Big Picture: How One Unlucky Play vs. Seattle Altered Rams QB Matthew Stafford’s Legacy

Lumen Field (Seattle) — Sean McVay called the play a "fortuitous bust" in Seattle's coverage. At first, Matthew Stafford refused to talk about it, but he later called it "a mishap" where the Seahawks "lucked into" double covering the right guy, running back Kyren Williams, on the Rams’ most important offensive play of the NFC Championship Game.

In a contest that was defined by high-level execution — and high-level coaching — it almost doesn’t make sense that an accident determined who advanced to the Super Bowl. But that’s what it seemed like. That accident led to the Seahawks’ 31-27 win.

On the Rams’ final meaningful drive, Stafford dropped back on fourth-and-4 from the 6-yard line. The savvy quarterback knew the ins and outs of the Seattle defense, and he seemed to identify that the best option on the play would be Williams, who would leak out into the flat near the first-down marker and the end-zone line. 

Stafford must not have believed what he was seeing: Williams was double-covered.

"They kind of lucked into having two guys peel on Kyren right there," McVay said at a postgame press conference. "I know that can't be part of their design."

Seahawks safety Julian Love was there by design. DeMarcus Lawrence? He was also there — for reasons no one can explain. I couldn’t find the Pro Bowl defensive end in the Seahawks’ locker room after the game. But two other Seattle defenders confirmed what McVay saw. Hunched over my phone, one defender said: "D-Law was tripping."

Another said: "D-Law shouldn’t have ran with it. But we won."

The Seahawks certainly did. And as far as Stafford’s legacy goes, that might be all that matters.

The 17-year veteran went 22-of-35 for 374 yards and three touchdowns. He is the first quarterback