CBS Sports' Danny Kanell has to talk for a living, and sometimes people say words that they don't mean. That likely isn't the case, however, with Kanell saying the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West title last season because of a "technicality."
That is the word Kanell used to describe how Seattle defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Week 16, a victory that pushed the Seahawks toward the division crown, home-field advantage in the playoffs, and, eventually, a Super Bowl win. The problem is that Kanell is trying to belittle the greater truth.
What he is referring to is the 2-point conversion that Seattle had that tied the game against the Rams. Quarterback Sam Darnold threw a pass that deflected off a Los Angeles player and landed on the ground. The pass had gone backward, but NFL offices in New York were the ones who caught the issue, not officials on the field. Those in New York made the correct call.
CBS Sports' Danny Kanell gets the Seattle Seahawks' reason for winning the NFC West all wrong
After the ball landed on the ground, running back Zach Charbonnet picked it up, and that was how the conversion happened. Any player could have (and should have) picked it up, but Charbonnet did. No other players were run between what Charbonnet did and what came next. It was the right call and would have been correct if the teams had been reversed.
But what Kanell is seemingly intentionally leaving out is everything else that happened. The Rams, after all, led 30-14 in the second half of the game. They had multiple chances to put the game away, but instead, the Seahawks' Rashid Shaheed returned a punt for a touchdown, and then Darnold threw a pass to Cooper Kupp for the first 2-point conversion.
Seattle later scored on a touchdown pass to tight end AJ Barner, and from 30-14 down, Seattle trailed just 30-28. A bit over six minutes remained when Charbonnet picked up the ball in the end zone to tie the game.
Los Angeles could have scored anything -- a field goal or another touchdown -- and taken back control of the game, but they didn't in regulation. They did score a touchdown on their first drive of overtime, and once again, they could have stopped Seattle and won the game. They couldn't.
The Seahawks took the ball, drove 65 yards, and scored another touchdown. Seattle then converted another 2-point conversion and won the game. No technicalities involved.
Most likely, Danny Kanell is trying to please those in the huge TV market of Los Angeles. But let's be real, his saying that the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West last season on a technicality is rubbish and untruthful. He gets paid money to talk and analyze football. He did a poor job of it when discussing the Seahawks and Rams.
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