Rams-Seahawks Week 16 TNF Game of The Year!

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2:44with a two-point conversion catch. Holy cow! Perfect, joyous, messy call to a perfect, joyous night of football for the Seattle Seahawks. What did we just watch? The Seahawks win 38-37 in overtime to take control of the NFC West, of the NFC wildcard race, And Jordan Rodrigue joins me from across Los Angeles on a night where it felt like we had an MVP moment for Matthew Stafford with about 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter. And then the game really started and the Seahawks somehow found all their way, got all the way back, got the win. And Sam Darnold, I don't know if it's his MVP moment, Jordan, but he had his very best drive of the game.

3:42I think their offensive line was great in that overtime. And they go for two to win it. And they get the two. And they vanquish the Rams, sweeping them on the season. Whoa, man. So much happened during this game, Greg. Oh, my Lord. We were watching thinking, okay, this is definitely the game is drunk. This is definitely going to end it. This time, it's definitely going to end it. This time, it's definitely going to end it. But when Matthew Stafford in overtime hits the vintage Matthew Stafford inbreaker to Puka Nakua for the touchdown, that's when we thought, OK, of course, this is what's going to ultimately and finally end this game.

4:27It was almost too poetic. That is the quintessential Matthew Stafford throw. He is the best on the planet at throwing that inbreaker a little dig at varying lengths. And then Sam Darnold had a say, Greg. Sam Darnold had a say on the other side. It was an up and down game for Sam Darnold who throws two interceptions. But in the fourth quarter, when Rashid Jaheed helps to turn the game around and the Seahawks defense helps to turn the game around, it's special teams, it's defense. And it's also a quick strike by Darnold to A.J. Barner to really make them go crazy. The craziest two point conversion that you'll ever want to see.

5:04But yeah, I go back to that overtime drive, really. And you think about the drive starter to Jackson Smith and Jigba. You think about the beautiful toe tap sideline throw to Cooper Cup. And by the end of this game, the Rams defense, which was game for so much of it, was gassed. And all season, we've talked about like these are the most two complete teams in the NFL. And I think the Seahawks tonight kind of showed maybe they're a little more complete because special teams count. and even though the defense struggled for most of the night, their fourth quarter defense really came through and gave their special teams and their offense a chance to make that comeback in regulation and then in overtime.

5:48Yeah, and how about Rashid Shahid giving the spark when needed, not just on the punt return for a touchdown after the Rams failed again to score any points, another three and out as their offense totally dried up. Seahawks increased the pressure, changed up the different styles of pressure. It looked to me, and I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, it looked to me like they were blitzing a little bit less or a little bit more selectively and trying to get pressure just with four very successfully against Matthew Stafford. And there were a couple of drops. Then Rashid Shahid steps up and says, hey, remember me?

6:26I'm the guy who shows up in these late games for the Seattle Seahawks. A punt return for a touchdown and then sets them up with great field position. after another failed Rams drive, that started to flip the game. And of course, the Rams special teams, I texted you this. I was like, we thought the game was going to end. And I said, I never bet against Rams special teams, parentheses, negative. All right, let's actually listen to that Rashid Shahid play. So just to think about where we are in the game at this point, Matthew Stafford throws the no-look touchdown to Puka Nakua to go up 30 to 14 with 13 minutes left in the game.

7:02At that point in the game, the Rams have over an 80 % chance to win according to NextGenStats. It gets even higher later in the game. In all four of their losses this season, they have had a big-time lead in over an 80 % chance, which probably makes a lot of the people listening and watching, thank you to everyone who's watching live on YouTube, think, well, that's why these percentages don't make any difference. Maybe not when it comes to the Rams. The Seahawks drive down the field, they get into the red zone, and Kobe Turner has what feels like a game-sealing interception with about eight minutes and change to go.

