Resilient Seahawks Flex Skill Position Talent in Improbable Comeback to Stun Rams in OT
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Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) makes a catch for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams in the second half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. - With the clock whittling down to under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, everything seemed to be unraveling for the Seattle Seahawks under the lights in a crucial NFC West rematch against the Los Angeles Rams.
After an impressive touchdown drive on their first series from scrimmage gave Seattle an early 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, Los Angeles flipped the script by outscoring the home team 30-7 over the next 39 minutes of game action, aided by a near-pick six by cornerback Josh Wallace. Winning the turnover battle with Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua leading an aerial assault on offense, the game appeared to be teetering on the brink of a blowout when Sam Darnold threw a devastating second interception in the red zone at the 9:48 mark.
But big plays can change the complexion of a football game in an instant and after the Seahawks forced their first three-and-out of the night on defense, speedy receiver Rashid Shaheed provided the necessary fireworks to wake up a silenced Lumen Field crowd.
Catching the punt from Ethan Evans on the run, Shaheed made a wicked cut at the Seattle 47-yard line to leave an oncoming tackler grasping for air and then turned on the afterburners. Maintaining his balance while tip-toeing along the sideline, he managed to stay inbounds as he coasted to the end zone for a game-changing 58-yard touchdown, and a two-point conversion reception by Cooper Kupp suddenly cut the deficit to 30-22 with 8:03 to go.
Igniting the spark that has been missing most of the night, Shaheed’s heroics spearheaded a historic comeback for the Seahawks, who used touchdown passes from Darnold to tight end AJ Barner and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the fourth quarter and overtime to steal a stunning 38-37 win in front of a national audience. The victory marked the first time in 173 tries that Seattle won a game when trailing by 15 or more points in the final quarter, vaulting the team into first place in the NFC and NFC West standings.
In the immediate aftermath, coach Mike Macdonald and several of Shaheed’s teammates pointed to the punt return as the crucial play that turned everything around, bringing momentum back to the Seahawks sideline just in time to stage an improbable rally.
“Our special teams unit has just been a massive catalyst for us,” Macdonald said after the game. “Even when Tory [Horton] was returning punts he was doing a great job. Having Rashid do it, being decisive, getting downhill, punt return team blocking their tails off, yeah. That definitely kind of ignited part of the comeback for sure.”
“It gave us life. We felt like for this game, our special teams was a weapon,” safety Julian Love added. “We have a really good unit. When we got Rashid this year, it gave us a whole new sense of focus and energy on special teams, just knowing that he can return a kick at any moment. And now, he’s like, people aren’t getting it done, I’m going to do it myself. We love Shaheed. We felt the stadium rocking after that. Defense was getting stops then, offense goes down and scores again and it’s a whole new ballgame.”
Just five weeks earlier, the Seahawks weren’t able to make quite enough plays to overcome a late deficit at SoFi Stadium, losing 21-19 to the Rams as Jason Myers’ 61-yard field goal fell short with time expiring. Darnold threw four interceptions, tying a career-high in one of his worst performances in the NFL, and the duo of Smith-Njigba and Barner caught 19 of the team’s 29 receptions with Shaheed and Cooper Kupp held to 50 combined receiving yards.
Prior to Shaheed’s scintillating return on Thursday night, the Rams once again had Darnold stymied. Wallace jumped a slant route by Shaheed in the third quarter and returned it 56 yards to the Seahawks one-yard line, setting up a Blake Corum touchdown run on the next play. Then in the early stages of the fourth quarter, the quarterback took a shot in the pocket and didn’t see defensive tackle Kobie Turner dropping into coverage, throwing the pick right into his hands in the red zone, leading to mass groans from the sellout crowd.
But after Shaheed made his second house call in three weeks on special teams, the light switch came back on for the ever-resilient Darnold, who began to distribute the football all over the field to all of his playmakers. Following another forced punt by a resurgent Seattle defense, Shaheed took an end around and rocketed towards the numbers behind a key block from center Jalen Sundell, picking up 31 yards to make an awakened crowd raise the decibel level to another stratosphere.
On the very next play, Darnold faked the handoff to Ken Walker III, who already had a 55-yard touchdown run and a 46-yard catch on a screen to set up Seattle’s touchdown on the opening series of the game, before rolling to his left. Squaring his shoulders back to the right, he launched a deep ball to an open Barner on a corner route and the tight end plucked the ball out of the air at full extension for a 26-yard score, putting the ‘Hawks within two points with 6:30 remaining on the clock and dishing out his vintage celebration in the end zone to the delight of the roaring 12s.
“Unreal. Lumen [Field] is the best stadium in the world. Our fans are the best,” Barner said. “We feed off of them. And you’ve got to feed the fans too with big plays. That’s what we did.”
In a bizarre turn of events, Darnold’s ensuing two-point conversion pass attempt bounced off of defensive end Jared Verse’s helmet, initially ruled as an incomplete pass. Both the Seahawks and Rams sent their special teams units out for the Seattle kickoff, only for officials to initiate a review on the previous play, ruling that the pass was a backward lateral, thus making the ball live. Running back Zach Charbonnet picked it up in the end zone, awarding the home team two unexpected points to knot the score at 30 apiece.
