The Seattle Seahawks are back in the Super Bowl for the first time in 11 years after they defeated the Los Angeles Rams 31 -27. The win saw the Seahawks beat the Rams for the second time in three matchups this season, and means that Mike Macdonald has taken his team to the Super Bowl in just his second year as a head coach. Sam Darnold played the best game of his career with 346 yards and three touchdowns as he is now one win away from one of the best redemption stories in NFL history. This game was the perfect culmination of one of the best in season rivalries we have ever seen in the NFL, and the Seahawks edged it in a game that was inevitably going to come down to the wire.
The story of this game was both offenses. Matthew Stafford yet again torched Seattle’s number one scoring defense, with 374 yards and three touchdowns. On the other side-line, Darnold proved all of his doubters wrong and showed he can play a great game from start to finish in a big moment, with this being the biggest of them all so far in his career. On a night where the two clear best teams in the NFL were on show, the game came down to a few crucial mistakes by the Rams, including special teams, which unfortunately does not come as a surprise.
The first half was unsurprisingly even, with both defenses forcing multiple punts, but both offenses also making some great plays. With the Rams leading 13-10 with 54 seconds left in the 2nd quarter, Seattle produced maybe the best drive of the night, in a game where both offenses played at an elite level. It will come as a surprise to no one that Jaxon Smith-Njigba (JSN) was the star of that drive for the Seahawks, taking his team downfield with a 42-yard catch, before catching a 14-yard touchdown on 2nd and goal three plays later. That was a backbreaking touchdown for LA to give up, having had the Seahawks in a long 2nd and goal, and not holding them to three points. The play call was sensational from Klint Kubiak, Seattle’s offensive coordinator, lining JSN up in the backfield and calling a running back scissors concept, leaving LA’s secondary lost.
Now trailing 17-13 to start the second half, on the road in a hostile atmosphere, the Rams had to salvage momentum from somewhere after that Seahawks touchdown to end the first half. Their defense did exactly that by forcing a punt on Seattle’s first drive of the half. However, as it has so many times this season, special teams cost the Rams. Punt returner Xavier Smith fell and fumbled the ball on his return attempt, gifting the Seahawks great field position, which Darnold took advantage of with a 17-yard touchdown pass straight away.
From there, the game saw three straight touchdown drives, with LA’s first coming from just four plays. Darnold then took his team back into the endzone, with the help of former Super Bowl MVP for the Rams, Cooper Kupp, who caught a pass on 3rd and long to extend the drive, as well as a touchdown on another 3rd down. Stafford wouldn’t let up, though. He and the offense were given a lifeline after a Riq Woolen taunting penalty, which meant the Rams avoided punting. After that, though, the Super Bowl winning quarterback would not let that mistake go unpunished, instantly targeting Woolen as he found Puka Nacua for a 34-yard touchdown pass on the next play. The game had exploded, and the Seahawks now lead just 31-27.
When the Rams then forced a punt from Seattle, a Stafford touchdown drive felt inevitable. That may well have been the case had Colby Parkinson not dropped a potential touchdown in the red zone on 3rd and 1 after the ball was slightly tipped. Thanks to a rare run for a first down from Stafford on 4th and 1, the drive didn’t end because of that drop, but it would prove costly given the Rams weren’t able to eventually find the endzone. Macdonald’s number one defense had been torched by LA throughout the game, particularly in the 3rd quarter, but they stepped up when it mattered most. On 3rd and 4, with five minutes left in the game, Devon Witherspoon had a pass breakup, and then on 4th and 4, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, Witherspoon was there again to force the incompletion, and the Seahawks had the ball back.
Leading 31-27 with less than five minutes on the clock, Darnold had a chance to ice the game and send his team to the Super Bowl. He didn’t quite end the game on offense, but he did enough. Seattle once again showed that they are not like other teams as they went aggressive in a situation where many teams would have gone conservative. Darnold found Kupp for a 3rd and 8 conversion on a play that McVay maybe should have challenged instead of taking a timeout, as the worst case scenario with a challenge would have been a lost timeout anyway. Nonetheless, Seattle had a first down with just over three minutes left on the clock. Not long after, with LA having no timeouts remaining, on a 2nd and 7 with two minutes and 14 seconds left, Seattle called a play action pass, a call so aggressive that it was met with shock by Tom Brady who was on commentary. Despite the ball falling incomplete, a holding call on Kupp gave Seattle the crucial first down.
