Few plays were more important to the Seahawks’ championship season than the Zach Charbonnet two-point conversion that sent their game against the Rams into overtime. That two-point play allowed the Seahawks to win in overtime, earn the NFC No. 1 seed, and have a clear path to the Super Bowl.
Which makes the replay review that correctly gave the two points to Charbonnet the call of the year.
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The Seahawks had just scored a touchdown to cut the Rams’ lead to 30-28 in the fourth quarter when a Sam Darnold pass was deflected, hit the ground and rolled into the end zone. The officials ruled it an incomplete pass, but Charbonnet stepped into the end zone and picked the loose ball up.
Initially, it appeared that there was going to be no replay review. There was no indication that either the officials on the field or the league replay office was going to initiate a review. But former NFL referee Terry McAulay, working on the Prime Video broadcast, spoke up.
“This may be a backward pass,” McAulay said. “If it’s backward, then this recovery in the clear and continuing action in the end zone would be a good two-point conversion for Seattle.”
After McAulay said that, the referee announced a replay review of the play, and the review confirmed that it was a backward pass recovered by Charbonnet for two points. That tied the game, 30-30 late in the fourth quarter.
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The Seahawks then won the game in overtime. If they had lost that game, the Seahawks would have been a wild card team and would have had to win three games on the road to get to the Super Bowl. By winning the game, the Seahawks ended up with the No. 1 seed, and only had to win two home games to get to the Super Bowl. That one call made a massive difference to the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl.
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