SEATTLE — The Rams’ Benny Cunningham was going to score a touchdown right up until he didn’t. Just like the Seahawks were out of the NFC West race, and maybe even the playoffs, right up until they weren’t.
For a team and a coach who preach the importance of finishing, the Seattle Seahawks’ 20-6 victory over the St. Louis Rams was a fitting end to a regular season that saw them clinch the division as well as the NFC’s top seed for the second straight year.
No play symbolized what this team is all about more than free safety Earl Thomas’ touchdown-saving forced fumble in the fourth quarter.
When Cunningham caught a pass out of the backfield, it appeared he was going to reach the corner of the end zone to make it a one-score game. Only Cunningham wouldn’t score, just like the Arizona Cardinals wouldn’t hang onto a three-game lead over Seattle in the division race. And just like the Rams wouldn’t be able to hang onto a six-point halftime lead.
With cornerback Byron Maxwell slowing Cunningham up just enough, Thomas had time to cover a crazy amount of ground — his specialty — and hack the ball out of Cunningham’s hand just inches before the ball crossed into the goal line. The ball rolled out of the end zone as Thomas and Cunningham rolled out of bounds, resulting in a touchback. And it all but assured the Seahawks of a victory and the home-field advantage that came with it.
“That play is colossal,” cornerback Richard Sherman said. “That was a colossal play. Not that it determined the game, but it just showed who he is as a person, as a player. His effort, his unwavering commitment, his unwavering effort every play to the last inch, until there’s only an inch left. … He wouldn’t give up if there’s a centimeter left. If there’s any energy in his body, he’s going to fight for it, and that’s what makes him who he is. He’s a fighter, he’s a grinder, he’s an outstanding tremendous player.”
Sherman was describing one play and one player, but in a lot of ways he was describing what allowed the Seahawks to go from a team that at one point was 3-3, then 6-4, to one that finished the year with six straight victories over a stretch of games that looked to be the most daunting part of their schedule.
For all of the things Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll does well, his ability to get teams to finish well ranks at or near the top. And while last year was about sustained dominance with a few bumps in the road, this year’s team will again get to stay home in the postseason because they were able to overcome a little bit of adversity and finish with six straight victories.
And just as the Seahawks overcame a stunning trade (Percy Harvin) early in the season, a few uncharacteristic losses and a bit of locker-room turmoil to win their division, they also overcame some pretty poor play in the first half to win going away Sunday against the Rams.
While the defense, which for the third straight year gave up the fewest points in the NFL — “That’s freakin’ awesome,” Carroll said — was dominant yet again, the offense was shut out for the first time in a first half since 2011 thanks to a pair of turnovers.
But once quarterback Russell Wilson and the offense got going in the second half, and when the defense forced three turnovers, one of them a touchdown, one of them setting up a touchdown and one of them preventing one, things got lopsided in a hurry.
That’s what the Seahawks do best. They don’t always come out and light teams up from the start like a Peyton Manning-led offense might, but they wear an opponent down, beat on them with Marshawn Lynch- and Kam Chancellor-shaped hammers, then eventually impose their will in the second half.
Over their six-game winning streak, the Seahawks have outscored their opponents by a modest 49-20 margin in first halves, then overwhelmed them in the second half by an 85-16 margin.
“To win 20-0 in the second half, that was fitting,” Carroll said. “To finish the season, and be really strong here in December again, that’s something we take great pride in. Finishing is a big deal to us.”
Wilson said after the game that right now he likes this year’s team “a little bit better” than last year’s because of the resilience they have showed.
And in Sunday’s win, and on one play in particular, the Seahawks reminded both the Rams and anyone they might see in the playoffs that they are a team that finishes.
“I don’t know if there’s a more fitting play for a guy than Earl knocking the ball out with a sliver of an inch from the goal line,” Carroll said. “… It’s just a great way to make that statement of how hard he plays this game and how tough of a competitor he is, and he never would let up.”
Again, that was a statement about one play, but that one play made a statement about a team and an entire season.
Herald Columnist John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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