Rams-Seahawks Week 16 TNF Game of The Year!

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Back inside his Barnell Darneld pastime looks HiT's on, It's talk cut down, make it extra boy, make a conversion. I don't care what it is. Butt, say offs win the game? Hook in hold the last play the game. Let's say Off's win. Thirty eight thirty seven gits Somber with a two point conversion.

00:00:21
Speaker 2: 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 thirty eight to thirty seven 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 Staff with about thirteen 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. I 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.

00:01:27
Speaker 3: 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 gonna end it this time. It's definitely gonna end it this time. It's definitely gonna end it. When Matthew Stafford in overtime hits the vintage Matthew Stafford inbreaker to Puka Nakua for the touchdown, that's when we thought, okay, of course, this is what's going to ultimately and finally end this game. It 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 of burying lengths, and then Sam Donald had to say, Greg, Sam Donald had to say on the other side.

00:02:18
Speaker 2: It was an up and down game for Sam Donald, who throws two interceptions. But in the fourth quarter, when Rashija Head 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 Donald to aj Barner to really make them go crazy, the craziest two point conversion that you'll ever want to see. But 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 counts. 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.

00:03:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, and how about Rashid Shaheed 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 increased, the different changed up, the different styles of pressure. It looked to me, And I don't have the exact numbers in front of 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 Shaheed's steps up and says, hey, remember me, I'm the guy who shows up in these late games for the Seattle Seahawks a putt return for a touchdown and then sets them up in great 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.

00:04:23
Speaker 2: All right, let's actually listen to that Rashid ja he'd 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 thirty to fourteen with thirteen minutes left in the game. At that point in the game, the Rams have, you know, over an eighty percent chance to win according to the next Gen stats. 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 eighty percent chance, which probably makes a lot of the people listening and watching, you know, thank you to everyone who's watching live on YouTube. I 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 ceiling interception with about eight minutes and change to go and the Rams have the ball up sixteen. 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, 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.

00:05:41
Speaker 1: Seahawks can jump right back into this game with a big return here by Rashid Shahed. This is a high wabbly kick. Shaheed has to run up makes the catch in his own forty three starts up the middle. Now he has a gap on the left side. Forty turns up field. There he goes twenty two, Day ten five, Holy cap tout un chay Hawks. I'm telling you the coaches next door breaking the glass and rash. He does it again. Just when the Seahawks need a big special teams play, they get it.

00:06:19
Speaker 3: A great chriss and he's 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 that. That was one of those moments, Greg, I've seen a few of them in Ram's 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're almost 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 special teams unit they've changed personnel, they've churned out the bottom of the roster with some of their coverage, and certainly it failed them there.

00:07:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, and to me, it's more about one of the best special teams units in the NFL. Like if you get a DVOA efficiency, the Seahawks are two, the Rams are twenty five, and that was before they got Rashid Shahed, who has just a preposterous history.

00:07:21
Speaker 3: That's a Harbaugh coaching down there.

00:07:23
Speaker 2: Long touchdowns from scrimmage, he is top seven all time, I think in average length of touchdowns if you count just as 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 fifty 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 of this game, 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, I'm totally blanking Cooper Cup.

00:08:11
Speaker 3: No, No, that was Sharbonay picked it up.

00:08:13
Speaker 2: Sharbonay picks it up. He's on top of it. No one else really seems to realize.

00:08:19
Speaker 3: That he does not really know what he's doing.

00:08:21
Speaker 2: Doesn't 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 it's just one of those plays. I guess we're back to that. The Seahawks never play a normal game. Imagine being at that game tonight, Jordan.

00:08:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the crowd. You could hear the crowd slowly start to swallows. They started to realize what was going on as they kept playing the review of this past and thinking, oh, yeah, that's kind of moving backwards or at least parallel.

00:09:01
Speaker 2: 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 you know, blame things for going wrong. I guess for the Rams. But it's a night where Matthew Stafford throws for four hundred and fifty seven yards in 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 you know worse, there's a batted pass in there. You 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 like they tried every single combination of how aggressive they want to be. Ultimately they have another drive because their defense does get some stops at 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 they missed Mavis kick, which is gonna keep Sean McVay up at night, and then another drive at the end of regulation when they had the timeouts, they had plenty of clock and you kind of figured this is Stafford's moment to 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 do they get off the field.

