Did all of that just happen? On the surface, the Seattle Seahawks beating the Los Angeles Rams was far from a crazy thought. Even winning in a shootout, however unlikely, didn’t seem far-fetched. To win a game
down 30-14 with under 10 minutes left and then still have to rally from a touchdown deficit in overtime to grab first place in the NFC West (and the NFC as a whole)? To quote former child star Dickie Roberts, that is “nucking futs.”
Winners and Losers time after the Seahawks’ remarkable, improbable, stupendous 38-37 comeback over the Rams to grab control of the division.
Seattle Seahawks Winners
Sam Darnold may still be seeing ghosts, but he exorcised some demons
Perhaps the Darnold we saw is the Darnold we should expect. He will gunsling and make some terrible decisions that lead to turnovers. He’ll be panicky in the pocket when coverages are heavily disguised post-snap and the first read is covered. But he’ll also throw lightning strikes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the middle of the field, overcome some pressure in his face to make throws on the run, and he just led a signature drive that in itself might have been the biggest moment of his entire NFL career.
Last year, the NFC North and the No. 1 seed could’ve been Minnesota’s and he didn’t show up against the Detroit Lions. We know the story of the prior two starts versus the Rams, including the four-interception game with Seattle. The anger toward Sam was probably at its highest point on that awful interception in the red zone, which looked like the dagger turnover.
But he battled. And battled. And he threw the two-point conversion that put the Seahawks within eight. He threw the touchdown to A.J. Barner to cut the deficit to two. Darnold went 5/6 for 49 yards and a touchdown in overtime, not including the winning throw to Eric Saubert. Are there worries about his high turnover rate and issues in pure dropback situations? Sure. But this was as big a game for him individually as it was for the team, and much like the team, he delivered at the end after an immense struggle through three quarters.
Klint Kubiak also saved his best for last
Getting almost 300 yards after halftime on one of the league’s best defenses is not something I will knock Kubiak for. We saw a successful screen pass to a running back for 46 yards. That, in itself, is a miracle worth putting him in the Winners column. A criticism of this offense was that it’s not built to come from behind; a frontrunner, if you will. Well, they came from behind albeit with a special teams assist, and it allowed Kubiak to call a relaxed overtime script knowing he had all four downs to work with. No, let’s not keep firing offensive coordinators.
Kenneth Walker III silenced his critics for a night
Who would’ve guessed K9 would be second in receiving yards behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba? He had 64 yards on three catches and 100 yards on 11 carries, including a 55-yard touchdown to give the Seahawks the lead on the opening drive of the second half. Walker turned a 3rd and 16 give-up play into a first down, for crying out loud. Did you not see his effort to tackle Josh Wallace to prevent a pick-6? Sure, the Seahawks gave up a TD anyway, but Walker showed tremendous hustle.
Walker should’ve gotten the ball more but I’ll save that complaint for another day. Great game for the embattled fourth-year running back.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba came alive in the second half
Congrats to JSN for being Seattle’s all-time single-season leader in receptions, breaking his tie with Tyler Lockett after matching his 100 catches in 2024. The 2025 version of JSN made it to 104 with two games to spare, even after being shutout in the first half. He finished with 8 catches for 96 yards and the overtime touchdown, continuing to showcase to the entire NFL that he is one of the best in the business and will be for years to come.
Eric Saubert, you won’t ever have to buy a drink in Seattle again
A contract extension last week, a hero on Thursday night. Officially, Saubert has no catches since 2PCs do not count, but we all saw what he did in overtime. If the Seahawks win the NFC West, this journeyman blocking tight end will be part of Seattle sports lore forever.
Rashid Shaheed had the most impactful 0-catch game an NFL receiver could possibly have
Two weeks of being a major factor in the Seahawks offense had me bullish on Shaheed taking flight against the Rams in the passing game. He had no catches, yet he was so important to the win. His 58-yard punt return touchdown set the stage for the comeback, and his second (and final) touch was a 31-yard run on an end-around. Even without the gaudy stats in terms of receiving numbers, Shaheed has already made his presence felt with big plays over the last three weeks.
