Jets shock the Rams, Seahawks can clinch NFC West with win next week

To quote Jim Lampley after George Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer, “It happened! IT HAPPENED!!!”

The New York Jets were winless, hopeless, and surely as 17-point underdogs they wouldn’t stand a chance against the Los Angeles Rams. After all, we just saw them get thumped by our own Seattle Seahawks last week!

Well the Jets did Seattle a massive favor by beating the Rams by a score of 23-20 to put the Seahawks in 1st place in the NFC West entering next week’s rematch in Seattle. Not only was this an unbelievable upset but the Jets led from start to finish. They were up 20-3 at one point, much like the Seahawks against the Washington Football Team, and like the Seahawks they staved off a late rally and hung on for a road victory.

Needing a third-down conversion to move the chains and assure victory formation, Sam Darnold found Frank Gore on the checkdown and he fell backwards for the game-sealing first down. Frank Gore helping out the Seahawks! What a plot twist after all these years.

I cannot stress enough how important this result is. Seattle went from likely needing to win their last two games to clinch the NFC West to now they are guaranteed to win the division if they beat Los Angeles next Sunday. No ifs, ands, or buts. If they win against Los Angeles, they take the division title for the first time since 2016. And if they lose? Well they’d need the Rams to lose to the Arizona Cardinals on the final day and the Seahawks would have to beat the San Francisco 49ers, so it wouldn’t be over but we don’t want to rely on extra help.

Thanks to the Jets for the W. Enjoy Justin Fields instead of Trevor Lawrence.