00:11:00
Speaker 3: 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 have been working against Sam Donald early in the game, which we'll I'm sure talk about later if we if we get to it. It just wasn't as effective. There were I think some of the issues were especially 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, Charles wall Josh Wallace. I keep calling Charles Charles Wallace out of a wrinkle in time. But Josh Wallace had a great most of this game and was playing in that star position like he has in relief. 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. 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 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. It just wasn't happening. But it was sort of that Ben don't break type of thing and breaking at the wrong times for the Rams.

00:12:25
Speaker 2: 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, fifty five yard touchdown. Ros Hel we're here. Let's listen to Kenneth Walker giving them an early lead in the third quarter.

00:12:45
Speaker 1: Our question first and Tim, here's a hand off the Walker.

00:12:48
Speaker 3: Now he starts up.

00:12:49
Speaker 1: The middle, he breaks it outside fifty pike down Ford, He's on the round, turn it twenty five twenty. He got ten touch down Hawks fifty five yards and m White. Ken Walker the third started the game on the opening drive with a screen pass for forty six. This time he goes fifty five on a handoff, his long for the season, and he takes it in for six, and the Seahawks have tied this baby up at thirteen a piece.

00:13:24
Speaker 2: And I thought that was such an important moment because even though they ended up trailing thirty to fourteen by the end of the fourth, the start of the fourth quarter this game reminded me of the first game in that like one team is dominating the game, and that was the Rams. At that point, they're killing them in yardage. It could have been twenty to six at halftime, it could have been twenty three to six. 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, Donald throws an interception, they punt, after a couple first downs, Donald throws another interception, they get the one, you know, quick turnaround, big play touchdown to Barner, and 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 Donald makes it happen in overtime.

00:14:44
Speaker 3: By the time we were talking about that Kenneth Walker touchdown, his two explosive plays accounted for one hundred and one of Seattle's one hundred and eighty five net yards at the time when the rams were up after the field go sixteen to fourteen. So yeah, like could not figure out like the explosives and then nothing right 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 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, it was like start stop, start stop, like slow in the first half, like just slowly kind of whimbering up a little bit. And then ultimately, like you, like you said, the defense, I mean, god, kudos to the Seattle defense because we're 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 Nickiminwari 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.

00:16:27
Speaker 2: And look, it's why I love football. It's why I love talking about the game afterwards, Like you can look and see that they gave up five hundred and eighty one yards and thirty still kept.

00:16:40
Speaker 3: Coming at you right and still kept coming.

00:16:43
Speaker 2: If you don't count the end of the half drive from the Rams where they got the ball with you know, eighty yards to go for in the first half, essentially just you know, kneeled on the ball, didn't didn't try to score. They gave up scores on six straight drives before it all you know, 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. It's I don't think it's a it's a death blow for the Rams by any means, but it's probably a death blow for their number one seed. Just to talk stakes, because we're gonna we're gonna go still to 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 forty nine Ers who are loving this result like they could be playing for the NFC West title in Week eighteen, depending on what the forty nine Ers do in the meantime. The forty nine Ers have a chance at the one, 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 put potentially, Jordan's 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, We'll be thinking about most on the flight home.

00:18:21
Speaker 3: His kicker probably that's so unfair, though he's I know he's going to say. He's going to say, and I am sure like and also probably those those five drives where they came in with no points, because 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 Chrishula called this game. On defense, I think they'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 I know Patrick Claybn's in my head, been 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 too. Cooby 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 thirteen personnel so effectively with like over a sixty percent 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, and for these tight ends to a couple times make great plays, but including a couple of 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.

00:20:22
Speaker 2: 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. The Seahawks we talk about the big plays, like they had a fifty percent success rate running the ball tonight. It definitely picked up towards the end of the game where the Rams were at thirty seven, 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. It's 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 gonna 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. And I think the passing game, you know, it doesn't have DeVante 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.

