New Video Shows Seahawks LB’s Brilliant Move on Huge Play Had Nothing to Do With Luck

Seahawks linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence came up huge on this play late against the Rams. | @NFL

One of the biggest moments in last Sunday night's NFC championship came with just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter when Matthew Stafford and the Rams' offense weren't able to convert on a fourth-and-4 from the Seahawks' six-yard line.

The veteran quarterback dropped back to pass and saw his first look, running back Kyren Williams, was double teamed, which then forced Stafford into throwing a tough pass over the middle that was knocked away.

That gave the Seahawks the ball back and they were able to eat up a lot of clock before punting the ball back to Los Angeles with under 30 seconds remaining. The Rams couldn't pull off a miracle and lost the game, 31-27.

After the game Sean McVay said the Seahawks "lucked" into that coverage on that critical fourth down.

“They kind of lucked into having two guys peel on Kyren right there,” McVay said. “I know that can’t be part of their design, so it’s a fortuitous bust by them. But they’re an excellent team. You don’t take away anything. They earned the win and they’re NFC champs for a reason.”

Stafford agreed with his coach, as he also said the Seahawks "lucked' into it.

“They double-peeled on the back,” Stafford said. “It was just a mishap by them. Lucked into covering our guy. Couple chances down there, didn’t make it happen.”

Turns out luck had nothing to do with it. Instead, it was due to a brilliant decision by Seahawks linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence, who saw what Stafford was trying to do and quickly dropped back to take Williams away as an option.

ESPN's Mina Kimes broke down that play on her latest podcast, and this new video shows just how smart Lawrence was in that moment:

Here’s Mina talking to Domonique about the Rams infamous 4th down play. It sounds like DeMarcus Lawrence decided to freelance and take away Stafford’s hot read to Kyren Williams when he realized Julian Love wasn’t in position to take it away https://t.co/nCEP6fGCdw pic.twitter.com/PYg96roDWG

— Parker (@ParkerLewes) January 28, 2026

In that video you can clearly see that Stafford wanted to go to Williams and could have gotten an easy touchdown, if not for Lawrence's quick thinking.

"DeMarcus Lawrence in that moment sees him and because that frickin’ dude plays so much football and is a brilliant player he drops with Williams and takes away the high," Kimes correctly pointed out.

Seattle signed Lawrence to a four-year deal during free agency last March. He had spent his previous 10 seasons with the Cowboys.

"What an unbelievable signing," Kimes said. "What a player."

The Seahawks have one of the best defenses in the NFL this year and that unit came up huge when it needed to the most. Now they will look to take down Drake Maye and the Patriots in Super Bowl LX.

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