7:37And the Rams have the ball up 16. That starts a sequence of offensive drives in the fourth quarter where the Rams get the ball five times. They have a total of four first downs in those five drives. It includes three straight, three and outs. They take up over six and a half minutes of clock in five drives. They fail to run the clock out. and the Seahawks begin their comeback after that first three and out where they go run run pass and then punt let's listen to that punt Seahawks can jump right back into this game with a big return here by Rashid Shahid this is a high wobbly kick Shahid has to run up makes the catch in his own 43 starts up the middle now he has a gap on the left side 40 turns up field there he goes 20 15 10 5 holy catfish touchdown seahawks i'm telling you the coaches next door breaking the glass and rashid shaheed does it again just when the seahawks need a big special team play they get it ah great of course and he's taught it's a great call and of course he's talking about the offensive and defensive coaches that are up in the booth slamming on the glass sides of the booth as that play is happening, which would be so fun, I think, to call a game right next to.

9:00That was one of those moments, Greg. I've seen a few of them in Rams history and especially on special teams. I'm thinking of that Ravens game, I think it was two years ago, where it almost was like it's a very quick right hook that knocks the wind out of you very suddenly. And you could see it the Rams are almost reeling like did not expect it totally surprised by it but it's something that they've struggled with all year Greg is their special teams unit they've changed personnel they've churned out the bottom of the roster with some of their coverage and and certainly it failed them there yeah and to me it's more about one of the best special teams units in the NFL like if you look at DVOA efficiency the Seahawks are two the Rams are 25 and that was before they got Rashid Shahid who has just a preposterous history that's a Harbaugh coaching of long touchdowns from scrimmage.

9:52He is top seven all time, I think, in average length of touchdowns. If you count just his scrimmage touchdowns, of course, that was on a punt return. He has the longest average length of a touchdown since the merger. It's just outrageous how many 50-yard plus touchdowns he has gotten, and that's basically the only touchdown that he gets. And yet, there's still a lot of work to be done after that. I think when we think back about this game, we'll think about the ensuing two-point conversion where you think it's an incomplete pass and everyone on the field seems to think it was an incomplete pass, except who is the man that picked it up there in the moment?

10:33I'm totally blanking. Cooper Cup? No. No, that was Charbonnet picked it up. Charbonnet picked it up. He's on top of it. No one else really seems to realize that it could be. He does not really know what he's doing in that moment. And it takes a review to determine that Sam Darnold was in fact throwing the ball backwards when Jared Verse deflects it. He picks it up in the end zone and that two points really allows them to get to overtime, to get the two-point conversion that they later need later in regulation. And it's just one of those plays. I guess we're back to that the Seahawks never play a normal game.

11:12Imagine being at that game tonight, Jordan. Yeah, I mean, the crowd, you could hear the crowd slowly start to swell as they started to realize what was going on as they kept playing the review of this pass and thinking, oh, yeah, that's kind of moving backwards or at least parallel. The crazy thing is when they finally get that the right angle where it's actually on the line of scrimmage, even then, I do think it was backward, but it is so close and that ends up making a big difference. It's such a complicated game because you want to give credit. You want to blame things for going wrong, I guess, for the Rams.

11:46But it's a night where Matthew Stafford throws for 457 yards and three touchdowns. It has the great overtime touchdown. Dominates one of, if not the best defenses in the league for three quarters. And yet, when you think about the game, you still have to think about what happened after that moment. The Rams are in a totally commanding position. when they get the ball back again. And as I mentioned, they go three and out three straight times. So I don't really blame the play calling because it starts out run, run, pass. That doesn't work. Then they go pass, pass, pass. That works even worse. There's a batted pass in there.

12:24You mentioned the pressure is getting there. There's some pressures. Sometimes it's four man. Then the next time around after that three and out, they go run, pass, pass. They tried every single combination of how aggressive they want to be. Ultimately, they have another drive because their defense does get some stops. They give up one short, big-time throw to Sam Darnold, to Barner, which gets it back to a tie game. But the defense does give the offense a chance to just win the game in regulation, and they're not able to do that two different times. That ends one drive with a missed Mavis kick, which is going to keep Sean McVay up at night.