00:21:43
Speaker 3: Well you saw that not just half to half, but quarter to quarter with them just the way that, like I said, even though they gave up a ton of yards if you look at the box score, the way that they just kept coming at Matthew Stafford. And again, I do think with Kevin Dotson out even tell early in this game, Sean McVay was going for it on fourth downs the second Kevin Dotson left the game and Justin Dietitch came in. Who's 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, and you know, it's it's one of those where you could tell immediately he he sort of turtled up from going for it. Diet Its 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 McVeigh was not comfortable with their guards at that point, and I think that showed near the end, because you it is a formula for 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, right, 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 an arm, which when it's great, can be great, but when you're also missing one of the best receivers in the NFL, and DeVante 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 DeVante Adams was in the game, that would have been DeVante Adams's route and so and then the it's sales and complete 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 potentially go wrong for the opponent in the game. Seattle has this resilience to them where they know how to capitalize on these things.

00:24:07
Speaker 2: 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 Tuka has a contested catch right along the goal line. They end up not scoring a touchdown on that. Matthew Stafford misses a deep shot where Pukinakua 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, but.

00:24:41
Speaker 3: It started so differently. Yeah, it's and once once they once they missed Kevin dottson it changed.

00:24:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that was pretty early on in the game where they're like their first six points are on those field goals where they're settling for it. One of them where they tried to like draw a delay of game penalty and it was just so much energy. I mean, have you see I mean, I can't remember Jehan 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 Cup's hands for a forced fumble. I believe it was Cam Curl on the play late in the in the first half. Like, I was fearful of anyone that was around Sean McVay because his veins were just like coming out of his neck at this point. And to lose this game is going to be a big time lift down for them.

00:25:29
Speaker 3: 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. You know, obviously he was sick to his stomach losing that fumble. And then one of the nastiest, meanest play calls I've ever seen in my entire life courtesy of Chris Shula. It was Josh Wallace and basically he had the defense lineup in man to man and Josh Wallace tracked Cooper Cup across the stack in motion, so again a man indicator showing that you are in man to man and then instead of playing press man against Cooper Cup, he basically jumped into the zone knowing that Sam Donald was going to see a one on one on the left side perimeter, and so Josh Wallace jumps inside the zone and intercepts Sam Donald. And the most dastardly thing about it is that the Rams still was sending a linebacker to close over the top of Cooper Cup just in case Sam Donald was able to adjust and throw into the scene where Cooper Cup was going. But it was like one of the meanest, most mean spirited complimentary play calls I've ever seen in a game, and it was done by like a undrafted free agent who's filling in in Josh Wallace. And so Cooper Cup getting back in a vintage way like that is a toe tap I've seen a billion times right on the sideline, total situational awareness understands exactly where that second foot needs to land. I've seen it a bill million times, and he does it right at the right moment for the Seahawks.

00:27:04
Speaker 2: Let's listen to that interception by Wallace. It was sixteen to thirteen This is in the third quarter. It quickly became a two score game.

00:27:14
Speaker 3: After this Rams showing let's let's see who comes. They only rushed for Donald UT's.

00:27:18
Speaker 1: Quickly it's intercepted right side. Joss Wallace fifty forty gets a blot from Fisk, leaves inside to the five, extends the football. He's down inside the one. Josh Wallace with the takeaway a fifty five yard interception returned. The Rams are on the doorstep with a two point lead.

00:27:46
Speaker 2: It is now time for quarterback keeper presented by Snapdragon. Let's dive into the ultimate Darnald game because he has that interception.

00:27:57
Speaker 3: Mm hmm.

