What. A. Game.

Bad night for the for the Sam Darnold Can’t Win A Big Game Crowd, right?

Sammy wasn’t perfect in this game. Of course, it didn’t help that he was without his starting left tackle, Grey Zabel was weirdly giving up easy sacks and false starting, and Cooper Kupp coughed up the football running towards the end zone that took points off the board, but to say Sam had an up and down game would be understating his night, slightly.

The two picks he threw had fans frustrated and wondering if ghosts were appearing again. By the time the second one happened, my text thread was blowing up, and I was about to put my phone in the freezer to get away from the fray of angst and frustration, and the dumb narratives about him that I was surely going to hear all Christmas week.

Fortunately, when the Seattle Seahawks needed him most to make the plays in the fourth quarter, and especially at the end of overtime with a high powered touchdown throw to Jaxon Smith Njigba in the back of the end zone, and then a gigantic knock off two point conversation throw to Eric Saubert for the shocking win, he delivered.. big time. This delivery in clutch time can never be taken away from him, and because of it, this will be a Seattle Seahawk football game that I will remember for a very long time.

The Seahawks beat the Rams, and they are 12-3. They clinched the playoffs in Mike Macdonald’s second season as head coach, and control their own destiny towards winning the NFC West division, and having a first round bye in the playoffs with an opportunity to host two playoff games before the Super Bowl. That is how big this win was for them last night.

So, yeah. Bad night for the Darnold Doubters. I am sure that they will hang onto their priors, though, and bide their time. People can stay devoted to lazy narratives.

My other overriding thought coming out of this game is just the sheer outstanding showing of utter, unrelenting, resilience the entire Seahawks team showed after they went down big, 30-14, against the Rams midway during the second half. By the time the Rams went up 30-14, the chances of Seattle winning that game was next to nothing, but the way the Seahawks fought, and clawed back into this game to get it into overtime was nothing short of incredible.

The dynamic punt return for a touchdown by Rashid Shaheed after Darnold threw his second INT of the game, and Seattle’s defense valiantly forced a Rams punt, in retrospect, was the spark that lit the fire. When Darnold hit Cooper Kupp for a two point conversion, thus making the score 30-22, the game felt mildly more interesting.

Then the defense held Matthew Stafford and company at bay, again, got Seattle the ball, Shaheed contributed, big time, with yet another dynamic play, this time an end around run, and then Darnold brilliantly hit a wide open AJ Barner for a touchdown to make it 30-28. Then the wildest, weirdest two point conversion ever happened when Darnold threw a backwards pass to Zach Charbonnet that was tipped and initially called incomplete, but was recovered by Charbs in the end zone, and by rule of a backwards pass equalling a fumble, was a live ball, and thus ruled a successful conversion attempt tying the game up 30-30. Wow.

In that moment, it felt like the entire Mount Olympus of Football Gods looked upon the stadium full of sad sack Seahawk fans and said “there you go, Puka Nacua is a bonafide punk ass bitch, and here is a chance given for your team to beat his ass.”

Eventually, the teams found themselves in overtime after neither offense could take advantage of scoring the go ahead points in the final moments of the fourth quarter to put the game away with a win. This is why I started this piece off talking about Sam Darnold playing big in the big moments of overtime, and why it needs proper reflection of what actually happened in overtime.

The Rams got the ball first with an opportunity for Seattle to match points. This was by Seattle’s design when they won the toss. Mike Macdonald wanted to put faith in his banged up defense that found themselves minus safety Coby Bryant, cornerback Riq Woolen, and DB sensation Nick Emmanwori, but really, he wanted his offense to have final possession with four down territory should Matt Stafford and company score a touchdown, which they did when the back end reserve defenders couldn’t hang with Puka.

Seattle needed Sam Darnold to not only lead a touchdown drive, but also to successfully pull off their third two point conversion to win it instead of going for the tie. Sam could not have picked a better time to show ice in his veins against a defense that sacked him multiple times and picked him off twice in regulation. So, yeah. Let me say it again. Bad night for the Sam Can’t Win The Big Game Crowd.

This wasn’t a playoff game, but it was a vital game for the Seahawks to clinch the playoffs and be in the driver’s seat for the division title. There is still, obviously, two game left, and anything can happen, but I would have to think that this sort of dramatic victory is likely going to infuse this team with loads of confidence heading into these last two matchups against Carolina, and San Francisco on the road.

In fact, I would think this result for the Seahawks puts significantly more pressure on the 49ers to now find wins against good Colts and Bears teams before their season finale matchup against Seattle in Santa Clara in two weeks. It is an assumption that the game in Santa Clara would be for the division but the reality is that if Seattle beats Carolina, and the Niners lose one of the next two games, the division could already be sowed up for Seattle, especially if the Rams drop their MNF game against the Falcons, and the NFL has been weird like that this year.

For the Seahawks to win this game, though, I felt like they needed to run the ball effectively, and be explosive downfield with passes off of it on top of making life hard for Stafford. Well, I would have liked to have seen a lot more hardship placed on Stafford, but Seattle ran the ball for 171 yards in this one against a pretty good defense, and the downfield passing eventually found itself off of that. So, this is a good sign for the team moving forward regardless of how the defense played.

I think this was the quieter story of the game why Seattle came out on top in this one, and the hero in all those rushing yards? Ken Walker, who I blasted days ago for looking inept against the Colts, but my K9 enthusiast friend Matt assured me would have a big game.

I don’t know what to make of K9, to be honest. He has the rare explosiveness to be one of the very best backs in the league, but he can also be wildly inconsistent, but let me give proper credit when full credit is due. If truth be told, his running and catching in this game might have been the biggest key to this whole entire dramatic Seattle Seahawk victory. Klint Kubiak stayed very patient with the run, even in crucial moments when they needed multiple scores late to tie it up. The Rams defenders couldn’t tee off on Darnold like they were able last time around because of the danger of K9 and his 100 yards and a TD on 11 carries. This was felt in overtime when Seattle had the ball, in particular.

For Seattle to be a factor in the playoffs, they are going to have to be better at running the football, and more consistent at it. Right now, I feel like Charbonnet is the more consistent runner, but the allure of making sure you mix in plenty of K9 is entirely understandable, especially in the wake of what he did in this game. Let us hope as Seahawk fans there is more of it. They will need it, if they want to make a run at a title this year.

For now, let’s enjoy this epic Thursday Night Football win. What a glorious holiday present to behold for the Twelves.

It has been ages since I have seen a better game played in the regular season for the Seattle Seahawks. I am not just thinking of the LOB years. I am thinking all the way back to 1990, when Dave Krieg was playing, and he was sacked seven times in Kansas City by Derrick Thomas, and yet threw the game winner in the final moments when Thomas was trying to haul him down for his eighth sack. That was 35 years ago, and yes, I am old as fuck to remember it, vividly. That was an epic win for the Seahawks then, and this was an epic win now.

Oh, yeah. One other thing final thing worth mentioning.

I think those wolf gray rival jerseys that the Seahawks were wearing with those sparkling green helmets looked absolutely DOPE, and I could give a rat’s flying ass if they are somewhat Oregon Ducky looking. Get over it Husky fans. Let’s keep ’em.

Go Hawks!