What a whirlwind of a race it was!
The Seattle Seahawks (12-3) are first in the NFC West. They trailed 30-14 in the fourth quarter, and they had never trailed by more than 14 points in the fourth quarter in franchise history. By season 50, the streak ended.
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From down 30-14, the Seahawks pulled off an incredible comeback to defeat the Los Angeles Rams. Sam Darnold shook off two interceptions for two touchdowns, and Rashid Shaheed returned a punt return for a touchdown in a 38-37 overtime victory. They overcame Matthew Stafford’s 450-plus yards passing, Puka Nacua’s 200-plus yards and two touchdowns, and injuries to Coby Bryant, Riq Woolen and Nick Emmanwori to pull off a stunning performance.
Oh yeah, Seattle went all the way to lock down a playoff spot and a deep inside spot for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
Can you believe what you just saw? !
First half summary
The Seahawks won the coin toss and elected to give the Rams first down. In the first meeting, the Rams turned the ball over on a turnover on their opening possession. They went 10 plays into the bubble…and once again came up in the post, only this time it wasn’t near the goal line. Kyren Williams held the ball 7 times, including a four-player in his own territory, but he was stopped by Uchenna Nwosu and Josh Jobe!
The Seahawks’ first possession of the game was an interception by Sam Darnold. In the bubble, it was a touchdown. On Seattle’s third play from scrimmage, Kenneth Walker III caught a screen pass 46 yards into the red zone to set up a scoring opportunity. Two kickoffs later, Zach Charbonnet (as he often does) knocked it in from several yards out Seahawks lead 7-0 in early trading. Seattle’s first first half offensive touchdown since Week 12, and first kickoff touchdown since Week 10!
The Rams came back strong with 12 carries, 75 yards rushing, including a 27-yard catch by tight end Davis Allen, who took advantage of a rare run by Mike Macdonald’s defense. Puka Nacua scored the fourth and fifth goals against tight Josh Jobe defense to keep the offense alive – the Seahawks were offsides anyway. Nacua almost got into the end zone on third down, but a great tackle by Nick Emmanwori stopped him at the 1-yard line. Terrance Ferguson’s touchdown was negated by an ineligible man-down penalty from Justin Dedich, the backup right guard in place of the injured Kevin Dotson. Rules analyst Terry McAulay said on Prime Video that a foul shouldn’t have been called because he aggressively engaged the blocker and continued to exceed the 1-yard limit, but the flag was thrown and the Rams scored a touchdown and Harrison Mevis field goal. 7-3 Seahawks.
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Zach Charbonnet gained 9 yards on Seattle’s second possession, but the Seahawks threw incomplete passes on second, third and first downs. Seattle elected to punt at its own 44 rather than move on, and it took the Rams just one game to overtake the Seahawks punt spot. Puka Nacua struggled in zone coverage for 45 yards. The Rams got into the red zone again, but Davis Allen threw a pass on 3rd-and-2 (which didn’t come with a bat anyway). Sean McVay elected to field goal after a 4th-and-2 attempt to tie Seattle failed to go offside. 7-6 Seahawks.
Anthony Bradford’s fumble put the Seahawks behind early and they couldn’t get out of it, leading to another three-and-out and a punt. Xavier Smith capped his 38 with a powerful punt return. Pure crushing football kept the Seahawks defense on their heels, and Matthew Stafford once again took the ball all the way into the red zone. Terrance Ferguson beats Nick Emmanvory for the go-ahead touchdown. 13-7 Rams.
After Sam Darnold was sacked by Kobe Turner on 2nd-and-10, this looked like another doomed offense for the Seahawks. Kenneth Walker caught a surrender handoff on 3rd and 16 and the crowd booed…and then cheered after Walker caught the ball for 17 yards as the clock approached the two-minute warning. How on earth was it drawn? What’s not drawn? Cooper Kupp fumbled the ball back to his old team.
Summary of the second half
The Seahawks squandered a scoring opportunity before halftime and got the ball at halftime. After AJ Barner’s push conversion on 3rd and 1, Kenneth Walker took over the handoff on the right side and got great blocks from Jalen Sundell, Anthony Bradford and Abe Lucas on his way down the field. A 55-yard touchdown, his longest score in two years and his first touchdown since his first Rams game! I don’t know where it came from, 14-13 Seahawks!
Facing a third-and-9 and a potential three-and-out with crowd energy, Matthew Stafford punished the Seahawks’ recent defensive missteps by finding Xavier Smith open for 49 yards. No Davante Adams? no problem. Fortunately, due to the wind, the ball tilted slightly downward instead of hitting the ground.