00:27:58
Speaker 2: Football is so context Joe. He has the interception where Kobe Turner picks him off on the goal line in the fourth quarter. You know, just the next drive. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see the pressure gets to Donald quickly. He lets go of it, his receivers not at all where he thinks he's gonna be, or he just panics and throws it into coverage where they drop the defensive lineman. And at that point in the game, if the Rams offense takes care of business, or if the Seahawks defense doesn't pick up their buddy Sam Donald. We're talking for the next month about how Sam Donald can't win a big game, that you can't trust him. The Rams are Sam Donald killers. They have no chance to win three straight road games in the playoffs. Maybe they won't even win one road game in the playoffs, but because the Seahawks defense gives him a chance, and they get a wide open receiver to barner later, and they get all those stops even when Donald can't cash it in at the end of the fourth quarter, and he gets to overtime and has a great drive. Different about Sam Donald, and we should maybe we shouldn't, because to me, this game it kind of is Sam Donald. And it's why, like, the path is obviously narrower to win a Super Bowl with Sam Donald as your quarterback than it is with Matthew Stafford. But it is a team game, and you can win games in all sorts of ways, and it depends on which defenses you're gonna face if they're going to be the right ones to be able to expose Donald for who he is. The thing you have to love about Donald, I think, is that he always keeps firing, and sometimes the keeps firing does land in four interceptions, but tonight, the ability to keep firing did help them win this game. And he was not high on the list of reasons they won this game, but he was part of them winning this game, and now they have a much better chance to go on a Super Bowl run.

00:29:48
Speaker 3: Here's why I think the Seahawks can win the Super Bowl, right because I don't really buy the I understand what some of the tape looks like, and the turnovers are not good. Obviously, there are certain types of pressure, and it's not just pressure, it's certain types of pressure. That interception that he threw Chris Hula rushed a defensive back, an inside linebacker and drop the flip and nose tackle into zone coverage to get that like I would not. I mean, come on, like, a lot of quarterbacks are throwing an interception against something like that, against the first against the Josh Wallace look. A lot of quarterbacks are throwing an interception against that type of thing as well. So for me, it's yes, it's specific types of pressure, not all pressure against Sam Darnold. But here's why I think that he can co lead the Seahawks to a super Bowl, at least a Super Bowl appearance is because the Seahawks play matchup football, and you saw it tonight, especially on defense, almost better than anybody else in the NFL right now, because they adjust so quickly, the communication along that entire coaching staff, and the expertise and the knowledge and the IQ of those players, and the physical nature of those players, and like everything they're able to do, they adjust so quickly and combine that with pure actual resilience. If you want to know what resilience as an intangible trait looks like, it is what Sam Darnold did tonight, which was fail a bunch and then keep keep swinging and trust that at the right time, at the exact time, not only was his entire team gonna help set him up to make the play, but he was then going to reciprocate and make that play and in the playoffs and in making a deep Super Bowl run. It does not always matter how complete of a team you were in the regular season, and this is a very complete team, but how you play matchup football and how you show specific resilience and strategy in key moments, and that is exactly what Seattle showed tonight.

00:31:45
Speaker 2: I know when they when Puka and Akua scored that you just figured the Rams are gonna find a way. But it's one of the reasons you have to give the Seahawks credit for winning the toss in overtime, not doing what the forty nine ers did in the Super Bowl in deciding to give the ball to the Rams first. The Rams understandably just kicked the extra point, but the Seahawks knew that they could not have a tie in this game. I most misspoke, of course, earlier, when I said that there was a sweep. I think of that first game and how much like the Seahawks dominated the line of scrimmage and they outgained the Rams. But the Rams of course won that game. So you know, a tie was not going to help the Seahawks in this situation. They needed to get that tie breaker back on their side, and so after giving up the touchdown, they knew exactly what they had to deal with. And the forty nine ers are watching and they're thinking, are X forty nine ers and I'm stealing this from the comment section, maybe are the ones who are going to come through with the biggest two point conversion of the season. Yes, famous X forty nine ers. Sam Darnold to Eric Cybert, who did not have a catch, like he's like not in the box score. They don't put the two point conversions in the box score. But he caught that two point conversion. And the thing that stands out in that two point conversion and the other you know assist I think should go in the fourth quarter is the offensive line played much better. Even even though I know Kobe Turner had a number of splash plays and was incredible in this game. In that overtime drive, the offensive line one, and they had moments of dominance in this game, including the opening drive. And so like they've had their share of injuries, they did not have their left tackle tonight. That was a huge factor in this game. And on the biggest play of the season, Like was that Donald's third read? I mean he was back there forever before he found him.

