- [Narrator] It's January 18th, 2015.
We're in Seattle for a nail biting
conference championship game
where the hometown Seahawks
and visiting Green Bay Packers
find themselves locked in overtime.
With Seattle creeping into Green Bay's territory,
this sold out crowd at CenturyLink Field is rocking.
But not long ago,
one of the loudest stadiums in America was silent.
So, how do we go from this to this?
In order to find out, we gotta rewind.
Tied at 22, for whatever reason,
whenever these two teams meet,
it tends to end in remarkable fashion.
The fan bases of these franchises
have to feel some sort of deja vu.
The first time these two squads
ever faced off in the playoffs
was in a tightly contested 2003 wild card matchup
that also went to overtime.
After winning the coin toss,
starting Seattle quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck,
was famously overheard saying,
"We want the ball and we're gonna score."
Hasselbeck was partly right.
One of his passes did in fact lead to a score,
it just went the other way for a pick six,
resulting in a Packers win.
The Seahawks eventually got some revenge
with a dramatic ending of their own in 2012.
In a week three matchup,
Seattle beat Green Bay on a last second desperation heave,
now dubbed the Fail Mary
because the referees couldn't confidentially decide
whether the completed pass was a touchdown or incomplete.
Look at these dudes.
These guys were replacement refs
because the NFL Referees Association was on a lockout.
So, I'm not gonna talk too much shit about them,
but when you got Barry O
taking a break from executive duties
to randomly throw shots
at how bad a primetime Monday night game ended
because of officiating,
then something was definitely wrong.
Anyways, the QB that tossed
that Fail Mary pass was Russell Wilson
and damn, check that out.
Here he is again with a chance to cook up a thrilling ending
against Green Bay.
Wilson is in a position to send his team to the Super Bowl,
a position that seemed very unlikely a few years ago.
Seattle drafted Wilson in the third round of the 2012 draft,
making him the sixth quarterback selected
in a draft loaded with arm talent.
NFL scouts believed Wilson possessed
the play-making abilities to be successful,
but thought he was too undersized.
Media outlets even went as far as calling Wilson's selection
by far the worst move of the draft.
Adding even more confusion as to why Seattle drafted Wilson,
the Seahawks had also recently signed former Green Bay
backup quarterback, Matt Flynn, to a hefty contract.
Going into minicamp though,
Wilson was given the same amount of reps
as the other quarterbacks on the roster
and immediately impressed Seattle's coaching staff.
Throughout the preseason,
Russ continued to flash his magic
with brilliant performances,
including a beat down over the Chiefs
in which he started the game.
Head coach Pete Carroll
gave the rookie high praise
and named Russ as a starter for Week One.
While he got off to a bit of a slow start,
Russ quickly silenced the doubters.
Besides adding that illustrious Fail Mary victory
to his resume, in just two seasons, Wilson swiftly proved
that short kings can dominate a quarterback.
In his first two years in the NFL,
Russ earned Pro Bowl honors both seasons
and led Seattle to a Super Bowl victory
in just his 37th start.
Now in his third season, Russ hasn't missed a beat.
Wilson's ability to extend plays out the backfield
makes him extremely tough to defend,
but behind a potent rushing attack led by Marshawn Lynch,
Wilson truly thrived in the play action game,
driving the ball deep down the field with precision.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
That offensive formula captured Seattle
the Lombardi Trophy last year
and paired with a generational defense,
the team showed the early signs of a dynasty
as they breezed through the season.
In the playoffs, Seattle rode Wilson's shoulders
in a divisional round win against the Carolina Panthers.
Entering the conference championship,
Seattle has a chance to become the first defending champion
to make the Super Bowl in a decade.
To get there though, Seattle needs Russ to keep cooking.
Russ has always played cool, calm
and collected throughout the post season,
but he clearly looked rattled this game
as Green Bay applied constant pressure,
forcing him into ugly throws.
After throwing only seven interceptions the entire season,
Wilson threw four in this game alone.
While I'm sure Russ wishes
he could take back all those throws,
his fourth interception appeared to be the final nail
in the coffin for Seattle.
