Like Abraham a couple millennia before them, the Seahawks climbed to the top of a mountain and, when things looked their darkest, slaughtered Rams in the final moments. It was a sacrifice deemed acceptable in the sight of the Lord, and it earned Seattle’s way into heaven. The only difference is that in this story, the Seahawks also killed their sons (the 49ers).
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I was hoping the Seattle Seahawks would start on defense, if for no other reason than to let the best unit in the league— on either side
of the ball— make an opening statement the way the special teams did last week. But that wish did not come without trepidation; the Rams have been incredible on their opening drives all season but a lot less impressive after that of late. If Seattle could hold them to three instead of seven, I’d be feeling pretty good.
They did us one better.
The Seahawks forced a quick three and out, giving their offense a chance make some noise of their own— and they wasted no time making themselves heard. Following a five-yard run and an incomplete pass, Sam Darnold dropped back, cocked his shoulders as he drew his bow taut, and let his arrow fly up the right sideline. The parabolic pass left his hand with maximum velocity before feathering its way softly into the hands of a wide open Rashid Shaheed. The 51-yard completion put the ‘Hawks in scoring position and after Jaxon Smith-Njigba wiggled his way to another first down, Seattle let their dog off the chain. Three straight handoffs to Ken Walker culminated with him bouncing outside on 3rd & goal and winning a sprint to the pylon to give Seattle a 7-0 lead just five minutes into the game.
But before that snowball could become an avalanche, as it did last week, Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua did what Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua do. Sidestepping a free rusher, the MVP favorite uncorked a deep shot of his own, hitting his favorite receiver for 45 and putting Los Angeles in striking range. It’s as far as they’d get. Seattle’s defense bowed up after that fleeting moment of weakness and forced three straight incompletions, forcing the Rams to settle for a field goal.
Undaunted, Seattle responded with a long field goal drive of their own, letting Walker run like he was chasing the defenders instead of the other way around. KWIII stacked five carries for 25 yards on top of two catches for 24 more and JSN chipped in a couple receptions of his own, including a preposterous one-handed toe-tapper to convert a third down. Jason Myers eventually chipped a short kick through the uprights and the home team’s lead swelled back to seven at 10-3 at the end of the first. A good quarter.
As nice a start to the game as this was for the Seahawks, the Rams are still one of the two best teams in the NFL and no part of their wiring suggests they’d fold. They still have one of the best coaches in the league, along with one of its best QBs, two of its best receivers, and a very effective running back. All of it was on display on their next drive, with Kyren Williams ripping off a big run and Stafford hitting Davante Adams on a slant route for another chunk. They continued pressing the issue until DeMarcus Lawrence came through with a huge third down sack— the first against Stafford in the last four matchups— getting away with a face mask in the process. That brought out Harrison Mevis, who looks more like a Harrison Mevis than anyone in history, and the portly kicker nailed the 50-yarder to make it 10-6.
Seattle got real sloppy on their next possession, with Darnold fumbling a snap and then taking a sack before a white flag handoff on 3rd & 27 preceded a punt. It was the flinch the Rams were waiting for, and they leaned on a suddenly wobbly opponent for a maddeningly long 87-yard touchdown drive. There were no real big plays, just first down after first down after first down until, with just under two minutes left in the half, Williams leaked out of a messy formation and into the left flat, giving Stafford a layup for the go-ahead touchdown. 13-10 bad guys.
Even so, it gave the Seahawks a chance to go down and score before the break— a 2:1 opportunity with them receiving the kick to start the third. Instead, a one-yard Walker run was chased by a pass off Cooper Kupp’s hands and then Darnold whipping a dump-off off George Holani’s shoulder pads. Either throw would’ve resulted in a much-needed first down had they been caught but it was not to be and the Rams had a chance to add on.
A holding penalty against Seattle on the punt tacked a free 10 onto the start of LA’s next possession but Nick Emmanwori had had enough. If there’s been any weakness in Seattle’s heat-seeking rookie’s game, it’s been his coverage out of the slot. But he snuffed out the drive with two sensational pass break-ups, diving to bat one away in front of Nacua on second down and then ripping the ball away from the intended receiver on third. His ferocity in coverage gave the Seahawks one last chance to score in the first half, as they got the ball back with one minute and three timeouts left.