00:33:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, And man, I I've sort of thought this a couple of times tonight. I hope this incredible Kobe Turner aka All Star Vibes team member just does not have this game wasted. And at least it's an island game so everybody can actually see, you know, but it's just, yeah, it was they held up at the right time. Again, Sam Donald was calm at exactly the right time. I did not realize that about the forty nine ers connection, because you know, the forty nine ers were absolutely ecstatic about this one, considering you know, they're still lurking around in the NFC, and also probably ecstatic watching the Rams miss a kick, considering now the Niners apparently have all their kicking problems solved, and it's the other NFC West teams it seemed to have some issues with their kicks. So you know, the universe is a giant arc, you know, Greg, it works.

00:34:29
Speaker 2: In mysterious ways. And the chances of Seattle San Francisco being the Sunday Night er in week eighteen went up because what the forty nine ers have is the tiebreaker over everyone. Right now, they're four and one in the division. Jones, right, they're four and one in the division. The problem is they're at Indianapolis this week on Monday night. We'll be recapping that live on YouTube afterwards, me and Nick Schook, and then a very difficult game hosting the Bears before playing Seattle. So they have a lot of work to do to stay on. You know, they have to win those two games to get to the Seattle game. But if they went out, they're the one seed, which is which is just a crazy situation. And like I said, the Rams are gonna have basically an impossible time passing the Seahawks at this point because Seattle, you know, plays at Carolina next week. Carolina's been the giant killer. I guess, I guess we can't completely rule them out, but you know, the Rams will need a lot of help. They're gonna need a forty nine Ers loss and they're gonna need two Seahawks losses to try to get to that one seed. If not, we're just gonna have the NFC maybe looking a little more like the AFC than we expected, which is basically everyone can win it, except maybe those that NFC South team. I cannot wait.

00:35:46
Speaker 3: Us West Coasters getting to watch NFC West football. We just exist in an embarrassment of wealth. Frankly minus minus the Cardinals, but they're in Mountain time.

00:35:54
Speaker 2: So I love you Flexen on the NFC West, your division. It really is where the best of the teams are this year. Although I guess the NFC North and what we're going to see Saturday night will have a discussion with that. That was Quarterback Keeper by the Way, presented by Snapdragon. Learn more at snapdragon dot com slash laptops. I by the way, I know Stafford didn't get the win tonight. He did not hurt his standing for the MVP. You never know what's going to happen over the next two weeks. He's got to keep playing well. They can't stub their toe in two games. They're going to be heavily favored in Atlanta and Arizona. But he entered tonight as the MVP favorite. I think he left tonight as the MVP favorite because he had an outstanding game overall, they just didn't get the win.

00:36:44
Speaker 3: Can I tell you my favorite Stafford moment? You would think it was the no look pass, which never gets old. The first time I ever saw that was in training camp where he was throwing it to Darryl Henderson and Darryl Henderson was like in the wash up the middle of the field in the red zone, and I yelled three curse words, and that's those are the three curse words I think every single time I see that. And you know, my favorite moment of his though, because he is playing outside of his body really like he's kind of in that. I call it the soul Steeler darkly chaotic Matthew Stafford I coined the term during their Super Bowl run. And my favorite part though, was when he was getting really stressed about Sean McVay giving him a really long play call in the helmet and he started doing this like hand gesture where you could It's what I do when I am really stressed out by small talk. I do it sort of close to my sides and very subtle. When I'm really stressed out when small talk is just continuing and continuing, continuing, and I really want to interrupt, but I don't want to be rude, so I get really anxious about it and I start doing this with my hands. I saw it, and then when they ran the play, I was like, Oh, I get why the play call was so long, because it was like a tight end screen off of a flea flicker. So I was like, yeah, that one must have been pretty long winded because then you have to get two play calls in, and that one's probably pretty long itself with all the blocking.

00:38:11
Speaker 2: That was how I was feeling when this game went to overtime and I realized I was not.

00:38:16
Speaker 3: Craig started going like.