13:04And then another drive at the end of regulation when they had the timeout, they had plenty of clock. And you kind of figured this is Stafford's moment to go lead them to a victory. And they're not able to get off the field there. What did you see from the fourth quarter when it was going wrong for the Rams and right for the Seahawks out of the Seahawks defense? And how did they get off the field? Well, they first of all, the explosives did not help. There were some coverage issues and the players that had been the types of pressures that had been working against Sam Darnold early in the game, which I'm sure talk about later if we if we get to it.

13:39Um, it just wasn't as effective. There were, I think some of the issues were especially, um, these kind of, when you go back and you look at the dots, they look like coverage issues, right. In the secondary, we know that they are missing Quentin Lake, um, Charles or Josh Wallace. I keep calling him Charles, Charles Wallace out of a wrinkle in time, but Josh Wallace, um, had a great, most of this game and was playing in that star position. Like he has in, in relief. um but you know you saw at times the receivers get behind or just find their ways into space when Kubiak was working a lot of different formation changes as well um to me this is when also the Seahawks got much more aggressive in trying to push the ball than they did than they were when um they started the game they were almost like weirdly cautious to start the game and they didn't get a lot of bites at the apple he only got to throw the ball six times they were trying to make the run happen.

14:40It just wasn't happening. But it was sort of that bend don't break type of thing and breaking at the wrong times for the Rams. Yeah, like to me, it's more about the Seahawks defense in general, because if you really think about the Seahawks offense, they never really got into a rhythm. They hit the big Kenneth Walker play to start the second half, 55-yard touchdown rush. Hell, we're here. Let's listen to Kenneth Walker giving them an early lead in the third quarter. Not a question. First and 10. Here's a handoff to Walker now. He starts up the middle. He breaks it outside 50. He's down 40. He's on the run.

15:1730, 25, 20. He's going to go 10. Third. Touchdown Seahawks. 55 yards on the way. Ken Walker III started the game on the opening drive with a screen pass for 46. This time he goes 55 on a handoff. He has longed for the season, and he takes it in for six, and the Seahawks have tied this baby up at 13 apiece. And I thought that was such an important moment because even though they ended up trailing 30-14 by the start of the fourth quarter. This game reminded me of the first game in that one team is dominating the game, and that was the Rams at that point. They're killing them in yardage. It could have been 20-6 at halftime.

16:09It could have been 23-6. They played with their food by struggling in the red zone, getting stopped on fourth down. In a game where they were kind of dominating, at that point, they end up trailing. And I know eventually they do build up that big lead, but it's not like the Seahawks offense really got in rhythm is what I was kind of getting to. Because after that intercept, after that touchdown by Kenneth Walker, if you think about the rest of the second half, Darnold throws an interception. They punt after a couple of first downs. Darnold throws another interception. They get the one quick turnaround, big play touchdown to Barner.

16:48And that's the one thing the offense does. And then they get three chances to possibly win the game at the end of the game. And they go three and out for all three. So at no point did they really get into an offensive rhythm. But their defense kept getting the ball back for them over and over again. And eventually, Darnold makes it happen in overtime. By the time you're talking about that Kenneth Walker touchdown, his two explosive plays accounted for 101 of Seattle's 185 net yards at the time when the Rams were up after the field goal, 16 to 14. So, yeah, like could not figure out like the explosives and then nothing.

17:31Right. Like it was so and it also felt it also felt like they were taking a warm up walk before they started to run. You know, like they were getting their legs going and they were starting because ultimately what you saw at the end of this game was the purest definition of complimentary football. Right. And what you saw at the end of this game was when Sam Darnold in overtime needed to finally get this offense moving down the field in a cohesive looking way in putting together big pieces of plays, as well as the little conversions that mattered. That was when he did it. But up until then, you're right.

