SEATTLE — On a cold December night in the Pacific Northwest, Sam Darnold was in the midst of a nightmare performance similar to his past two outings versus the Los Angeles Rams.
Darnold had thrown two interceptions and the Seahawks were down 30-14 midway through the fourth quarter. Seattle’s win probability was as low as 2.7% with 9:04 remaining in the fourth quarter, according to Next Gen Stats. The two picks gave Darnold eight total turnovers in his previous three meetings against the Rams, including the playoffs.
The crowd was restless.
Then momentum dramatically shifted when the Seahawks’ Rashid Shaheed returned a punt 58 yards to the house. It catapulted the Seahawks to their largest fourth-quarter comeback in franchise history. Seattle carried its momentum into overtime as they successfully converted a game-winning two-point conversion in a 38-37 overtime victory over the Rams.
Playoffs clinched. The Seahawks control their own destiny. First place in the NFC is currently theirs.
‘Just an electric atmosphere. With all the adversity we were dealing with throughout the game,’ Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said postgame. ‘The resiliency (and) the relentlessness is there, the character of this team is there, and they have each other’s backs, all three phases.’
The adversity and resiliency Macdonald referenced postgame mostly resides with his starting quarterback.
Darnold exorcised his Rams demons in what was perhaps the biggest game of his career.
Following two interceptions in the second half, Darnold made a 26-yard touchdown pass to tight end AJ Barner in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks tied the game on the ensuing play on a bizarre two-point conversion. Then Darnold completed five of six passes in overtime that was capped off by a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a game-winning two-point try by tight end Eric Saubert.
‘For me especially, I’ve had games like this in the past where I haven’t played necessarily my best football and turned the ball over. But at the end of the game, you see yourself on the other side. It’s not great when you have interceptions and turnovers. You want to limit that, but all you can do is fight back,’ Darnold explained. ‘I was just going to continue to plug away and get the ball to open receivers, and go through my reads.’
What made Darnold’s response to adversity even more impressive is his recent history against the Rams. He went into Thursday 1-4 versus the Rams, including the playoffs. The Rams picked him off four times in Week 11 and twice before Thursday’s massive rally. Many might have thought the game was over when Darnold tossed his second interception of the night and just chalked it up as the Rams being Darnold’s kryptonite.
But the defense had a trio of three-and-outs in the fourth quarter, Shaheed ignited Seattle with thr punt return and Darnold showed tremendous resiliency after his earlier mishaps.
The victory could galvanize the Seahawks in their final two regular-season games and into the postseason. Seattle is on top of the NFC, and now it has a quarterback who’s proven he can respond to adversity and help rally the team to victory on a big stage.
‘These types of wins truly show what type of team you have,’ Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. ‘To be able to comeback in the fourth quarter, go to overtime, get that two-point conversion, and like all those small details that you know bring the team together. Especially when we’re making that push into the playoffs where there’s gonna be some hard-fought games. I think that really shows what type of team we have.’
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.
