The Seattle Seahawks were power ranked at the bottom of the NFC West coming into the season. And as a whole, the best of the NFC West didn't see the preseason hype of any other division. Philadelphia had just won a Super Bowl and Jayden Daniels looked poised for a superstar turn. Green Bay had just acquired Micah Parsons and Detroit was, well, Detroit. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers offense had just come off of a season where they were one of the most efficient in the league. Between Matthew Stafford's back issues, regression from the 49ers, general Cardinals doubt, and the murkiness of Sam Darnold's talent at quarterback, no one knew what to make of the West.
Oh, how the tides have turned. Stafford leads the field in the MVP race. After the Week 16 clash between Seattle and Los Angeles, the 49ers have pushed past their injury issues to not just contend for a playoff spot, but for the number one seed should either of the former take their feet off the gas at all. The NFC West is officially the toughest division in football, and after Week 16, the division crown goes to the team that started off the season ranked in its basement.
Sam Darnold and the Seahawks are absolutely for real
The headlines from Seattle and Los Angeles' Game of the Year-worthy showdown will probably revolve around two moments: Rashid Shaheed's energy-changing touchdown punt return and the weird officiating on Zach Charbonnet's damn near-accidental two-point conversion. But despite what Puka Nacua's twitchy Twitter fingers have to say, this game didn't come down to the refs, or even the Rams' truthfully dreadful special teams performance as of late.
No, this 38-37 thriller rightfully came down to two quarterbacks. And each s*** the bed in their own time and way.
Darnold's night started off as most were anticipating against a team who held him to zero touchdowns and four interceptions just a month prior. He actually didn't throw for his first touchdown until late in the fourth quarter, but as soon as that first two-point conversion pass to Cooper Kupp went through, Darnold seemed to wake up.
Meanwhile, Stafford's night was much hotter, especially at the start (29-of-49 passing, 457 yards, three TDs). However, even after Shaheed's pivotal punt return, Stafford's offense led to three consecutive three-and-out's to close the game, allowing Seattle to turn on the fireworks.
Darnold didn't have a great game by any stretch of the imagination. But for the man who started his career off by 'seeing ghosts' as a rookie against the Patriots, he has defined his career by the sheer resilience and gutsiness that was on display late on Thursday, Dec 18. To play most of a game with a 0:2 TD/INT ratio is daunting, regardless of the help you've received from your run game, defense, and special teams. But when the Seahawks needed him most, Darnold stepped up against frankly impossible odds. Going into Week 16, Seattle was 0-172 when down by 15+ points in the fourth quarter. And it was Darnold who threw for two touchdowns late in the fourth and in overtime. Darnold who threw for two critical two-point conversions (shoutout to Zach Charbonnet, again).
Thursday night classic was about more than just the Seahawks and Rams
Let's not get it twisted: Los Angeles' special teams have cost them three losses on the season. That is unforgivable. At the end of the day, however, despite such a poor unit, the Rams were still the first NFC team to clinch a playoff spot and are only a game behind the Seahawks for the No. 1 seed.
Their offense and defense are still two of the best units in football, and Matthew Stafford is still an MVP candidate. They have spent the entire season successfully proving that the preseason doubt about them has been wrong, in dominant fashion.
This win was about Seattle. They've been dominant, too, but no one expected Jaxon Smith-Njigba to explode the way he did. No one really expected Darnold to be more than last year's flash in the pan. No one expected Seattle's defense to be one of the best in the league. No one expected them to do what they did against the Rams, especially not after three-and-a-half quarters of them being dominated.
But after this game, it is not just the perceptions around the Seahawks that have been changed. The landscape of the NFC has changed. With a win, LA would have cemented their hold on the NFC West. Instead, two NFC West teams have now clinched a playoff spot, and the one that started the season ranked at the bottom of the division now holds the top seed in the conference.
The North is officially no longer the scariest division in the NFC. The three powerhouses of Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco reign supreme, and the odds have now shifted to Seattle and Los Angeles leading the latest Super Bowl odds. Two teams from the same conference, the same division, don't do that. Things have shifted in the NFC. And regardless of what happens next, they have fundamentally shifted around Sam Darnold, as well.