That’s when the Seahawks got their shit back together, eschewing creative play-design and choosing to lean entirely on their best player instead. Boom— a 10-yard out to Smith-Njigba, who wrested it away from the defender along the sideline. Then, after a misfire to Kupp, bang. Darnold dialed JSN up again and his All Pro receiver answered the call. Smith-Njigba elevated over the middle of the field to catch a jump ball, cradling it to his bosom a millisecond before getting leveled by the safety 42 yards downfield. Sam airmailed his next one, missing a wide open JSN in the back of the endzone before atoning for that sin by hitting him in the paint on the very next play. On the play, Smith-Njigba feinted inside and the coverage, well, fainted. He peeled off to the left and Darnold stood in the face of pressure to deliver it between the 1s. It was a massive swing in fortune, giving the hosts a 17-13 lead headed into the locker room with the ball coming back to them after the break.
The Seahawks weren’t able to do much with their opportunity, at least initially. After another JSN first down, the drive petered and Michael Dickson came out to kick it away. And did he ever. Dickson punted the ball dizzyingly high, soaring it further than the Rams returner anticipated. Suddenly, he was backpedaling furiously, desperately trying to track the ball against the deep Seattle sky until his feet failed him. He fell comically on his back and Dickson dive-bombed the kick off his shoulder and into the waiting hands of Dareke Young.
It was the first really big mistake of the game by either side, and Seattle did exactly what I love to see teams do in that situation: go for a kill-shot. On the first play of the gift-wrapped bonus drive, Darnold dropped back and whipped the ball into the endzone between the hashes. On the receiving end, Jake Bobo was coming out of his break on a sexy lil corner-post and Sam’s pass hit the Big Honky in the hands as soon as Bobo turned his head for it. The TD pass gave Seattle an 11-point lead, the largest for either side and the future was looking bright.
But Matt Stafford is a certified killer and it took him just three passes to remind us why. An over route to Colby Parkinson for a huge gain was followed by a bomb up the right sideline to Adams. That put LA on the 2 and Adams smoked an out route on the next play for an easy score. 24-20 in a heartbeat.
But Darnold and the Seahawks offense didn’t blink. They came right back with a fantastic drive that featured a former Rams great. On 3rd & 10, Kupp snagged a low throw for a first down and then capped it a few plays later by splitting two defenders for a score. 31-20. My goodness.
A stop for Seattle here would be massive and it looked for all the world like they got it. Riq Woolen had a beautiful breakup on 3rd & 12, and as LA’s punt team jogged onto the field, he let the opposing bench hear about it. Then he kept letting them hear about it. I’m all for talking your shit but you gotta know where the property lines are. Riq’s yapping carried his body across the threshold of LA’s sideline and that’s when the flag came out. 4th & 12 became 1st & 10, and gave Stafford an obvious target. On the very next play, he went long to Nacua who was one-on-one with Woolen. Puka torched Riq, turned, and caught the ball before falling on the pylon for a monumental TD and underscoring the type of bullshit sequence that has haunted Woolen his whole career. One giant miscue for each team, now. 31-27.
Seattle came up empty on their next possession, and Dickson kicked it back to Los Angeles’ 10 with a hair over 12 minutes left. Oh baby, what a game.
There are a few timeless truths in this world and chief among them is that no matter the year, no matter the coaches, no matter the players, no game against the Rams will ever be devoid of crippling anxiety. And tonight’s matchup might feature the very best version of both teams. True to form, LA responded with an infuriating 14-play drive, dragging their perfectly manicured fingernails across the chalkboard one slow first down at a time.
I’ve never seen this Seahawks defense look as exhausted as they did on that possession, and Sean McVay knew it. Everything they called worked, and darkness that has been enveloping opposing offenses all season was on the verge of fading away. It was a gruesome bloodletting on the penultimate Rams drive of the penultimate game of the year.
LA bullied their way inside Seattle’s 10, eventually facing a 3rd & 4. On that play, Stafford dropped back and sat serenely in the pocket, waiting for someone to break free. Except no one did. After an eternity, he drifted right and flung a pass towards the front right corner of the endzone. His receiver snuck open for an instant, but Devon Witherspoon recovered with cat-like quickness and launched himself in front of the ball at the last moment. It was a remarkable display of tenacity from an incredible player who had had a tough night until that point. And he wasn’t done yet.
On 4th down, he smothered his receiver and even Stafford’s otherworldly accuracy wasn’t enough to overcome his perfect coverage. He practically ran the tight end’s route for him, coming closer to catching the most important pass of Stafford’s year than the intended target did. It was the biggest play of a young career that is already skyrocketing at a breathtaking rate.
That gave Seattle possession with fours forever. After stopping a 4th & 4, the Seahawks took over on their own 6, nursing a 4-point lead with just over 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter. And even though Seattle had the lead and the ball, we all felt it: anything less than a great drive might be curtains for our beloveds. Stopping Stafford and Co again might’ve been too tall a task for such a tired defense, great as they are. And so, just like during that crazy Thursday night game, it was on the offense to make it happen.
