Seahawks to face Patriots in Super Bowl

A video surfaced last week of Mike Macdonald’s first team meeting after being named the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach in 2024.

In it, he talked about playing in the NFC Championship Game at Lumen Field.

It took only two seasons for that dream to become a reality. And after a 31-27 victory against the visiting Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the Seahawks are headed for Super Bowl LX, in which they’ll meet the New England Patriots on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, Calif.

“This is the power of 12 is one, man,” the normally reserved Macdonald said from the on-field podium in an interview on Fox, referring to the Seahawks’ fans. “This is a heckuva job. When you do it together, this is what you can do.”

Sam Darnold threw for a season-high 346 yards and three touchdowns for the top-seeded Seahawks and, most importantly, was turnover-free. That avenged a 27-9 loss to the Rams in last year’s playoffs in which Darnold, as a member of the Minnesota Vikings, was sacked nine times and committed a pair of turnovers, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

“That doesn’t matter to me,” Darnold said of his critics after handing off the George Halas Trophy — awarded to the NFC champion — to his teammates. “These guys in this locker room, that’s what it’s about to me, man. We’ve come to work ever since April, the OTAs, training camp, one day at a time and we’re here and we did it.”

Jaxon Smith-Njigba made 10 receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown and Kenneth Walker III rushed for 62 yards and a score.

Darnold, on his fifth team in eight NFL seasons, finished 25-of-36 passing to reach his first Super Bowl.

“I knew Sam was going to come out here and ball,” said Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV, one of Darnold’s staunchest supporters, in a postgame interview on ESPN. “Get off my quarterback …”

Trailing by four points, the Rams had a fourth-and-4 from Seattle’s 6-yard with 4:59 remaining. But Matthew Stafford’s pass intended for Terrance Ferguson in the back of the end zone was knocked down by Devon Witherspoon.

“I was telling the guys, we’re here, everything we’ve worked for is on this moment, let’s clamp up and get a stop,” Jones said.

Stafford was 22 of 35 for 374 yards and three TDs for the fifth-seeded Rams. Puka Nacua made nine catches for 165 yards and a score and Davante Adams added 89 yards and a TD on four receptions.

“We came here with the expectations to win,” Rams coach Sean McVay said in the interview room postgame. “We had our chances, they made their plays and it was a great back-and-forth game.

“A couple of critical errors ended up costing us. …”

The Seahawks were held on the first possession of the second half, but Rams punt returner Xavier Smith tripped and fell backward as the ball approached. Smith tried to catch the ball just before he landed on his back but muffed the punt and Seattle’s Dareke Young recovered at Los Angeles’ 17-yard line.

On the next play, Darnold hit Jake Bobo in the back of the end zone for a 24-13 lead.

The Rams responded with a four-play, 75-yard drive, capped by Stafford’s 2-yard TD pass to Adams to pull Los Angeles within four points.

Seattle moved right back down the field, however, restoring its double-digit lead on a 13-yard touchdown reception by former Rams receiver Cooper Kupp.

It appeared the Rams would have to punt from Seattle’s 49-yard line when Riq Woolen knocked down a pass to Nacua to force the Rams into fourth-and-12 on the ensuing drive. But Woolen was called for taunting after the play, a 15-yard penalty giving Los Angeles the ball at the 34. The next play, Stafford threw a strike to Nacua, beating Woolen at the front left pylon, to pull the Rams within 31-27 with 2:06 left in the third.

The Seahawks took a 17-13 lead at intermission as Darnold hit a wide-open Smith-Njigba with a 14-yard scoring strike with 20 seconds left. The six-play, 74-yard drive took just 34 seconds after the Rams were held to a three-and-out when they had a chance to run out the clock with the lead.

The Seahawks opened the scoring on Walker’s 2-yard run around the right end and dive for the pylon on their first possession.

The teams then traded field goals on the next three possessions, with the Rams’ Harrison Mevis connecting from 44 and 50 yards and Seattle’s Jason Myers from 27.

The Rams took a 13-10 lead on a 9-yard screen pass from Stafford to Kyren Williams with 1:55 left in the half.

But that was their lone lead of the day.

Macdonald was asked about defeating two NFC West rivals, San Francisco and Los Angeles, in the playoffs to advance.

“We did not care,” he said. “It’s about us. It’s always been about us and what we do and now we’re going to the Super Bowl.”