Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford have both seen a lot of football in their lives. They’ve witnessed just about every type of play there is. Neither of them has ever seen anything like the Seattle Seahawks’ bizarre two-point conversion, though.
It was one of the strangest plays in football, and it proved to be costly in the Los Angeles Rams’ 38-37 loss in overtime. After the Seahawks scored a touchdown to make it 30-28, they attempted a two-point conversion, but it appeared to fail after Sam Darnold’s pass fell incomplete.
Or so everyone thought. Officials reviewed the play and determined it was a backwards pass, which was deflected by Jared Verse into the Rams’ end zone, and casually picked up by Zach Charbonnet for two points.
Charbonnet had no idea the ball was live, nor did anyone on the field. Not even the officials at the time.
“I’ve never quite seen anything like what happened on the two-point conversion where you’re lined up to kick off, then they say it’s a fumble because they had a clear and obvious recovery. Now you tack it on and make it a 30-30 game. Very interesting.” McVay said after the game.
It was a bit chaotic during the review, considering both teams had lined up for the ensuing kickoff. And amid all that, McVay says he didn’t get a “clear explanation.”
“Didn’t get a clear explanation of everything that went on just because of the timing of it,” he said.
Having been around the game of football his entire life, dating back to his grandfather, John McVay, being a former 49ers general manager, McVay reiterated that he’s never seen anything like that play.
“I’ve never seen or been a part of anything like that, and I’ve grown up around this game,” he said. “I’m not making excuses. We don’t do that. I don’t believe in that. It doesn’t move us forward, but we do want clarity and an understanding of the things we can do to minimize that when we rejected the two-point conversion.”
Stafford was equally puzzled. He didn’t understand how the ball was still live after it was declared a lateral and then bounced forward into the end zone. He thought, like many others, that a fumble can’t be advanced on a two-point conversion or inside of 2 minutes.
“I just want to know that rule because I thought on plays like that – two-point plays, inside of 2 minutes and stuff – I didn’t think you were allowed to advance a fumble,” he said. “Otherwise, I think everybody would, if you’re going down, just fumble it forward and let somebody else advance it. I obviously don’t know the rule well enough.”
He didn’t harp on it or blame the officials, moving forward after the strange play and putting it behind him. That being said, he would love a better explanation of it, just as his coach would.
“It was a play in the game, one that I would just love more of an explanation and understanding of it,” he added.
It was a controversial play at the time, but the Rams hoped it wouldn’t be a factor down the stretch if they could still go on to win. And it looked like they might after Puka Nacua scored a go-ahead touchdown in overtime, only for the Seahawks to answer with a touchdown and two-point conversion to win it.
That one play, as odd as it was, could be the difference in the Rams earning the No. 1 seed and being a wild-card team. Had Darnold’s pass gone even 1 inch forward instead of backwards, the Rams might’ve won the game.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay puzzled by Seahawks’ overturned 2-point conversion
Reporting by Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
