Thursday Night Football is typically not known for its high entertainment value. More often than not, the short preparation time for both teams leads to sloppy play, with the results either lopsided or bereft of scoring opportunities.
Truly competitive games, meanwhile, are rare. Back-and-forth thrillers with major playoff implications that go into overtime and end on gutsy coaching decisions are even rarer. And yet, that was precisely what the Seattle Seahawks’ win over the Los Angeles Rams provided: it was two of the best teams in the NFL going blow-for-blow before capping the affair off with an epic finish.
In short, it was an early Christmas present for football fans and anything but your run-of-the-mill Thursday night game.
The 75 total points scored in Seattle’s 38-37 victory are the third-highest ever for a Thursday night game. It also is one of only 11 TNF game since its advent in 2006 to go into overtime, and the only one among those with both of the teams crossing the 35-points barrier. On top of it all, they also combined for almost 1,000 yards of offense.
What elevates the game into potential all-time status among its peers, however, is not the stat sheet. Instead, it’s the drama — and there was plenty of it even before the game was kicked off.
For much of the game, it seemed as if the visiting Rams would get the better of their division rivals and put themselves in the driver’s seat for the NFC West title. Whereas their division rivals struggled with ball security and moving the chains on third down, Los Angeles was firing on all cylinders to go up 30-14 with 13:34 left in the game.
At that point, the Seahawks were on life support. When quarterback Sam Darnold went on to throw a red zone interception on the very next series, the game seemed to be over. With 9:04 left, Seattle had a mere 2.7% chance of still winning the game.
A 58-yard Rashid Shaheed punt return touchdown with just over eight minutes to go in regulation proved the spark the home team needed. Seattle scored two touchdowns plus two extra points — including one of the craziest tries you will ever see — to tie the game at 30 apiece before the end of regulation.
Normally, overtime on Thursday night is a nuisance only fans of the teams involved are willing to endure. That game, however, was different. The football gods were only just getting started.
Los Angeles got the ball first and seemed to instantly move itself into a promising position only for a holding penalty to negate a 42-yard kickoff return. Despite the setback and what was initially ruled an interception, MVP frontrunner Matthew Stafford led his troops to the promised land when he connected with wideout Puka Nacua from 41 yards out — Nacua’s second touchdown of the night, and a play that brought him up to 225 yards receiving.
And yet, in another twist, Seahawks QB Sam Darnold put on his “third overall pick” hat and in impressive fashion managed to overcome his early struggles. He went 5-for-6 on Seattle’s drive after the Rams’ touchdown, covering 54 yards and himself hooking up with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a touchdown.
Down a point, head coach Mike Macdonald had a decision to make: kick the extra point to tie the game, or keep the offense on the field to go for a do-or-die two-point try. He went the latter route, and his team rewarded him when Darnold hit Eric Saubert to end the game and send Lumen Field into a frenzy.
The implications of that play and Seattle’s comeback overall are massive. Had they not beaten the Rams, they would have dropped to 11-4 and on account of the tiebreaker would have been two games behind their rivals in the NFC West; their chances of winning the division would have been effectively non-existent.
Instead, they are not up on the Rams and the new leaders in the NFC playoff race. All due to a thrilling victory in what, all things considered, might have been the best Thursday Night Game ever.
