Are you not entertained?
For the second time in five days at Lumen Field, the Seahawks fell behind by double digits and rallied to win, each time the decisive points coming in the final minute or overtime.
For a few days, at least, the Mike Macdonald Seahawks morphed into the Pete Carroll Seahawks – inexplicably infuriating to start the game, then simply inexplicably finding a way to win (can you win the game in the first quarter?).
What are some numbers that best illustrate how unique Thursday night’s 38-37 win over the Rams really was? How does it impact the Seahawks’ playoff hopes? And what’s one quote to be sure you didn’t miss?
Let’s address those questions.
Seahawks take control of No. 1 seed in NFC
The Seahawks already controlled their own destiny for earning the top seed in the NFC, a bye in the first round and home field until the Super Bowl.
The biggest thing they had to do to get that seed was beat the Rams. An L.A. win and Seattle would have basically no shot.
So, that was as big of a win as the Seahawks could get, moving to 12-3 while the Rams dropped to 11-4, and the teams split the season series.
Via ESPN, the Seahawks’ odds of earning the top seed are 48.4%. while L.A.’s dropped to 24.8%.
The 49ers were also a big winner Thursday night as they control their own destiny. If they win out, including beating the Seahawks either Jan. 3-4 in Santa Clara, the 49ers will finish in at least a tie with the Seahawks but would take the tiebreaker for sweeping the season series. The 49ers would also win a three-way tie with Seattle and L.A. at 13-4 because of a combined 3-1 record in games against those two teams.
The 49ers face a tough stretch with a game at the Colts on Monday night, then home against the Bears before the finale against the Seahawks.
The Rams can still win the division and get the No. 1 seed if they win out against the Falcons and Cardinals and the Seahawks lose at Carolina but beat the 49ers.
There are other scenarios also at play. But for the Seahawks, what we know for sure after Thursday night is that they are in the playoffs, and that if they win two more games they get the No. 1 seed.
There was some definite history made
Simply watching the massive ebbs and flows that developed during the game’s three hours and 38 minutes – and especially the final-play score to win it – told you that Thursday night was a special night at Lumen Field.
After the cheering began to subside – which took a while – a number of stats gave further proof.
Here are a few that stand out:
• As shown on the Amazon telecast late in the game, the Seahawks were 0-172 when trailing by 15 or more points in the fourth quarter before rallying Thursday.
• It was the first time the Seahawks have converted three two-point plays in a game, all coming in the fourth quarter or OT. Putting that oddity into more perspective, their single-season record for two-pointers is four, in the 1994 and 1996 seasons. They had two two-pointers in a season five other times, most recently 2023. The Seahawks didn’t have any two-pointers this season before Thursday night. The last NFL team to convert three two-pointers in a game was Dallas against Cleveland in 2020.
• Via ESPN, the Seahawks are the first team to win an overtime game on a two-point conversion. They’re the fifth team to convert three two-point tries in the fourth quarter/overtime and the first of those five to win the game.
• Here’s a fact from OPTAStats that helps illustrate why Rams coach Sean McVay was so salty after the game: The Rams had 581 yards of offense, the most in the NFL this season and their most since 2000, per ESPN Research. L.A. is the first team in NFL history to record 500 yards of offense, have a plus-three turnover margin or better and lose. Teams were 93-0 in those games entering Thursday.
• And here’s another from NFL research: Since 1975, teams with 400 or more yards of offense, no turnovers and three takeaways were 79-0. The improbable rally means teams fitting that criteria are now 79-1.
A quote to note
Division games tend to get heated because of the familiarity between the two teams, and the Seahawks-Rams have been especially so for a while.
Maybe that explains why some of the Rams – according to linebacker Ernest Jones IV – taunted the Seahawks when they had a 30-14 lead in the fourth quarter.
“Crazy,” Jones said. “When they were up I guess they thought it was over. What was it, 30-14 at one time? They thought it was over with. That’s disrespectful as a defense. That’s disrespectful to the game because there’s too much time left on the clock for you to be thinking that it’s over.”
Jones said he wouldn’t detail who said what or what was said.
“They were saying stuff,” Jones said. “Yeah, they were saying stuff. I won’t repeat what they were saying because it’s not really good, but they were talking. … (But) they know (who they are who was talking) and we won.”
That Jones played for the Rams from 2021-23 might have made him more of a target for taunting.
Jones said he’s moved on from feeling any revenge against the Rams.
“If I’m being completely honest with y’all, as long as we won I could care less (about it being the Rams who the Seahawks beat),” he said. “The win matters, and we’re moving on and we get a chance to go to the playoffs and keep fighting.”
Could there be a round three?
As the Seahawks did after losing in L.A. last month, some of the Rams took some solace Thursday night in the idea that they may get another shot against Seattle this year in the playoffs, which is even more realistic now that each team has clinched a spot
Said defensive end Kobie Turner: “We went down swinging. That’s a really good football team, and it’s hard to beat a football team three times a year. We beat them once, they beat us once. We will see them again. At the end of the day, we are in the big dance. That’s what counts; that’s what matters.”
And what great theater a rubber match could be.
Consider that of the last eight games played between the two, seven have been decided by six points or less. Of those, three have gone to overtime. Another three were decided on either a missed field goal or failed fourth-down attempt in the final 21 seconds of regulation and another on a winning TD scored with 36 seconds left.
Since Macdonald took over as coach, the Seahawks and Rams have played four games in which the combined score is Rams 109, Seahawks 107.
And as Pro Football Network noted, the two games this year have been tight as can be with the Rams scoring 58 points and gaining 830 total yards, Seattle scoring 57 points and gaining 829 total yards.