18:10It was like start, stop, start, stop, like slow in the first half, like just slowly kind of limbering up a little bit. And then ultimately, like you said, the defense, I mean, God, kudos to the Seattle defense because where you kind of saw, and I know, yes, the Rams moved the ball down the field at the end too, but like where you saw some of this gas out, I think, happen for the Rams, Seattle even losing Nick Aminwari to an injury late in the game, like they just kept coming. They just they are a monolithic wave that just will never stop trying to smother you. And it is really crazy to watch. And look, it's why I love football.

18:55It's why I love talking about the game afterwards. Like you can look and see that they gave up 581 yards and 37 points. And still kept coming at you. Right. And still kept coming. If you don't count the end of the half drive from the Rams where they got the ball with 80 yards to go in the first half and essentially just kneeled on the ball, didn't try to score. They gave up scores on six straight drives before it all went wrong in the fourth quarter. But there are so many different types of ways that you can win a game. And I think this Seahawks team has been really resourceful and they have big playmakers everywhere and they end up making it when it really matters.

19:40It I don't think it's a it's a death blow for the Rams by any means, but it's probably that a death blow for their number one seed just to talk stakes because we're going to we're going to go still into this game. The magic number for the Rams to get eliminated now from the NFC West is one like the Seahawks just have to win one more game and the Rams are not going to do it. Because the Seahawks and the Ram, the 49ers, who are loving this result, like they could be playing for the NFC West title in week 18, depending on what the 49ers do in the meantime. The 49ers have a chance at the one seed.

20:15Just been lurking. The Bears have a chance at the one seed. The Packers have a chance at the one seed. And the Rams are going to need a lot of help. And they're potentially, Jordan, going to be looking back at this game and thinking like now we have to go play outdoors potentially. for three straight weeks instead of having a bye in the first round. And it just it just comes down to the details. What do you think, like, Sean, you having covered the team for so long, will be thinking about most on the flight home? His kicker, probably. It's so unfair, though. He's I know he's going to say he's going to say and I am sure it like and also probably those those five drives where they came in with no points.

20:56Because I think I think if they go back and look at the tape for the most part, I think they'll be fine with the way that Chris Shula called this game on defense. I think there'll be fine, especially a couple of like truly magical moments. And I think they're going to be fine overall with how that group played. They will not be fine with special teams, losing contain on the punt return touchdown. It's just, you know, beating your head against the wall over and over and over again, or trying the same thing so many times and expecting different results. Right. Like it's just, It's been special teams so many times with this team, whether it's losing an edge in a big moment or in this case, impacting.

21:37I know Patrick Claibon's in my head, but impacting the momentum truly of a game. And Sean McVay does believe in momentum. And I would imagine that will be a huge facet. But those five drives with no points, a couple of the drops to Colby Parkinson, who's been playing great football lately and goes back to Seattle, you know, where he joined the Rams from. And, you know, a couple of drops in key moments that holding by Davis Allen, you know, for a Rams team that was. deploying 13 personnel so effectively with like over a 60 % success rate at one point, three tight ends, one receiver, one running back on the field against the Seattle team that had previously been the only one to stop them from doing that with such effectiveness.

22:26And for these tight ends to a couple of times make great plays, but also, and then including a couple touchdowns, but also a holding penalty in a crucial moment that stalled out one of those drives where they could have potentially gone down the field and won the game. Those are the things I think if you're a coach that keep you up at night. Yeah, you lose an offensive lineman, Kevin Dotson, early in this game, and they were not able to run the ball. I think that was what stood out to me because this has been the most successful running team in the league by pure success rate. And in the end tonight, they either had to go away from the run or it just wasn't very effective.

23:08The Seahawks, we talk about the big plays like they had a 50 percent success rate running the ball tonight. It definitely picked up towards the end of the game where the Rams were at 37. And that was after they started running the ball really well. And so I think about so many of the big Rams wins this year, including the last couple of weeks, including against the Lions. They get the ball late and they just run it out like they're running when the other team knows that they're going to run. And they run it out. And they were not able to do that tonight. And then they were not able to have enough faith to continue even to run it.