Down by 12 late in the fourth,
Wilson tried to squeeze in a pass into the hands
of one of his clutchest receivers, Jermaine Kearse,
but the ball was deflected off of Kearse's hands
and it was picked off.
After that interception, Pro-Football-Reference.com
set the Packers odds of winning at 99.3%.
Seattle's chances of returning
to the Super Bowl looked finished.
But here they are now with a chance
to end this game in overtime.
I may not be good at math,
but I'm pretty sure 99.3% ain't that far off from 100,
which means Green Bay
should have finished this game already.
So, how the hell did they find themselves back on defense?
Like Seattle, Green Bay show
they were legit Super Bowl contenders most of the season,
smacking teams en route to the conference championship.
While the Packers high powered offense
got most of the praise,
their defense was a force to be reckoned with as well.
Led by veterans that control things up front,
the Packers had ball hawks holding down the secondary.
In this game though, it was specifically safeties
Morgan Burnett and HaHa Clinton-Dix
who had a nose for the ball.
They've made Wilson's life a living hell earlier,
but right now, Green Bay could use another huge play
from their fifth year vet
and their rookie who's played well beyond his years.
The Packers drafted Clinton-Dix 21st overall in the 2014 draft.
Clinton-Dix showed his potential
from the job and swiftly jumped
to the top of the free safety depth chart as a rookie.
In a week one matchup against Seattle,
Clinton-Dix made his impact felt
and recorded his first ever career sack against Wilson.
The Seahawks demolished the Packers in that game,
but in this conference championship,
it was the Packers heading out as weapons early
and Clinton-Dix was right up front getting his licks in.
The rookie continued to shine as he snagged
two of Wilson's interceptions.
His partner in crime at safety
managed to get his punches in as well.
Burnett appeared all over the stat sheet,
but his biggest contribution came
from grabbing Wilson's fourth INT.
Despite intercepting the ball
with plenty of green grass ahead of him,
Burnett made the heady decision to give himself up.
Why risk giving the ball back to Seattle
when you're damn near guaranteed to win?
Even after Seattle's defense forced a pivotal three
and out near midfield,
the Seahawks offense took over from their own 31 yard line,
down two scores, with little time to play.
Up until this point, Russ and the Seahawks offense
has looked lifeless.
But after that fourth interception,
Seattle quickly flipped the switch
and marched down the field for a touchdown
in under two minutes.
If I were a Packers fan, I would have sweated a little,
but I'm nowhere near full panic mode.
Sure, Seattle just easily cruise down the field,
but Green Bay's defense had them smothered all game
and the only other touchdown Seattle got,
came off of a fake field goal.
Literally just about everything had to go right for Seattle
to have a chance of winning.
Even the homies over at Pro-Football Ref
agreed that the Packers got this.
Look, 75.2% isn't 99.3,
but C's still got degrees.
There's no way Seattle could recover the onside kick,
then drive down the field
to score a touchdown that fast again.
- [Commentator] Good kick by Seattle.
- [Narrator] Okay, I'm gonna go ahead
and take a moment to remove myself
from the mindset of a Packers fan.
Seattle's crowd was lit
and I don't want any part of what came after witnessing
the ball bounced perfectly off of Brandon Bostick's helmet.
I don't think any of the cheese heads
that made the trip to Seattle wanted any part of it either.
I know for damn sure,
whatever look this dude is going for,
he didn't know how to feel as well.
Green Bay's defense needed to play with the same ferocity
they had earlier,
but after repeatedly being on the field
without any opportunities to get sufficient rest,
Seattle broke them.
The drive started off with Wilson reminding the Packers
he's got the wheels to pick up easy yards
if you give him space.
After converting another first down through the air,
Lynch brought the entire crowd to its feet
when he ripped off a 24 yard touchdown run,
giving Seattle its first lead of the game.
Up by one, Seattle went for two,
so a Green Bay field goal wouldn't beat them.
During Seattle's two point attempt,
Green Bay's defense showed a fleeting glimpse
of their dominance,
forcing Russ to throw up a wild pass towards the end zone.
