The job isn't over yet, but the Seattle Seahawks are bound for the Super Bowl once again, and it couldn't have come at a better time than the game we just witnessed. Stellar quarterback play from both Sam Darnold and Matthew Stafford made for a memorable rivalry matchup, that’s for sure.
Darnold, however, is the quarterback left standing, and it was, without question, the best game he's played since Week 1 of the regular season. The Seahawks went into halftime up 17-13 and returned afterward to close out the game despite Stafford's MVP performance, for which he'll likely win the regular-season award.
Seattle's defense came up huge in the fourth quarter, though, shutting the Rams out, despite the Rams knocking on the doorstep. Eventually, time ran out, and the Seahawks moved on after several key players made their mark on the game. Unfortunately, for one particular Seahawk, he'll likely be thinking about how his mistake could have made the wrong kind of impact.
Seattle Seahawks' Sam Darnold's best game this season makes him a winner, while Riq Woolen looks like a fool
Winner: Sam Darnold, QB
What oblique injury? It's irrelevant now, and this was officially Darnold's best NFL game of his career, nevermind this season, and he was next to perfect in the win over the Rams. The word "elite" was thrown around all week leading up to Sunday night's NFC Championship game in relation to Darnold, which, even now, is still a stretch.
That said, there is no question Darnold came up massive for the Seahawks, and he should officially be labeled as the Seahawks' franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future.
He threw for 346 yards (153 of those to Jaxon Smith-Njigba), three touchdowns, a 127 passer rating, an electrifying opening game toss to Rashid Shaheed, and the most important stat of the night, no turnovers. Darnold is the biggest winner of them all.
Winner: Kenneth Walker III, RB
Following last weekend's NFC divisional matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, where Kenneth Walker ran for 116 yards and a touchdown, he showed out again against the Rams in both the run and passing game.
On 19 rushes, Walker didn't get anywhere near last weekend's mark, but his 62 yards on the ground and 49 in the air were instrumental to Darnold's great performance and the Seahawks offense in general.
Walker had a few crucial runs in the game that eventually helped this team seal the deal. With Zach Charbonett out, Walker had to step up as the main guy, and he did not fail.
Winner: Rashid Shaheed, WR
Shaheed had one thunderous play all game, but it was the ice breaker Seattle needed against a team that has the same ability and capacity to throw haymakers left and right. The Seahawks unleashed their first on their first drive of the game to Shaheed, hauling in a 51-yard bomb from Darnold, leading to a touchdown run by Walker.
Shaheed made his best wide receiver play since coming over to the Seahawks in the middle of the regular season, and if the move wasn't paying off for them in the special teams, it certainly did offensively against the Rams.
Loser: Riq Woolen, CB
What on earth was that? That's the question everyone had to be screaming at Riq Woolen after he committed not one, but two braid-dead plays that had "this cost Seattle the game" written all over them. It began with a ridiculous taunting penalty that saw Woolen virtually on the Rams' sideline, trash-talking them, and subsequently earning a penalty that gave the Rams a first down.
Right after that, Stafford connected with Puka Nacua on a play that burned Woolen, but not just any play — a 49-yard touchdown. Talk about not being able to back up your talk — Woolen hopefully can find a way to alleviate that burn, because he has a Super Bowl to get ready for. Woolen's play cost the Seahawks in the moment; he's lucky it didn't do further damage.
Winner: DeMarcus Lawrence, DE
DeMarcus Lawrence has been a winner all season with the Seahawks, and that didn't change Sunday night.
The veteran presence of Lawrence has been a catalyst to Seattle's vaunted defense all year, and he added to his forced fumbles against the Rams, tallying another sack-fumble on Stafford. The Rams would recover, but the play was Lawrence-esque, like Seahawks fans have seen more than once this year.
Lawrence might be the biggest winner on the Seahawks defense, considering he spent 11 seasons on a Dallas Cowboys team that even Jerry Jones couldn't buy a Super Bowl with the billions from his own pockets. Now, Lawrence is on his way to compete for one, and what a coincidence, it's happening in his first season away from his old team.