23:40And I think the passing game, you know, doesn't have Devontae Adams. Stafford played outstanding and had a number of great throws. There was just like a couple throws in those last three or four drives that were off that he'll look back on. And it, you know, it just messes with all the narratives. But I think it just shows you a great defense like the one Mike McDonald runs. Like they're always going to keep spinning the wheel and try to find the right answer. And eventually I think they found the right answers with their personnel. Well, you saw that not just half to half, but quarter to quarter with them.

24:11Just the way that, like I said, even though they gave up a ton of yards, if you look at the box score, the, the way that they just kept coming at Matthew Stafford. And again, I do think with Kevin Dotson out, you could even tell early in this game, Sean McVay was going for it on fourth downs. The second Kevin Dotson left the game and Justin Diedich came in, who's played pretty well when he's been in relief of either one of those two guards. But it's not the same when you're running the ball with a guy that's like probably about my height. You know, obviously, I would hope weighs more than me, but, you know, probably about my height.

24:47And, you know, it's one of those where you could tell immediately he sort of turtled up from going for it. Didich had a penalty, obviously, that called back a touchdown. And then he and then Sean like waited for it to try to get the Seahawks to jump off sides on a fourth and goal or a fourth and short near the goal line. And Matthew Stafford was livid that that was the play. It was a great shot of Matthew Stafford on the broadcast like he wanted to go for it every time. But I could tell that McVay was not comfortable with their guards at that point. And I think that showed near the end because you it is a formula for them to move the line of scrimmage and close these games to go suffocation ball against an opponent, especially with a lead like that, to not have to throw it so much.

25:34Right. And and it was something that has bit Sean McVay before in previous years, before he had a run game like this, where it would just be throw, throw, throw. everything's on Matthew Stafford's shoulder and arm, which when it's great can be great. But when you're also missing one of the best receivers in the NFL and Devontae Adams and certainly their highest scoring one, you saw them missing him in a route that Terrence Ferguson ran that Matthew Stafford threw the ball to the landmark and Terrence Ferguson came out of the slot on the play. So you knew that if Devontae Adams was in the game, that would have been Devontae Adams's route.

26:09And so and then it sails incomplete. It could have been maybe a walk-in touchdown at that point. Just these little moments that I think some of it being personnel driven. And then also Seattle having the fortitude to capitalize on all of the little things that could potentially go wrong for the opponent in the game. Seattle has this resilience to them where they know how to capitalize on these things. So there's so many little moments like, look, the Rams failed on a fourth and short on their very first drive in Seattle territory. There's, you know, a drive where Puka has a contested catch right along the goal line.

26:46They end up not scoring a touchdown on that. Matthew Stafford misses a deep shot where Puka Nakua is wide open going down the field that you just don't normally see. You mentioned kind of the conservative decisions to take the three points, which I didn't have a problem with in this game for the most part. Like Sean McVay was being aggressive. No, but it started so differently. Yeah. And once they missed Kevin Dotson, it changed. Yes, and that was pretty early on in the game where their first six points are on those field goals where they're settling for it. One of them where they tried to draw a delay a game penalty, and it was just so much energy.

27:26I mean, have you seen? I mean, I can't remember. Sean McVay gets pumped a lot, so that's not true. I would say Sean McVay was peak pumped when they knocked the ball out of Cooper Cupp's hands for a forced fumble. I believe it was Cam Curl on the play late in the first half. I was fearful of anyone that was around Sean McVay because his veins were just coming out of his neck at this point. And to lose this game is going to be a big time letdown for them. Yeah, and you know Cooper Cup just had to dagger him right back at the very end of the game with that vintage Cooper Cup toe tap. And he had a couple of misplays and especially that one.