On the 18th January, 2015, the Seahawks played a game of football. They were losing, badly, in a let-down performance. All hope was lost going into the fourth quarter. There was no chance, it was done. The quarterback was turning the ball over and nothing was working.
Then weird stuff started happening, including a flukey, miracle two-point conversion and some special teams magic. Fans went from resignation that their team were going to lose, to suddenly thinking they had half a chance.
The game went into overtime. The quarterback, who’d had a bad day, had a shot at redemption. Big plays, including one to finish it off. A walk-off score. The Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers and went to the Super Bowl.
This game against the Rams was very different in a number of ways but so similar at the same time. The hopelessness when Sam Darnold threw his second interception. The fourth-quarter magic, including the crazy two-pointer (Zach Charbonnet) and the big special teams play (Rasheed Shahid). The game going into overtime. The quarterback, Darnold, having a redemption moment.
Plus the feeling you’ve just watched something you’ll never see again.
Don’t get me wrong — there are plenty of question marks to come out of this game. The defense was diced up and gave up 581 yards. The offense has its own issues — including the quarterback’s play, the O-line and the play-calling.
Today though, we can afford to push all of that to one side. Somehow the Seahawks pulled off the improbable. How did they win this game? Through sheer grit and determination. A will to win that should fill any fan with pride.
Against the odds, they control their own destiny for the #1 seed in the NFC.
Incredible.