That aggressiveness practically sealed the game for the Seahawks. Despite them punting four plays later, and the Rams then coming an inch away from having the ball in Hail Mary range, as Nacua was ruled inbounds on a 21-yard pass, the game was pretty much over when Seattle’s punt meant the Rams had to go 93 yards in 25 seconds with no timeouts. Seattle secured their place in the Super Bowl as Nacua was ruled inbounds with the clock running down to zero thanks to a Witherspoon tackle.
For the Rams, this season will haunt them for a long time. It is not hyperbole to say that they may well be preparing for the Super Bowl right now had they just had an average special teams unit this season. Two blocked field goals cost them a win against the Philadelphia Eagles early on in the regular season. A missed field goal and giving up a punt return touchdown cost them the Week 16 matchup against the Seahawks, giving Seattle homefield advantage for this very game. Then, on a night where both offenses were excellent, the only turnover came from a muffed punt by Xavier Smith on LA’s special teams. Other mistakes can be pointed to, such as Parkinson’s potential touchdown drop. Decisions by McVay can also be analysed, such as not challenging Kupp’s third down catch on Seattle’s last offensive drive, or taking the extra point instead of going for two to make it a field goal game with two minutes left in the 3rd quarter. However, all year it seemed as if the only way the Rams wouldn’t win it all would be special teams, and that was the case.
Take no credit away from the Seahawks, however. This win over the Rams shows that they have been the best team in the NFL this season and, while that doesn’t mean they will definitely defeat the New England Patriots, they will certainly be favoured. This team has been a defensive first group this season but the offense has been excellent all year as well, and they put up an elite performance tonight. JSN was unsurprisingly sensational, Kenneth Walker III had an outstanding game, much better than the box score would suggest, stepping up with a heavier workload after the season-ending injury of fellow running back, Zach Charbonnet. Rashid Shaheed only had one offensive touch on the night but it was for a 51-yard gain to start Seattle’s game on offense with a bang. Cooper Kupp also came up huge on several third downs, with a touchdown catch on top of that against his former team. Along with all of the players, Kubiak was incredible with his play calling, giving his playmakers plenty of opportunities to move the ball. This was a team effort from everyone involved on the Seahawks, and they deservedly won the game.
The man who deserves the most credit, though, is Sam Darnold. In the biggest game of his career, against the team that eliminated him last season, and gave him so many issues this season, he delivered the best game he has ever played. It wasn’t just about the throws he made, either. He made sure to not lose his team the game when things went wrong. Seattle’s biggest flaw this season has been turning the ball over and they didn’t do that once, against a team that took the ball away from them seven times in two previous games this season. The perfect example came in the 2nd quarter when a fumble on the snap saw Darnold chasing a loose ball. Instead of attempting to scoop it up and make a play, Seattle’s quarterback just fell on the ball and lived to fight another down. The Seahawks ended up punting given they were in a 2nd and 19 situation, and the Rams did score a touchdown the following drive, but the fact is Darnold kept his cool and didn’t give the Rams a chance at a momentum-shifting turnover with his team leading 10-6. It may have been a negative play but we have seen quarterbacks try to make something out of nothing in these playoffs, and cost their team. Darnold didn’t do that once in this game.
These two teams were evenly matched all season. They split the regular season series, and all three games came down to one score, as did the two games between Macdonald and McVay in the 2024 season. Both quarterbacks had over 300 yards and three touchdowns. Both star receivers had over 150 yards and one touchdown. Both defenses made stops, with the Rams forcing five punts and the Seahawks forcing multiple punts, multiple field goals, and getting the crucial 4th down stop. Unfortunately, one team had to lose.
The Seahawks will be favoured in the Super Bowl but, while they are no doubt the superior team, they will have to fight even harder in Santa Clara to lift that Lombardi trophy for the first time in twelve years.