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Byron Murphy II’s initial breakaway and Ernest Jones IV’s tackle stopped Kyren Williams on third-and-3, leading to Harrison Mevis’ third field goal. Bad conditions but good play. 16-14 Rams.
disaster! Sam Darnold threw a horrific telegraph throw to Rashid Shaheed, and Josh Wallace broke away from his defender (Cooper Kupp) and was intercepted. Kenneth Walker tackled him at 1st to save the touchdown, but Blake Corum knocked the ball away on the next play. 23-14 Rams.
Seattle punted again and the Rams beat the Seahawks again. The nine-play, 85-yard drive ended with a Pukanacua touchdown, and thankfully, the celebration went without incident. Stafford didn’t watch the ball either. 30-14 Rams.
Sam Darnold quickly led the Seahawks down the field and was picked again! This time it was the big man, Kobe Turner, who stepped into coverage, and Darnold didn’t see him. What a mess.
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However, Rashid Shaheed got the Seahawks back into the game with a punt return for a touchdown. Los Angeles’ first punt of the night was pulled back 58 yards for a score! They converted the two point conversion to Cooper Kupp! 30-22 Rams.
The Rams are three and out again! Seattle got the ball back at the 41 after a bad punt by Ethan Evans. Rashid Shaheed had a 31-yard gain on the run. Bana’s deep kick was caught for a touchdown! ! !
A two-point conversion is still required, a deflected and incomplete Charbonnet screen. Or so we thought. What just happened? ! The pass to Charbonnet was actually backwards and deflected toward the end zone. Charbonnet caught the ball in the end zone when the pass was ruled incomplete. Upon review, this was deemed a fumble (correctly), but there was an apparent recovery. draw! I think this is the craziest two point conversion we’ve ever seen! 30-30!
Another series, another three-and-out forced by the Seahawks defense! Talk about flipping a switch! But the offense came back with a three-and-out. Darnold missed an open JSN and then threw a screen to Ken Walker and JSN to no avail.
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The Rams got into field goal range on a long pass from Terrance Ferguson, who broke away from the defense behind Drake Thomas. Ty Okada’s personal foul gave them another 15 yards, but Nick Emmanwori’s possession set them back 10 yards on the next play. On 3rd and 8 with just over two minutes left, Stafford passed an incomplete pass to Konata Mumpfield, which stopped the game! Harrison Mewis hits a 47-yard shot… to the right! His first love break as a Ram! The Seahawks punted and took a timeout with 2:07 left.
Sam Darnold was sacked on second-and-9 against Charbonnet. It’s now third-and-17 with 1:54 left in the game and Bana’s check is called off. With 1:42 left in the game, Michael Dickson hit a quick three-point play, but a great punt helped the Rams tie the game to 11 points.
Stafford pressed on the first down, throwing an incomplete ball to Kyren Williams. A deep pass to Nacua, who beat Witherspoon and jumped to catch the ball for a first down of 28 yards. The blitz came and Stafford threw an incomplete ball to Parkinson. The ball passed to Mampfield was caught despite Emman Worry being wrapped around him. Three consecutive passes were not completed! Kick time!
Seattle chose to win in the regular season. Poona Ford had a change of heart after being sacked after two games.
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over time
The Seahawks won the coin toss and picked second, remembering that an offensive touchdown on the opening possession no longer automatically wins the game. A big-footed return by Ronnie Rivers was negated by a hold, but the Rams still only needed two plays to gain 22 yards. Ernest Jones was sacked for illegal contact and then almost made a diving interception on a deflected pass from Blake Colum. It was ruled a pick and (correctly) overturned on replay review. On third-and-six, Nakua took the ball and Boye Maffei was offsides anyway. Nacua had a 41-yard touchdown pass up the middle. 37-30 Rams.
Seahawks touchdown or loss. At the 35, Seattle gets the ball back. K9 gained 4 yards on 1st and 10. Darnold breaks free of pressure and drives JSN into Rams territory. Darnold fumbles the ball on 1st and 10. JSN was robbed by Emmanuel Forbes for the defensive PI and first at-bat. After Walker ran 2 yards, Kupp caught the deep pass! ! ! ! Out on the 17th! Darnold to Charbonnet and Barner, which set up third-and-3. Charbonnet converts to 4! The first one was also a goal…touchdown, Smith Ngiba! ! ! Now they want two! ! ! ! It was caught by Eric Saubert! ! ! ! Seahawks win! Seahawks win! !
next week’s opponent
The Seahawks will play their final two regular season road games, starting with the Carolina Panthers (7-7) on Sunday, December 28 at 10 a.m. PT on CBS. If the Panthers defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend, Carolina will clinch an NFC South matchup against Seattle.