Zach Charbonnet had the most heads-up play ever
Charbonnet’s night was not particularly effective outside of an opening drive touchdown run and a key third down conversion in overtime, but hot damn is he going to be remembered for what I’m seeing in our comments section as, “The Zachwards Pass.” If he doesn’t pick the ball up on that two-point conversion, the play is over and the Seahawks probably don’t win. Because he had the ball in a clear recovery across the goal line, we got the weirdest two-point conversion in the history of football.
Cooper Kupp redeems himself after being in the ‘Losers’ column all night
It felt like Kupp was a double agent through three quarters. His normally resolute blocking was a mess. He lost a fumble for the first time in three years and cost the Seahawks a shot at points before halftime. Then he caught a two-point conversion for his first points at Lumen Field as a Seahawk. He made a classic Kupp sideline grab in overtime that put Seattle in the red zone. Three catches for 39 yards hardly sets the world on fire but Kupp had his moments in the comeback.
A.J. Barner is your favorite tight end’s favorite tight end
That route he scored on his touchdown was a thing of beauty. He faked inside on the bootleg and turned his hips quickly outside for the first non-red zone score of his NFL career. For whatever reason, I love the hell out of his touchdown celebration. Barner is what I hoped John Carlson would be if he was given a clean bill of health. If anything, the disappointment with Barner has been some of his blocking reps, which is supposed to be a strength of his.
Mike Macdonald is coaching a playoff team in Year 2
The Seahawks looked like they’ve made the right hire to replace Pete Carroll and continue the tradition of extremely bizarre prime time games. Last season he missed out on the postseason with a 10-7 record. This year he’s in the playoffs with two games to spare and on the cusp of getting the No. 1 seed. On a night when his normally outstanding defense was mostly cut apart, his team showed unreal resolve and found a way to win. The beast may not have been slayed for good because they may yet face the Rams again in the playoffs, but Macdonald was brought over in part to do what the Seahawks seldom did against Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan in Pete’s final years: beat them. There’s still the matter of the 49ers game at the end of the year, but to beat McVay in the type of game that is out of Seattle’s comfort zone? Priceless. Congrats to Coach Mike. He has his signature win at long last.
Josh Jones fared well in Charles Cross’ absence
Outside of maybe the second Darnold interception where I’m unsure if he busted the protection, Jones did not look out of place on the offensive line. Many of the pressures and blown blocks seemed to be not from Jones or even Anthony Bradford, but Grey Zabel, Jalen Sundell, and Abe Lucas. Jones has shown himself to be a versatile swing tackle and he performed in a way that should make Seahawks fans feel comfortable about not having Cross for perhaps the rest of the regular season.
Nick Emmanwori defends every blade of grass
The biggest demerit I can give E-Man is getting caught peeking on the Terrance Ferguson touchdown. Otherwise, he had 11 tackles and drew a key holding penalty in the fourth quarter on Davis Allen that partially led to the missed field goal by Harrison Mevis. Emmanwori’s best play was stopping Puka Nacua a yard short of the end zone on 3rd and goal, which was followed up by the disallowed touchdown for ineligible player downfield. He was tested by McVay in ways he likes to test inexperienced players, and I’d say Emmanwori graded out well. If he didn’t miss so much time I’d say he’d be the leader for Defensive Rookie of the Year, but that may go to Carson Schwesinger of the Cleveland Browns. E-Man thankfully cleared concussion protocol, so he should be good for next week.
Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II were the standouts on the defensive line. Again.
The Seahawks run defense was struggling in the first half through the run game equivalent of a dink-and-dunk offense. In the 2nd half, the Rams were held to 34 yards on 15 carries. ‘Big Cat’ and Murph are as good an interior line tandem as there is in the game. They were instrumental in the better run reps and were able to affect some Matthew Stafford dropbacks on the few times the arguable MVP-elect was pressured.
