With five minutes remaining and a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, the result of the NFC Championship looked all but decided. Instead, the Seattle Seahawks staged an improbable comeback to revive their title defence hopes.
The Green Bay Packers had Seattle on the ropes at various points in the game, including a 16-0 lead at half-time and a 19-7 lead with possession at the 5:04 mark in the fourth quarter.
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But the final minutes were all the Seahawks needed to claw back and win in overtime to secure a return to the Super Bowl.
Quarterback Russell Wilson, who had been intercepted four times in a stagnant offensive effort, connected with wide receiver Jermaine Kearse on a long 35-yard pass for the walk-off touchdown in extra time.
“Just making the plays at the end and keep believing,” said Wilson. “There was no doubt…we had no doubt as a team.”
Seattle used just 1:43 on their drive to pull it back to 19-14 in the fourth quarter, which was capped by Wilson’s 1-yard score. After getting the ball back, they again struck quickly in 44 seconds with running back Marshawn Lynch scampering for a 24-yard touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion to put the Seahawks up for the first time all game at 22-19.
“It takes everybody and everybody had to contribute to get that done,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “It was so much heart, so much belief today. Somehow, somehow we pulled it out.”
While Seattle fought back impressively, the Packers had plenty of opportunities to seal the win. After intercepting Wilson with nearly five minutes left in regulation, Green Bay ran three straight times for a total of minus-four yards and were forced to punt.
Even after the Seahawks made it a one-score contest, Green Bay just needed to recover the onside kick and tick off as much of the clock as possible.
But Steven Hauschka’s kick bounced high and off the hands of Packers tight end Brandon Bostick before being corralled by Seattle.
Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers later drove down the field to set up the tying field goal, but never saw the ball again as the Seahawks won the toss in overtime and capitalised.
“It’s going to be a missed opportunity that I’ll probably think about for the rest of my career,” said Rodgers. “We were the better team, we played well enough to win. We can’t blame anybody but ourselves.”
Cornerback Tramon Williams added: “It’s not a surprise what happened, but we should have won the game, no doubt about it.”
The Seahawks will head to Glendale, Arizona, looking to become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the New England Patriots in 2005.