00:38:17
Speaker 2: This, gonna be able to drive my family to the airport where they're going right now for the holidays, although if we finish this thing soon enough, I might still drive there and try to say goodbye. The last thing I did want to mention is pukin Akua is weak because we have not been able to address that. And first of all, pukin Akua, like had over two hundred yards in this game. He is making a strong bid to win Offensive Player of the Year as great as Jackson smith in Jigba has been, and he was fantastic in this game. After being basically shut out in the first half, smith in Jigba finishes with eight and ninety six in a touchdown. Pooka on a night without DeVante Adams was twelve for two hundred and twenty five yards and two touchdowns, just like a ridiculous performance. One of the best contested catch seasons of all time, one of the best receiver seasons like that we've seen, and he's playing out of his mind. But it was in a week where I think he lost a lot of fans. I'm sure Rams fans are gonna more than stick by him and there'll be a segment that will be cheering him for what happened in his week. But he apologized on Thursday, and I will quote Pukinakua for his apology for what he did on a live stream during the week. When I appeared the other day on a social media live stream, it was suggested to me to perform a specific movement as part of my next touchdown celebration. At the time, I had no idea this act was anti Semitic in nature and perpetuated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people. Nikoua said it was in an Instagram post that he sent out, I deeply apologe to anyone who is offended by my actions, as I do not stand for any form of racism, bigotry, or hate of another group of people. The NFL also released a statement, and a lot of people want to kind of give pokin Akua a pass because he's young and dumb. But our friend Patrick Clayban I think put it well like, if we're giving a pass for people who do hateful things because they're dumb, that's going to take care of a lot of the population that that's doing stuff that he doesn't need to be doing, and that was far from the only dumb thing that pokin Akua you know, said on on the live stream, including that he doesn't believe concussions are real, that it's that you can control them with your mind. So, just a rough week for Pukinakua and h typical of him. He plays great on the field. But you know, we did want to hit that because that that's been the biggest story around the Rams all week and we thought they'd be celebrating when instead they're going back and dealing with all this coming off of a loss.

00:41:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, and tough questions after a loss too, because they had not addressed the media other than a statement on a short week. Normally a Wednesday is an off day or a rest day or at least a no media like very light walk through day, so wasn't a chance to and it was a lot of no comment at that time. As they were deciding what to do, I would say, you know, I think with everything, actions speak louder than words, and I think obviously that being the most serious of what occurred, there's also the you know, trying to sneak people into or trying to get people into the football building. YouTuber you know of a certain reputation trying to get into the football building on a short week when you're playing for the division, and some of the comments about officiating that you know, dumb decision or not, like you are aware you're not supposed to do that as a player in any platform.

00:42:03
Speaker 2: He was aware that he will get fined. They talked about it.

00:42:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, any will, And so I think that that's where the again, aside from you know, at best is a huge learning moment. Otherwise that's also something that the situational awareness needs to needs to improve. And you know, a twenty four year old young man with a baby, so situational awareness moving around in the world as the face of a franchise as the star, you know, I hope for the best for all of that.

00:42:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's annoying whenever fans or media try to tie something that's serious and off the field and completely unrelated to things that are happening on the field, Like he is dealing with that situation now, and it puts Pooka in a different light for this season and we'll see how that that all goes. And this RAM season now is in a different space. They are very much Super Bowl contenders. They can win the Super Bowl as a five seed or a six seed, whatever it ends up being. They still have a chance to be the one or the two seed. They just are gonna get it. Gonna need a little help. They just were pushed back tonight on a night where it looked like it felt like it was going to be a big time coronation and MVP moment for Stafford, who still might win the award. They just got a little more adversity and they're gonna have to try to try to go win the Super Bowl from a lower seed like they did back five years ago. We gotta get it.

00:43:35
Speaker 3: I can already. I can already hear the spin coming into my text messages. This is perfect. It's just like twenty twenty one. You know, I can already hear the copium.

00:43:47
Speaker 2: That's great for you. We just came back on you in a game that we're down thirty to fourteen and you had the freaking ball midway through the fourth quarter. Let's go Seattle fans. This team has been a lot of fun. What a surprise this Seahawks season has been. They were expected to be a five hundred team. They are at tolight the NFC. We will be back in your feed on Friday with the Weekly Pick Show. Eleven straight weeks. I've had winning picks. This will never be topped again, so check out with it.

00:44:19
Speaker 3: You know who else entered tonight eleven with eleven wins.

00:44:23
Speaker 2: Oh that's true Seahawks, because they're big time winners. We will see you with the Pick Show on Friday. See then,