And there went Clinton-Dix, ready to make a play on the ball
like he's done most of this game,
but holy shit, he whiffed.
The ball sat floating for Clinton-Dix
to get in the right position,
but he just ended up tackling air.
I'm so sorry my spooky faced Packers fan
but things didn't look too good.
Now the Packers absolutely need to knock in a field goal
to tie this game up,
which is a lot easier said than done,
but a situation that could have been avoided.
Packers' kicker Mason Crosby was perfect so far,
but it's really been Seattle's defense keeping him busy.
Despite Green Bay's offense
starting in great field position after turnovers,
the Seahawks forced the Packers into settling
for three points on multiple occasions,
including twice from Seattle's one yard line.
While Seattle's offense didn't catch fire till late,
their defense made the Packers
number one ranked offense look basic all game,
including intercepting Packers QB
Aaron Rogers twice in Seattle's territory.
If we take away one of those interceptions
and swap it for a field goal,
or if the Packers attempted a successful
fourth down conversion from Seattle's one yard line,
the Seahawks stunning comeback wouldn't have been possible.
That's simply not the case though.
Green Bay not only has to score fast,
but they had to do it with a hobbled quarterback.
Rodgers entered the game with the left calf injury.
The Seahawks had their doubts though,
especially after how Rodger's dominated
in the previous round of the playoffs.
Seattle might have believed Rodgers a little more
after a third quarter sack left the QB grabbing his leg
visibly in pain.
And if that wasn't enough proof,
I'm sure Seattle's defense was ready to reconsider
after Rodgers hobbled his way to a clutch first down.
Even with a bum leg, Rodgers had rapidly
driven the Packers down the field,
setting up a successful 48 yard field goal from Crosby
that sent the game to OT.
A decade removed from their wild card playoff match up,
these two teams found themselves in overtime again.
History stayed consistent with the Seahawks winning the toss,
but instead of guaranteeing a win like Hasselbeck,
Russ decided to let his game do the talking.
Wilson continued slicing up the Packer's defense,
putting the ball on the money for his wide outs,
including a massive 3rd down conversion
in their own territory, where Russ
tossed a beautiful deep ball to Doug Baldwin,
which brought us here.
Inside the 40 yard line, Seattle has Green Bay on the ropes.
Seattle's offense has been rolling
with just about everyone touching the ball
to make an impact.
Everyone, except for this guy, Jermaine Kearse,
who's surprisingly had a quiet night.
The same year Seattle drafted Wilson,
they also signed Kearse as an undrafted free agent.
Kearse had nowhere near the same input
as Russ his rookie season,
but in his second year,
he developed into a dependable target
known to make big time plays when they mattered most.
In the postseason, Kearse came up huge
snagging the go-ahead touchdown
in the 2013 NFC championship
and made sure to secure a tuddy
in that season's Super Bowl win as well.
And this year has been no different.
Kearse continued his dominance in the playoffs
hauling in a filthy one-handed touchdown
against the Panthers
to keep his post-season TD streak alive.
That's why it's strange to see
one of Wilson's clutchest post-season targets
without a single reception in this game.
Wilson's tried to get the ball to Kearse,
targeting him five times,
but each of those attempts
were Russ forcing a play that wasn't there
and four of those targets ended up as interceptions
with Kearse deflecting two of them.
So despite being blanked all game,
Kearse is on the field right now
because he's proven he can perform
in high pressure situations.
Whatever happens next will determine who represents
the NFC in the Super Bowl.
If Seattle scores, it'll cap off an extraordinary comeback
and further submit the team's claim as a dynasty.
The Packer's defense looks gassed,
but they've intercepted Wilson four times.
And if they could muster up a pick six here,
they would have finished off the Seahawks
in an agonizing fashion
reminiscent of their 2003 wild card win.
With a shot at the Super Bowl on the line,
it all comes down to this.
Welcome to a moment in history.
- [Commentator] Wilson, toward the end zone.
And it's caught. (crowd cheering)
Seattles going to the Super Bowl, Jermaine Kearse.
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