Seahawks reach playoffs after Lions defeat Packers, face 49ers in wild-card round

The Seahawks are headed back to the playoffs after the Lions’ 20-16 win over the Packers on Sunday night.

Seattle will be the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs and will play at San Francisco against the 49ers in a wild-card game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

It all started with the Seahawks once again coming from behind against the Rams.

The Seahawks used their first comeback after trailing entering the fourth quarter this season to keep their playoff hopes alive – and did so thanks to a few improbable breaks, heart-wrenching twists and, finally, a field goal by Jason Myers with 4:34 left in overtime to beat the Los Angeles Rams 19-16 at Lumen Field.

Myers missed a 46-yarder on the last play of regulation that sent the game into overtime, part of a wild fourth quarter in which the Rams kept giving gifts to the Seahawks, who too often didn’t seem to want to accept them.

The win means Seattle finishes with a 9-8 record.

Seattle trailed most of the second half and failed on a chance to win the game when it could not score a touchdown on four plays from the 4-yard line or closer late in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks were 0-7 when trailing after three quarters.

But Seattle’s defense allowed the Rams just 15 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime to give the offense chance after chance to pull it out.

Seattle appeared poised to win it when the Seahawks drove into field goal position after taking over at its own 20 with 56 seconds left and no timeouts.

A 10-yard pass to Cade Johnson set up what appeared to be the key play of the game – a 25-yard scramble by Geno Smith coupled with a personal foul for a late hit by Rams corner Jalen Ramsey that put the ball at the Rams’ 30.

A play later, Smith spiked the ball to stop the clock with three seconds left to bring on Myers with the ball at the 28.

After a Rams timeout, Myers’ attempt banged off the right upright and no good – just the third miss in 36 attempts this season for Myers, who was named to the Pro Bowl last month.

Seattle won the toss and got the ball first to start overtime. But Smith threw incomplete on second and third downs – the latter play due in part to a heavy rush by former Seahawk Bobby Wagner – and had to punt.

But on the Rams’ second play, quarterback Baker Mayfield tried to hit Van Jefferson deep and with the ball hanging in the air, Quandre Diggs raced over to pick it off, holding the ball aloft in celebration as he went out of bounds at the 36 with 8:24 left.

A 17-yard pass from Smith to Tyler Lockett – who beat Wagner on a crossing route – got the ball into Los Angeles territory.

A Kenneth Walker III run of 20 then got Seattle into field goal position.

A few more runs got Seattle to the 14, where Myers booted a redemption-filled 32-yard field goal to win it.

Trailing 16-13 and appearing dead in the water midway through the fourth quarter, Seattle got the break it needed when Los Angeles reserve defensive end Jonah Williams was called for running into punter Michael Dickson after the Seahawks had been stopped at their own 21 with 8:47 to play. Had the punt counted the Rams would have taken over at their own 40.

Two plays later, Smith hit Colby Parkinson for 32 yards to get the drive started.

The Seahawks then had a fourth-and-1 at the Rams 22 with 4:32 to play.

With the Rams stacked up the middle, Smith pitched the ball to the left to Walker who rumbled easily to the 13.

On the next play, Smith dropped back and then scrambled for nine yards to the four.

Walker then carried for a first down to the 2.

Walker, though, was then held for a gain of one and then for no gain, setting up a third-and-goal at the 1. Seattle used its final timeout before the play with 2:27.

But the third down play was even worse. Walker took a handoff out of shotgun and was tackled for a three-yard loss by former UW star Taylor Rapp.

That forced Seattle to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Myers to tie it at 16 with 2:19 left.

That capped an 82-yard, 16-play drive.

Seattle then forced a three-and-out, helped by a bad Mayfield pass on second down to a wide open Jefferson.

Seattle got another break when Riley Dixon’s punt just barely rolled into the end zone.

The Seahawks took over at their own 20 and used the Smith scramble to get into position for the Myers’ field goal that missed.

Trailing 13-6 at halftime, Seattle tied the game with a quick five-play, 88-yard drive capped by a 36-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Lockett with 9:09 left in the quarter.

Smith was 3 of 3 on the drive for 74 yards and also threw a block to help open up a 15-yard run by Walker on the play before the TD.

The Rams used a 10-yard scramble by Mayfield and a 21-yard pass to Tutu Atwell to move to the Seattle 19. But the drive stalled there and Gay kicked a 38-yard field goal to put Los Angeles back on top, 16-13, with 4:13 to play in the third quarter.

The Rams led 13-6 after a first half as ugly and disappointing as any this season for Seattle given the state of the opponent and the stakes of the game.

Smith was intercepted on the first play of the game by Jalen Ramsey on a pass to Metcalf. Ramsey returned it to the 11, with the only saving grace that the Seattle defense held L.A. out of the end zone, with the Rams settling for a short field goal.

The Seahawks then dominated most of the rest of the first quarter, twice driving inside the L.A. 20.

But both times the Seahawks were forced to settle for field goals – on kicks of 37 and 36 yards by Myers.

Still, those kicks gave Seattle a 6-3 lead, and with the Seahawks holding a 97-5 edge in yards, the home team seemed in good shape.

But the Rams turned the tables in the second quarter, with L.A. holding Seattle to just one first down on three drives.

The Rams, meanwhile, opened the quarter with a field goal by Matt Gay to tie the game, and then later in the quarter embarked on a nine-play, 87-yard drive to take a 13-6 lead. Tutu Atwell went the final 11 yards for the score on a reverse on a drive in which the Rams converted a third-and-6 and a third-and-10.

The Rams outgained the Seahawks 165-29 in the second quarter, including 80 yards on 10 rushing attempts, while holding Seattle to just 8 yards rushing on three attempts.