With marching orders in hand, them boys got to work. After a four-yard run, Walker caught a pass in the flat and juked the defender so hard you could see his intestines. He surged upfield for a first down and a couple plays later, it was Kupp’s turn. On 3rd & 8, Darnold took the snap and fired a decisive spiral over the middle. Cooper was well-covered but the pass was on target. Kupp caught it two yards short of the sticks but he dragged the defender for one yard and rolled over him for the second, nosing the football across the line to gain.
We hear it all the time from coaches and commentators, the tired old line about playing complimentary football. But there’s a reason that phrase is so important, and that’s because when you see it, it’s magical. After Walker and Kupp had done their thing, it was time for the dementor Jaxon Smith-Njigba to get back to tormenting the Rams secondary. A couple of runs went nowhere, and McVay used his timeouts to preserve hope. On yet another 3rd & long, Klint Kubiak once again put his faith in a QB that was having the game of his life on the biggest stage he’d ever been on. This time, Darnold rolled to his right and he only had eyes for Jax. And while his quarterback was moving outside the pocket, Smith-Njigba unleashed a crescent moon route that vaporized the corner before cradling the pass along the right sideline for another first down.
Suddenly, the Seahawks offense was playing downhill again and with the two-minute warning approaching, they went back to the air, and back to JSN. This time, JSN was lined up left and he corkscrewed Emmanuel Forbes waist deep into the Lumen Field turf, leaving him no choice but to desperately grab Smith-Njigba’s jersey as he separated. The defensive holding gave Seattle another first down and three straight runs drained the clock down to 00:30. Dickson launched it to the 10, and just like that, it was the team belonging to the city of angels that needed the miracle.
But prayers from that godless bunch in blue and yellow never reach heaven, and two plays later, the Seahawks were storming the field as NFC Champions.
SMOKE RINGS
~I will never say a bad word about Sam Darnold again. Matthew Stafford was as good as he’s ever been tonight and instead of buckling, the Ginger Giant stood toe-to-toe with a heavyweight champ and exchanged haymakers for three and a half hours. And when that final bell rung, it was the MVP laying flat on his back, the stadium lights glinting off his veneers as Sam stood over him with gloves raised.
The top line numbers are impressive enough: 25/36, 346 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 turnovers, but it was what he did in the biggest moments that place his performance on Mt Olympus. I haven’t seen the final 3rd down passing numbers yet but I already know they touch the face of God. And seemingly every time the inevitable onslaught came from the Rams offense, Darnold beat them back with a combination of calm and grit that makes you want to follow him into the fires of Mordor.
There were half a dozen moments in this game where he could’ve folded, could’ve shown— and admirably at that— that he didn’t quite have enough to overcome the greatness on the other side. Instead, he bowed his presumably freckled back and just kept winging it. We go too far when it comes to ascribing wins and losses to quarterbacks, but if there was ever a win that deserves to be hung around a QB’s neck, it’s this one. A legendary performance in the biggest moment, against a team that’s had his number. God damn.
~Ken Walker’s potential has been barking for years, but over the final stretch of this season, when the team has needed him most, K9’s been all bite. Coming off the best game of his career, where he stomped the Niners into dust, he was the guy carrying this offense in the first quarter. And even after the LA defense adjusted, and their front four started winning the majority of the reps, he kept slamming himself into the teeth of the defense, maximizing every twitchy step to either evade a tackler or push a pile just one more yard. He finished with 111 yards and a touchdown on 23 touches, but his biggest moment may very well have been that first down catch on their final drive.
With no Zach Charbonnet to alternate with, Walker assumed the heavy mantle and carried it like an ox, plowing the field so the rest of the offense could bloom. You can look at the 3.3 yards per carry and think this was a subpar performance but make no mistake— if it wasn’t for Ken Walker, the Rams would be headed to the Super Bowl.
~Jaxon Smith-Njigba, take a bow. After posting one of the most impressive seasons in NFL history, Seattle’s All Pro WR saved his best for this one. Despite being priority #1 for an opposing defense that’s already seen him twice this year, JSN received 12 targets, catching 10 of them for 153 yards, a TD, and two of the biggest first downs in franchise history.
Leading up to the draft, I said Jaxon Smith-Njigba was Keenan Allen with extra juice and even though that’s a borderline unfair description of a player that had yet to step on an NFL field, I might not have aimed high enough. There is no defense for him, no coverage you can throw at him that will keep him from snatching the food off your plate and grinning as he scarfs it down in front of you. He’s not the biggest, fastest, strongest, or meanest— but neither are owls. That doesn’t stop them from being the quietest, most resplendent, most perfect killing machines in the sky.
