Seahawks rally to stun Rams in overtime on 2-point conver...

What’s Happening

Not gonna lie, Seattle overcame a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime and then pulled out the 38-37 win The Seattle Seahawks rallied to beat the Los Angeles Rams 38-37 in overtime to take over first place in the NFC West.

In overtime, Sam Darnold hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 4-yard touchdown pass — then connected with Eric Saubert for a 2-point conversion and the win. Matthew Stafford threw for 457 yards, and Puka Nacua had 225 receiving yards for the Rams. (wild, right?)

Those two connected on two touchdown passes, including a 41-yarder in overtime to give the Rams the lead.

The Details

The Seahawks improved to 12-3 to sit atop the NFC, while the Rams fell to 11-4. Your thoughts: live@theathletic.

Com The Rams had been running roughshod on teams since their bye week, plus to Matthew Stafford’s MVP-caliber season. Both are related to the same key all along: a healthy and humming offensive line.

Why This Matters

The five-man group of Alaric Jackson , Steve Avila , Coleman Shelton , Kevin Dotson and Warren McClendon Jr. Had been solidifying the pocket and moving people at will on the ground. They’d stacked games together ever since Avila returned from injury and McClendon stepped in for an injured Rob Havenstein.

Sports analysts are already debating what this means for the competition.

Key Takeaways

• And that continuity took a giant hit when Dotson went down with an ankle injury in the second quarter.
• The Rams were running decently against an elite Seahawks run defense in the first half, even if it wasn’t explosive.
• But the two-headed backfield of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum got swallowed as the game went on, with Justin Dedich filling in for Dotson.
• Williams and Corum combined for 37 carries for 118 yards, with no run going longer than 9 yards.

The Bottom Line

Los Angeles had one high-end backup lineman as it turned out this season, and that was McClendon. Injuries are going to happen sometimes, especially in the trenches, but this one came at a critically rough time.

What do you think about all this?