Seahawks 'Hero' Quandre Diggs Saves Game, Season vs. Rams

After saving both the team's game and season, Seattle Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs earned high praise from coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Geno Smith.

The Seattle Seahawks simply had to beat the Los Angeles Rams - the only other option was to watch their season come to a close.

But things weren't looking promising.

Seattle was given a chance to win the game in regulation with a 46-yard field goal from normally reliable kicker Jason Myers - but it clanked off the upright, sending the season finale into overtime.

Then, the Seahawks won the coin toss and received the kickoff, needing a touchdown to keep their playoff hopes alive ... but went three-and-out.

The Rams had dodged two bullets and were a field goal away from sending Seattle packing. Los Angeles quarterback Baker Mayfield dropped back, looked left and fired downfield for receiver Van Jefferson.

The result? Perhaps the deciding factor in Seattle's 19-16 victory ... which may have etched Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs into the team's record books for years to come.

Said quarterback Geno Smith: "I was sitting down on the bench, and I looked up, and I just see Quandre jumping in the air and catching the ball over his shoulder looking like a wideout."

Added coach Pete Carroll: "He timed it up perfectly to get it on the sidelines over there. He is such a great ball hawk that of course he is going to make that play if you give him a chance."

Mayfield gave Diggs the "chance" to make a season-saving play ... and he did, intercepting the pass and sending the Seahawks sideline into euphoria as Diggs playfully pointed at former teammate and current Rams linebacker Bobby Wagner.

But it wasn't necessarily as simple as jump-and-catch. The Rams caught the Seahawks in a favorable matchup and nearly hit a season-ending dagger ... until Diggs proved why he was recently voted to his third consecutive Pro Bowl, as he colorfully explained.

“If I was using language, I would probably use some bad language because the dude was wide open," admitted Diggs. "In my mind, I was thinking the worst. Oh man, I felt like I was 25 again, running and jumping in the air. For me, it was just one of those plays where they drew it up perfectly. They had us in a coverage where they wanted us, and I was just able to go out and make a play."

Seven plays later, Myers trotted out for a 32-yard field goal, which he made with no drama. The Seahawks achieved the win that they absolutely had to get, and with the Detroit Lions beating the Green Bay Packers, Seattle suddenly found itself in the playoffs - and Diggs was the "hero," per Carroll.

"For him to make (the interception), he is a hero around here," Carroll said. "These guys love him. He is a great leader, and they've got nicknames for him and all kinds of stuff, and he is tough as nails. When he speaks, everybody shuts up, and then to come through and make a play like that, it's just beautiful and fitting and really happy for him."

It was Diggs' second interception in as many games and fourth on the season. He has at least three interceptions in each of the last six years, the longest active streak in the NFL.

But Diggs has been a "ball hawk," as Carroll said, for much longer than that. Smith, a star at West Virginia, remembers facing Diggs, a Texas Longhorn, in college.

Naturally, Diggs had at least three interceptions in all but one of his four years at Texas - it's simply what he does ... along with being an outstanding leader and teammate.

"That's something that he has always done," Smith said. "I'll go back to our time playing at Texas when we played him. He was one of those players I was watching on film like, man, you have to watch out for No. 6. He has carried that throughout his career. He is a ball hawk. If that ball is in his area, he is going to get it. Quandre is one of the best defensive players I've played with, but also one of the best teammates I've ever had."

The heroic nature of Diggs' ball skills and season-saving interception goes beyond the play itself, as Sunday was a day before the one-year mark of his gruesome broken leg and dislocated ankle.

The adversity faced throughout the season and against Los Angeles, when paired with the injury anniversary all that was at stake, made the moment one that Diggs won't soon forget.

“That was probably my favorite interception ever because of just the atmosphere and everything that went along with this game and this interception," Diggs said. "It was dope, so all I saw was the ball and I was like, ‘I’m going to get it.’ I was able to go and get it and I caught it. I think that’s all that matters.”

Diggs acknowledged that he's been "getting some grief" over dropped interceptions ... but with the game - and season - squarely on the line, he seized the moment, making arguably one of the biggest defensive plays in recent Seahawks history.

And for that, he's earned the title of "hero."

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You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft

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