~All season, we’ve kind of had to take his teammates’ word that Cooper Kupp was as valuable as the seemingly outsized contract he signed last offseason. It wasn’t there in the box scores for most of the year, and his big moments were few and far between. And yet, every week, coaches and players talked about how crucial he’s been to the development of this team into a true contender. Then, in the two biggest games of the year, he’s gone out and racked up chain-moving catch after chain-moving catch, keeping his offense on schedule and, more than once, flat out saving their asses. Yeah, the blocking is good and yeah, I believe he’s incredible in the film room. But to see him go out there and flat out win as a receiver on the field has been a massive reason this offense has scored 72 points in their two playoff matchups.
~Which brings us to the Dark Side. What started as a fun, if not slightly forced, nickname for one of the best defenses in the league has achieved a nominative determinism beyond what even the most bullish Seahawks fans could have predicted. They’ve gone from merely inviting opponents into the darkness to becoming an actual black hole where touchdown dreams die; an event horizon that once crossed, no game plan can escape. Well, no game plan save one.
The best thing you can say about this Rams offense is that they’ve managed to score 64 points in their last two games against a defense that had allowed less than 16 per game otherwise. And they gave this vaunted Seattle D hell all game long. Sometimes, great teams that aren’t used to being stressed like that eventually break, but it never happened tonight. Even after Woolen’s bonehead penalty and ensuing TD allowed. Even with Matthew Stafford throwing passes that cut the heavy northwest air like a scalpel. Even with LA bearing down on them with a potentially go-ahead drive that felt inevitable late in the fourth. They. Never. Broke.
~Nick Emmanwori, are you kidding me?? My biggest crush in this year’s draft class entered this season not only rawer than sushi, he was asked to learn positions at all three levels of the defense as a rookie. And all he did is establish himself as an absolute game-wrecker— a vicious tackler with an almost alien sense of where the ball was going to go. And he did that again tonight, dropping the hammer on Rams ballcarriers like a young Kam Chancellor. But this evening he displayed two things we hadn’t really seen yet, and that make me begin to believe what Mike Macdonald was talking about in the preseason when he said Emmanwori could be his new Kyle Hamilton: 1) he was outstanding in coverage, breaking up multiple passes including two third down PBUs and 2) it was him, the rookie, that went jaw to jaw with Riq after his mistake. For him to be that complete, and that confident, at this age is almost unfathomable.
~Devon Witherspoon was tracking towards his worst game as a pro, getting knifed repeatedly by Adams and Nacua through three quarters. But when the chips were down inside his own five yard line, and it was time for everybody to show their cards with the Super Bowl on the line, it was Spoon that flipped over pocket aces. His two plays in the endzone with under five minutes left are the only reasons Darnold and his merry band of Middle Earthers even had a chance to salt this one away. He is my favorite Seahawk and I don’t think it’s possible to love him more.
~It’s fitting, I suppose, that there weren’t a lot of standout individual performances from the defense in this one because just as we’ve seen all season, the whole was greater than the sum of its admittedly talented parts. They weren’t their best, but they were good enough to stop the #1 offense in the NFL when it mattered most. It’s not always dominance that wins the day, sometimes it’s just about staring into the approaching void and screaming bring it on, motherf—ker.
~To that end, what can you say about Mike Macdonald that does him justice. Pete Carroll is my favorite coach of all time— in any sport; but the game was passing him by and the torch was passed to a fresh-faced coordinator tasked with building his own culture in the shadow of one that pervaded the region. All he’s done since is lead his team to a 26 wins against 10 losses and a Super Bowl berth in his second season.
You all saw that sick video the team put out on social media this week. Mike spoke this shit into existence, and it doesn’t happen unless everyone in that room believed him. We are watching brilliance evolve into greatness, and it feels like this is just the beginning.
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This is exactly what I wanted. I’ll take any route that ends with Seattle in the Super Bowl but you can’t script it any better than a 49ers-Rams-Patriots run to a championship. It’s a path that not only exorcises the biggest demons in franchise history, it carves an unassailable story into the bedrock of the NFL.
Mike Macdonald talks about his defense playing as 12. Seattle fans have long embraced the mantle of being the 12th Man. And now, the Seahawks are one win away from winning their second championship… 12 years after their first one.
I can’t think of a better way for this story to end. Onward and upward.
As most of you know, Cigar Thoughts is also a podcast. Check out this week’s conversation with the author of “The Franchise, Seattle Seahawks: A Curated History of the Legion of Boom Era” MICHAEL-SHAWN DUGAR:
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