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Four Wildest Stats From Sam Darnold, Seahawks’ Thrilling Win Over Rams

Kristen Wong

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold helped lead an all-time great comeback over the Rams in Thursday night's thrilling win.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold helped lead an all-time great comeback over the Rams in Thursday night's thrilling win. / Kevin Ng-Imagn Images
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On Thursday night, the NFL might have just turned in the game of the year. The Seahawks beat the Rams 38-37 in a spectacular overtime thriller that pitted two of the best NFC teams against each other.

MVP contender Matthew Stafford's sensational outing wasn't enough for the Rams to take home what would have been their 12th win of the season, as Seattle clinched the comeback victory with a two-point conversion on their final drive in overtime.

It was the unlikeliest of losses for the Rams, and the most shocking of wins for the Seahawks, who turned the ball over three times.

Here are the wildest stats from the Seahawks' victory over the Rams:

Rams make unwanted history despite big offensive performance

You've got to feel for Stafford here. The 37-year-old veteran put together a near-perfect game completing 29 of 49 passes for 457 yards and three touchdowns; he also took no sacks. Yet somehow, the Rams still ended up losing the gmae.

According to NFL researcher Dante Koplowitz-Fleming, this is the first time since 1975 that a team with 400-plus yards, zero giveaways, zero sacks taken and three-plus takeaways have lost a game. Teams were 79-0 prior to Thursday night's offensive bout, but are now 79-1.

Better luck next time, L.A.

Seahawks' win probability was 2.7% in the fourth quarter

Just how improbable was the Seahawks' OT comeback? They bounced back from a 2.7% win probability, according to NFL NextGen Stats.

With roughly nine minutes left in the fourth quarter and with Seattle trailing 30-14, the Seahawks had a 2.7% chance of winning. At that point in the game, the Seahawks scored two touchdowns but Sam Darnold had also thrown two interceptions, and Cooper Kupp registered one fumble.

Things admittedly weren't looking good for the Seahawks entering the final 10 minutes, but against all odds, they persevered. Seriously, against all odds. In 172 games, the Seahawks had never won when trailing by 15-plus points in the fourth quarter until Thursday night.

Seahawks became first team to win in OT on 2-point conversion

Jason Myers fantasy owners might be feeling a little sick after this one. After tying the game in regulation, and after the Rams struck first with a touchdown on their opening overtime drive, the Seahawks got the ball back for their fair chance at tying or even winning the game.

Darnold made his way down the field and found Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the endzone, answering the Rams' touchdown with one of his own. Then, with the game on the line, the Seahawks decided to go for two—and it worked.

It marked the first time in NFL history that a team had won an overtime game on a two-point conversion, according to ESPN research. In addition, the Seahawks are only the fifth team in NFL history to convert three two-point conversions in the fourth quarter and overtime combined.

Those final minutes involved some mind games from each team's coaches, too. Rams' Sean McVay called a timeout right before the Seahawks prepared to go for the conversion attempt, and then before the ensuing snap, Seahawks' Mike Macdonald called a timeout after seeing how the Rams' defense was set up.

Seattle ended up slightly changing their formation for the climactic play, which ended in Darnold finding tight end Eric Saubert for the successful conversion.

Sam Darnold's game-winning OT drive was truly unbelievable

Darnold may have seem some ghosts during regulation of Thursday night's game with two costly interceptions, but he locked in during overtime and produced one of the biggest drives of his career.

On the nine-play, 65-yard final drive, Darnold threw a few dimes to keep his team in the game, including this 21-yard pass to Kupp:

Four out of five of Darnold's throws with the lowest completion probability all night came on that overtime drive, according to NextGen Stats.

Call it talent or call it luck, but Darnold got the job done. The now-No. 1-seeded Seahawks took home a very important win over the Rams to improve to 12-3 on the year and clinch their spot in the postseason. Future NFC championship rematch incoming?

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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