach Charbonnet is incomplete (30-28 LAR)
Wait a minute, the conversion is good?!!!! IT’S GOOD!! (30-30)
Harrison Mevis misses his first field goal as a Ram (30-30)
Puka Nacua adds to career night with go-ahead touchdown in overtime (37-30 LAR)
Sam Darnold hits Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the touchdown (37-36 LAR)
Erik Saubert wins the game!!! (38-37 SEA FINAL)
Bonus Enemy Reaction: San Francisco 49ers
Post-Game recap: The ‘Sheesh-quake’ game (Sam Farmer, LA Times)
In a matter of minutes, the home of the Seattle Seahawks went from a painfully quiet Lumen “Library” to a rollicking madhouse that sent seismologists scrambling for their ground-motion sensors.
Call it the Sheesh-Quake Game.
In a historic comeback, the Seahawks dug their way out of a 16-point, fourth-quarter ditch to beat the Rams in overtime, 38-37.
Oh, the visitors will agonize over some of the bizarre calls, some deserving of further explanation from the NFL. An ineligible-man-downfield call that wiped out a Rams touchdown when they were a yard away from the end zone? That had people scratching their heads. Then there was that do-or-die two-point conversion that seemingly fell incomplete… but later was reversed. More on that in a moment.
When the Rams wincingly rewind the video of the collapse, they’ll be peering through the cracks in their fingers.
You’ve heard of a no-look pass? This was a no-look finish.
As soothing wins go, this was a warm bubble bath for the Seahawks, who secured a playoff berth and assumed the driver’s seat in the race for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
Post-Game recap: A late game collapse again for the Rams (Nate Atkins, The Athletic)
This is the second time the Rams have built a lead of at least 16 points over a playoff team in the second half on the road and lost. The first came against the Eagles in Philadelphia, when they were up 26-7 early in the third quarter and lost 33-26 after back-to-back blocked field goals.
Those leads say everything about what makes this team so dangerous. The Rams can go into a hostile environment against a good team and play with untapped confidence and joy. They can put together some of the best complementary football, from a run game that sets up play action to a quarterback in Stafford who can throw no-look passes to a receiver in Nacua who piles up 150-yard receiving games like it’s routine to a pass rush that can rattle a quarterback like Darnold, as he showed on an interception that Josh Wallace took 56 yards to set up a touchdown.
But the inability to finish either of those games has left them in a precarious spot in one of the best divisions the NFL has seen in recent memory. The Rams are now 11-4 with an MVP-contending quarterback, the best offense in the league and eight wins over teams .500 or better — and yet the odds are that they will be on the road to begin the playoffs.
Post-Game Video: “I feel like we lost a perfect route to Santa Clara” (Mason and Ireland, ESPN LA)
Enemy Preaction: Carolina Panthers
That was a truly exhilarating win and in many ways one of the most important regular season victories the Seahawks have had in ages. The job ain’t done yet, though. The Seahawks still will most likely need to win against the Carolina Panthers and the rematch with the San Francisco 49ers in order to win the division and the No. 1 seed. There is no room to ease up next week, and while there is a scenario in which the Seahawks could have the top seed locked up without relying on beating the 49ers in Week 18, I wouldn’t count on it.
…But maybe the best way for the Seahawks to clinch a first-round bye and get the NFC West title is to get revenge on the 49ers for Week 1. If you’re unaware: 49ers fans were cheering the Seahawks knowing San Francisco can also win the division and the top seed by winning out.
Maybe, just maybe, Week 18 will be the first of two business trips to Santa Clara in the near future for the Seahawks.
Thanks for reading and go ‘Hawks!
