In the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship game, the Los Angeles Rams had the ball fourth and four from the Seattle Seahawks 6-yard line. Seattle led 31-27. Quarterback Matthew Stafford dropped back to pass, and Seattle's original front of four turned into two as nine players dropped into coverage.
Stafford had nowhere to go with the ball and threw an incompletion in the back of the end zone as cornerback Devon Witherspoon knocked the ball down. As all 12s know, Seattle went on to win the game and make the Super Bowl.
The fourth-down play has since become a cottage industry of controversy. Rams head coach Sean McVay has implied that Seattle got lucky on the play, while Seahawks edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence disputes that.
Seattle Seahawks' DeMarcus Lawrence disputes Rams' Sean McVay's take on epic play
McVay believes his call was sound, not that he was simply out-schemed by Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald. In McVay's view, Lawrence dropping into coverage was simply a "fortuitous bust," and instead of pressuring the passer, Lawrence wandered into coverage accidentally. This shut down one of Stafford's throwing lanes.
Lawrence is having none of that, though. Speaking with the media in the days after the Seahawks' victory, the former Dallas Cowboys edge rusher explained that an indicator in the LA play design was the issue. The running back released too quickly and went out into coverage. That signaled to the Seattle defense that Stafford's hot (first) read was the back.
Or, as Lawrence so deftly made his point, "(The running) back was too fast. If it was a regular design and the back wasn't his hot, the back would have waited to see if (safety) Julian (Love) was gonna rush first and then flare out. But he didn't wait. That was definitely an indicator, like an 'Oh s***' moment. If the back is flaring out that fast, that means that's his hot, so he's going to the back first. Playing football as long as I've played it, there's only so many formations and schemes."
Where Sean McVay appears to be incorrect that the play was a failure because of a bust by the Seahawks defense is that he is, likely accidentally, disrespecting Seattle's players. The problem for McVay wasn't Macdonald's play-call, but the intelligence of players like DeMarcus Lawrence and Julian Love.
Players, obviously, aren't robots. The great ones can execute a play-call to perfection, but they can also peel off when they see a play developing in front of them that requires an adjustment. That is what Lawrence did, no matter if Sean McVay wants to admit to that or not. No coach or player is perfect, and that includes the Rams coach.
Thankfully, the Seattle Seahawks don't have to worry about answering questions about the epic fourth-down play anymore. They have bigger concerns, such as Super Bowl LX, where Seattle will play the New England Patriots for the championship.