Aiming to steal back momentum late in regulation, Los Angeles marched into Seattle territory, only for Macdonald’s defense to stiffen up and force a long field goal attempt. Harrison Mevis, who had already hit three field goals earlier, had his 48-yard field goal slice wide right, sending the crowd into a frenzy once again.
After trading punts to close out regulation, Seattle won the toss and deferred to open overtime, hoping to limit Stafford and company to a field goal. But following a near-interception by linebacker Ernest Jones that was changed to an incompletion by replay review, Nacua struck again, hauling in a 41-yard touchdown pass on a deep crossing route with several defenders in trail, pushing Los Angeles in front 37-30 and putting the ball back in Darnold’s court with the game hanging in the balance.
Displaying the poise and unflappable calm that have endeared him to teammates, Darnold linked up with Smith-Njigba for a 17-yard gain that promptly moved the Seahawks into Rams’ territory. Two plays later, the star receiver drew a defensive holding penalty on cornerback Emmanuel Forbes for a new set of downs, and the quarterback followed up with a perfect throw to Kupp on a corner route, standing tall in the pocket while taking a big hit and delivering a 21-yard strike as the veteran receiver managed to get both toes down before momentum carried him out of bounds.
Unsure at the moment if Kupp did get both feet down, Macdonald had the Seahawks sprint up to the ball to run a play, hoping to avoid another replay going against them. But watching the jumbotron from the sideline, it became clear that the former All-Pro completed the catch to advance Seattle into the red zone.
“Incredible,” Macdonald said of the catch. “We were going to go fast but it became pretty clear that he made the catch. I don't know, probably could have gotten huddled right there, but that's Coop. Just dragging the toe. Great play.”
Not forcing the issue and taking what the Rams gave him, Darnold dumped off back-to-back completions to Charbonnet and Barner to set up 3rd and 3 from Los Angeles nine-yard line. Charbonnet followed up with a punishing five yard run to move the chains, setting up play action as Darnold fired a missile to the back of the end zone for Smith-Njigba, making it decision time for Macdonald and the staff.
Understanding that tying the game wouldn’t help the Seahawks in the race for an NFC West title since they lost the first matchup between the two rivals, Macdonald didn’t hesitate, keeping Darnold and the offense on the field going for the win via two-point conversion. Both teams played timeout tag before the snap was taken, as Macdonald and Sean McVay engaged in a decisive game of coaching chess.
After the Seahawks burned their timeout, Darnold finally took the snap from Sundell as fans in the stands held their collective breaths. His first look went into the direction of Smith-Njigba, who had multiple defenders covering him in the end zone, while Kupp was covered underneath, forcing him to shift to his next progression in Barner, who also wasn’t open.
Afforded quality protection, Darnold slid to his left and fired a dart to rarely targeted tight end Eric Saubert, who became the unlikely hero reeling in the game winner. The veteran began the play blocking before sneaking out into a short curl route and the Rams didn’t notice him, leaving for an easy completion to finish off the once-inconceivable comeback.
“Had a chip on the defensive end. Help out the left tackle. I knew I was late in the progression,” Saubert explained. “Sam [Darnold] is amazing at going through his progression. He found me late, and I kind of blacked out after that, so I can't tell you anymore.”
By the time the crowd started happily shuffling towards the exits after Saubert’s shining moment, the Seahawks had turned in a much more balanced effort offensively than the first matchup with the Rams. Though Smith-Njigba came to life after being shutout in the first half with eight catches for 96 yards and the game-winning touchdown, Walker had 164 yards on just 14 touches with a touchdown, Shaheed had 89 yards on two touches on a run play and punt return, Barner added 49 yards and a score on four catches, and Charbonnet caught four passes while scoring his ninth rushing touchdown.
Through it all, even with his two earlier interceptions and a red zone fumble lost by Kupp late in the first half, Darnold stayed even-keeled and his teammates followed suit, never losing faith that they would find a way to crawl back into the game. Once a few breaks fell their way, the quarterback kept slinging the pigskin, spreading the wealth to a variety of players that showcased the team’s wealth of talent at the skill positions, fueling a win that felt a pipe dream five minutes into the final quarter.
As he has preached since his arrival in February 2024, Macdonald highlighted how the Seahawks’ latest win to clinch a playoff spot stemmed from trusting the process and the collective buy-in from everyone in the locker room. Tightly connected dating back to OTAs when the team had north of a 95% participation rate for the majority of their spring practices, their belief never wavered, carrying them to the most significant win under their second-year coach thus far and setting the stage to pursue even bigger goals over the next month and change.
“I'll tell you what, the resiliency, relentlessness is there, the character of this team is there. They have each other's backs all three phases. All that stuff we been talking about since we walked in the door is real and they've earned that. So just really, really proud of our group.”