The best Seahawks assistant coach of 2025 may actually be Jay Harbaugh
I’ll expand on this on Friday. How often has special teams, which was a major liability last year, been a deciding factor for the Seahawks in a positive manner this season? Six field goals from Jason Myers last week, now a punt return touchdown this week. Hot seat? What hot seat? I was just kidding with that stuff last year. Seattle ended up with the undisputed best Harbaugh in the coaching family, obviously.
Seattle Seahawks Losers
Grey Zabel has a “rookie game” night to forget
Outside of the opening drive touchdown in which he led the way for Kenneth Walker on that 46-yard screen pass and then opened a hole for Zach Charbonnet on his touchdown run, Zabel looked every bit like a rookie out of his depth against a ferocious defensive front. That was undeniably his worst pass protection game of the season and probably his worst game in totality of his young career. Kobie Turner dominated him throughout the night and it was disappointing to watch, but he’s also a rookie who’s otherwise been quite good this year so I’m not upset.
Coby Bryant had a brutal night before leaving with an injury
I hope Bryant’s injury isn’t serious given how awkwardly a big man buckled his right knee, but prior to that unfortunate incident he was having a tough one. Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay clearly saw it fit to pick on Bryant, Josh Jobe, and Drake Thomas most of the night, and Bryant was getting exploited on intermediate and deep routes while taking bad angles on missed tackles. I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world if he misses time given it’ll just mean Ty Okada is back into the starting lineup.
The secondary got shredded even before the injuries
Woof. They got worked. Josh Jobe really shouldn’t have been matched up with Puka Nacua as much as he was, and even with two passes defensed he continues to have some troublesome moments in coverage. Devon Witherspoon was very good all game but even he got had by Puka on a deep ball in the fourth quarter. As mentioned earlier, a tough one for Coby Bryant. Given the lack of Davante Adams, it was a little disheartening to see the Seahawks pass defense get smoked by receivers who’d rarely been targeted all year.
Boye Mafe can’t line up offside every week and still get no sacks
I think Mafe has sealed his fate in Seattle. Michael Bennett could get away with repeated offside and encroachment penalties because he was extremely productive and one of the key pieces of the Super Bowl defenses. Mafe’s productivity in a contract year has dipped and he’s lined up in the neutral zone two weeks in a row.
Mafe and Derick Hall are getting outperformed by Uchenna Nwosu and Tank Lawrence, and while Hall still has a year left on his deal and has been better than his one sack suggests, I know a position that could be a priority upgrade on this defense in the offseason.
Klint Kubiak is not completely off the hook, even on a 415-yard night
Kudos to Kubes for the two-point conversion playcall, which worked to perfection. The sequencing of his calls is driving me insane, though. They had 2nd and 3rd and 1 in the opening quarter and threw it both times to no avail. Put A.J. Barner under center and push for the Barnyard and do it twice if you have to. The consecutive screens to Walker and JSN on the third-to-last drive of the game was outrageously bad. While I don’t want to defend Darnold for his first interception, the route combo spacing was Ryan Grubb-esque. There’s a chasm between Kubiak’s pure dropback game and his outstanding work with play action, and that’s just not getting fixed this season. He’s still a plus coordinator to me.
The fans who left early
I don’t totally blame you because the weather has been miserable and outright dangerous over the past week, so getting home might have been a challenge for many. And come on, after that Darnold interception with less than nine minutes left? That seemed like a dagger. But you missed a hell of a comeback.
Final Notes
- I have none; c’mon folks I wrote almost 2,500 words already on a cinematic masterpiece deserving of 4,000. That’s one of the best Seahawks games ever and it should be etched in our brains for eternity. I know I’m leaving a ton of stuff on the cutting room floor but it’s 11 pm and much of Friday will be dedicated to giving you the rarest of rarities: A two-part Enemy Reaction. Part one will cut off right when Puka Nacua scored the touchdown to make it 30-14, and part two will start with the interception by Kobie Turner that seemingly was the nail in the coffin for the Seahawks. See you all on Friday, and thanks for an unbelievable night of comment activity on Field Gulls. Seahawks playoff football is back in our lives, and next month we hope it’s back at Lumen Field.
