Seahawks OT Win Over Rams Was the Best NFL Game in Years
High stakes, history, and highlights: What Seattle's crazy Week 16 win over the L.A. Rams says about the Seahawks of past and future
Imagine a preview of the NFC Championship game in December that features a battle for the number one seed, the MVP, the Offensive Player of the Year, the second runner-up for OPOY, the Super Bowl champions, two of the top-five head coaches in the NFL, two offensive coordinators who are now head coaches, and a do-or-die final play that perfectly encapsulated how evenly these teams were matched from Week 1 to the bitter end.
We don’t have to just imagine it. We can watch it on YouTube whenever we want.
Thursday Night Football is supposed to be a throwaway night for the NFL. A chance for the league to secure more streaming deals, ad revenue, and viewers for a primetime slot that is no longer “must-see TV” on any network. And yet, in many ways, last season’s 38-37 overtime win by the Seahawks over the Rams on a Thursday was the best game in years.
Not only was it historic, as Seattle became the first team to win a game on a two-point conversion in overtime, but it was also unpredictable and probably decided who would win Offensive Player of the Year between Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua. The result shifted the balance of power in the NFL more than any contest in recent memory.
It’s not a stretch to say that the winner of that game goes on to win the Super Bowl. At one point, the Seahawks had a 1.2% win probability. They defied the odds, and because they did, Seattle ended the season with home-field advantage and its second Lombardi Trophy.
I would be remiss not to talk about that game again six months later.
The most evenly-matched juggernauts ever?
The two best teams in the NFL didn’t just split the season series, they so perfectly sliced it that even King Solomon would be proud:
“In two down-to-the wire games, the Rams have scored 58 points and gained 830 total yards, while the Seahawks have 57 points and 829 yards.”
After beating the Rams in the NFC Championship game—which you could argue was not as important as Thursday Night Football because without homefield advantage Seattle might not reach the Super Bowl—the Seahawks held an 88-85 advantage over three games.
What’s even better is that on L.A.’s side you have Sean McVay, the offensive genius who has put more head coaches and offensive coordinators into the league’s coaching pool than anybody else, and on Seattle’s end you have “the defensive Sean McVay”.
The Seahawks passing offense runs through Smith-Njigba, 2025’s Offensive Player of the Year, and he scores the final touchdown of the game in overtime. A catch Seattle desperately needed to counter Nacua’s go-ahead touchdown in overtime, the only other receiver in the NFL who was in JSN’s league last year.
These teams were so majestically balanced against each other on offense and defense that there was only way a winner could be decided.
Special Teams.
Rams kicker Harrison Mevis, who only missed one field goal or extra point attempt in all 12 games that he appeared in last season, was no-good on a 48-yarder with 2:11 remaining.
The Seahawks continue to treat special teams as if it’s just as important as offense or defense. The Rams don’t seem to have changed. We’ll see if the outcome is any different next season.
Seahawks fans hope not for obvious reasons. NFL fans hope not because the three games between these two teams last season were collaborative art.
Two weeks ago, I broke down key takeaways from the NFC Championship game over two parts. In this newsletter, I’ll do the same for Week 16’s Thursday night instant classic in one part.
Key Takeaways from Week 16 thriller
The Rams went on a 30-7 run
Believe it or not, this stat ends up being somewhat of a credit to the Seahawks defense. The 30 minutes of the game when Seattle was getting dominated could have—and probably should have—been much worse, but this “comeback” actually started in the first quarter.
Sometimes a comeback is being down by a lot and returning to even.
Sometimes a comeback just means surviving.
The Seahawks get the scoring started by stuffing Kyren Williams on fourth-and-1 to force a turnover on downs, then go 61 yards the other way—including a 46-yard catch-and-run by Kenneth Walker III—to take a 7-0 lead on a Zach Charbonnet touchdown run.
Walker was one of the main reasons Seattle was able to come back, because he helped prevent the score from becoming 30-0—or worse.
Seattle’s two backs combined for 218 total yards and two touchdowns in this contest, an underrated aspect to the win because Walker and Charbonnet get overshadowed by Sam Darnold, Rashid Shaheed, and a 16-point fourth quarterback comeback leading into overtime.
Most fans might think of Eric Saubert’s one play in this game, not the 164 total yards by Walker. Here he is casually picking up a first down on third-and-16:
Walker’s contributions get a little forgotten, hence why it is important to go back and re-live what actually happened in Week 16.
A change at RB in 2026
The Seahawks won’t have Walker next season and they probably won’t see Charbonnet again for months. The responsibility to carry Seattle’s offense when nothing else is working now falls on Jadarian Price, a running back that every fan likes but certainly nobody knows how he will do in the NFL.
He’s just getting started at OTAs:
As I wrote a month ago, Price’s future is bright if he’s as good as he might have become at Notre Dame were it not for Jeremiyah Love.
Do you think letting Walker go to draft Price was the right move, the wrong move, or the only move? Join the Seaside Joe comments and share:
The Defense Kept It “Close”
As bad as 30-7 or 30-14 looks, it could have been worse. Look at these Rams offensive drives:
1st drive: Seahawks force turnover on downs
2nd drive: Seahawks stop 4th-and-1 (penalty by Rams*) and force FG
3rd drive: Seahawks force stop on 3rd-and-2 and force FG
4th drive: Rams score TD
5th drive: end of half
6th drive: Seahawks force stop on 3rd-and-2 and force FG
7th drive: Rams start drive at SEA1, score a TD
8th drive: Rams score TD
So when we actually break down how the Rams took a 30-14 lead early in the fourth quarter, we see that Seattle’s defense had two bad drives out of eight against the number one offense in the NFL; they allowed a touchdown after a Sam Darnold interception was returned to the one; they forced a turnover on downs; and they forced the Rams to kick three field goals by making three red zone stops on 3rd-and-2 or 3rd-and-1.
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