With the Seattle Seahawks trailing the Los Angeles Rams by 16 points early in the fourth quarter, it felt like they needed a miracle to come back. The crazy two-point conversion they got to tie the game 7 minutes later wasn’t quite a miracle, but it was the next best thing.
The Seahawks were trailing by 16 points early in the fourth quarter of the Week 16 ‘Thursday Night Football’ game. They managed to score a touchdown on a punt return by wide receiver Rashid Shaheed and converted a two-point try to cut the lead down to one score. On their following possession, Seattle scored another touchdown, but things got wild on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt that ended up tying the game.
After his 26-yard touchdown pass to AJ Barner, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold attempted a quick screen pass to running back Zach Charbonnet on the two-point try. Rams defensive end Jared Verse was ready for it and leapt in between Darnold and Charbonnet to break up the pass. The tipped ball fell through Rams safety Kam Curl’s arms and dribbled into the end zone, where Charbonnet slowly walked over to pick it up.
The initial ruling on the field was that the pass fell incomplete. But upon further review, Darnold’s throw toward Charbonnet traveled backwards. Rather than an incompletion on a pass attempt, the loose ball was considered a fumble on a lateral attempt.
Since the ball ended up in the end zone and was recovered by Charbonnet, the ruling of an incomplete pass and failed two-point try was overturned to a successful conversion. It tied the game for Seattle with six and a half minutes remaining in the contest and reinvigorated the Seahawks’ division title hopes.