The game that ultimately decided the NFC title game happened in the fourth quarter with the Los Angeles Rams on the doorstep of the end zone. Needing just six yards for a touchdown on fourth-and-4, the Seattle Seahawks held off the Rams by intercepting Matthew Stafford’s pass.
After the game, Sean McVay said the Seahawks were “lucky” to have two defenders in Kyren Williams and called it an “accidental failure” that denied Stafford his first read.
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“They were kind of lucky that two guys were right there stripping Karen,” McVeigh said. “I know it couldn’t have been part of their design, so it was a fluke on their part. But they’re a good team. You don’t take anything away from it. They won it, and they’re NFC champions for a reason.”
Mike Macdonald admitted in his postgame press conference that the Seahawks “actually didn’t even execute that play very well,” but defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who double-teamed Williams, said he was just going one-on-one.
Lawrence spoke about the crucial game for the first time Thursday, pushing back on McVay’s suggestion that Seattle got a lucky break. He said Williams immediately showed he was the favorite for Stafford by coming out of the backfield, which caused him to drop and help protect Julian Love.
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“It’s so fast out back,” Lawrence said. “You know, if this was a regular design and the back wasn’t his hot zone, the back would be waiting to see if Julian was going to go over there first and then spread it out. But he didn’t wait, so that’s definitely an indicator – like, ‘Oh,’ moment, you know? The back spread out so quickly, that means that’s his hot zone, so he’s going to get to the back first. I’ve seen a lot of formations since I’ve been playing football that it’s like, you know, you start to understand these things.”
Lawrence spoke further about the game, directly responding to McVay’s statement about the Seahawks’ lucky bust. He said Stafford’s lack of mobility gives him more confidence when getting into coverage because he knows the Rams quarterback won’t get the first down.
“Accidental bust? Yeah, man, I’ll take it. I’ll take it all day long,” he said. “Knowing the type of play he plays, I’m not intimidated by Matt Stafford running the ball, so why not give up. Instinct players are going to harp on their own performance, and if this is one of them, why not go for it instead of running for nothing?”
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Love admitted he was beaten by Williams on the play, but Lawrence got into coverage and picked up the backside to save him.
“I went too far downfield and (Williams) backed out pretty quickly,” Love said. “Obviously, it was a choreographed play, D-Law, and he just thought something funny was going on, and I think he thought it was a screen or some weird move because of how quickly the back was coming off the pressure the way it looked. So something was off in his head, and thankfully he had the wherewithal to get down and clear the screen, and then he just jumped into the zone. Obviously, he was in a good position just by instinct.
“It was one of those things, and thankfully, he saved me. … His heads-up game is what it is.”
The Rams had several chances to win that game, both before and after the fourth down. If the defense gets a stop on the next possession, or if the Rams simply converted on their second or third down play on the previous play, they might be the ones setting up for the Patriots now.
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But they didn’t perform the way they were expected to and ended up just shy of the Super Bowl.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Seahawks deny loss in Game 4 vs. Rams was ‘accidental’