Seahawks’ Cooper Kupp, Patriots’ Christian Elliss make crucial plays in championship games | NFL locals
All three of the area’s Division I football programs will be represented in the Super Bowl on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, when the Seattle Seahawks meet the New England Patriots.
Seahawks receiver Cooper Kupp (Eastern Washington) made a few clutch plays against his former team, including a second-half touchdown, helping Seattle outlast the visiting Los Angeles Rams 31-27 on Sunday in the NFC championship game at Lumen Field. Seattle right tackle Abraham Lucas (Washington State) played every snap.
Christian Elliss (Idaho) made a game-changing defensive play for New England during its 10-7 AFC title win at Denver. Pats receivers Kyle Williams (WSU) and Efton Chism III (EWU) are headed to the Big Game in their rookie seasons.
• Kupp added another impactful playoff performance to his storied career, and did it against the team he’d spent the past eight seasons with.
The veteran pass-catcher scored his third touchdown of the season, finding space on an inside route and hauling in a 13-yard TD grab on a third-and-3 to put the Seahawks ahead 31-20 with about five minutes left in the third quarter.
“How about that? Coop, against his former team in the NFC championship, gets a touchdown,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said during a news conference. “There were some whispers before the game, like, ‘How cool would it be if Coop scored a touchdown today?’ And he did. We love him. He’s the best.”
The EWU legend set up that score with a 12-yard reception on a third-and-9 earlier in the drive, and threw a block to clear a lane for star teammate Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 12-yard reception three plays later.
With just over three minutes left in the game, with Seattle facing a third-and-8, Kupp made a strong, contested catch to just narrowly pick up a crucial first down, allowing the Seahawks to extend the possession and drain the clock down to 30 seconds.
Kupp finished with 36 yards on four catches and scored his first TD since early December.
It might not have been a highly productive receiving season for Kupp in his first year with Seattle, but he’s provided a solid complement to the NFL’s leading receiver in Smith-Njigba, provided consistent blocking – Seahawks QB Sam Darnold said last week that Kupp is one of the best run-blocking receivers he’s ever seen – then turned it up in the playoffs, as he’s wont to do.
Kupp has recorded 86 yards and a score on nine catches in two playoff games. He piled up 742 yards and seven TDs in nine playoff games during his Rams career, including a 92-yard, two-TD showing in the team’s Super Bowl win over Cincinnati in 2022, earning himself game MVP honors. Now he’s returning to the Super Bowl with his home-state franchise.
• Lucas played all 67 offensive snaps, and didn’t surrender a sack or even a pressure, keeping Darnold clean and allowing the QB to have what was likely the best game of his career.
The fourth-year pro, a third-round draft pick in 2022, has been an anchor for the Seahawks throughout the season, playing every game for a Seattle team that’s back in the Super Bowl for the first time in 11 years.
According to Pro Football Focus’ rankings, Lucas is the No. 24 tackle in the NFL. And he’s here to stay. Lucas signed a three-year extension with Seattle before the season, and it’s paying off.
• Elliss, a starting inside linebacker for New England, made perhaps the play of the game, sparking the Pats during the first half of their AFC championship win at Mile High Stadium.
On a third-and-4 play, with Denver in possession at its own 33-yard line late in the second quarter, Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham drifted to his left, looking to throw to running back Tyler Badie on a screen, but there were defenders draped all over the intended target, so Stidham held onto the ball. Elliss rushed in from the blind side and collided with Stidham, smacking the QB’s arm as he attempted to shovel a pass forward. The ball shot backwards out of Stidham’s hands as he fell to the turf, and the Patriots’ Elijah Ponder was there to recover at the Denver 12.
The referees initially ruled it an incomplete pass, but awarded the Patriots a fumble recovery after review, thereby giving Elliss a consequential strip-sack.
“Once I saw (Stidham) panicking, I was just trying to go for the ball,” Elliss told reporters. “I thought I hit it. I thought we scooped and scored. I thought they were gonna let it play out, but it was a great play. Can’t complain.”
New England scored two plays later to tie the game at 7-7.
It was the most significant play of Elliss’ career – a key moment in a title game, courtesy of an undrafted player out of Idaho.
It was the first sack of the season for the fifth-year pro, who’s in his first season as a consistent NFL starter. Elliss has 2.5 sacks for his career, and now two forced fumbles.
Elliss finished the AFC title with four tackles (two solo), that sack and a QB hit. He raised his tackle total on the season to 110, including playoffs, which ranks second on the team. Elliss received plenty of praise online from analysts and fans for raising his game during the second half of the season and the playoffs.
“Elliss continues to make plays,” Pats coach Mike Vrabel said during his postgame news conference.
It was a less fortunate game for Elliss’ younger brother, Denver edge rusher Jonah Elliss (Moscow High).
Jonah Elliss, a second-year pro out of Utah, logged three tackles, one for loss, but had a rough final series. He didn’t seal the edge on the game-clinching play, a first-down outside run by Pats quarterback Drake Maye, which allowed New England to run out the clock.
Christian Elliss spoke earlier this week about playing against his younger brother for the first time.
”I’m so excited to have his jersey and frame that and have this moment last forever,” Elliss said in a news conference. “Because my favorite moment up to this point was playing against my older brother (Atlanta LB Kaden Elliss) when he was on the Saints. I remember blocking him. He was on punt and I was on punt return, and I came and tried to blow him up, and we’re laughing the entire way down the field. Out of all my moments, the Super Bowl, big plays, all that, that’s probably my favorite one so far.”
Sunday’s play may have eclipsed that moment.
Christian Elliss will be playing in his second Super Bowl, but he’ll have a more prominent role this time. He appeared on special teams for Philadelphia in the Eagles’ loss to Kansas City in the 2023 Super Bowl.
• Williams appeared on 15 offensive plays, but didn’t record any stats.
The third-round draft pick appeared on 22 snaps last weekend during the Pats’ divisional-round win over Houston, returning one kickoff for 22 yards, but didn’t have a catch. He recorded one reception for 7 yards in the team’s wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Williams finished the regular season with 209 receiving yards and three TD catches.
• Chism was inactive for Sunday’s title game, but he was present on the sideline.
The Patriots had to make room on the roster for receiver Mack Hollins, who returned from an injury.
Chism, who returned kicks and played a limited role on offense off and on since his NFL debut in mid-October, returned one kickoff and appeared on 22 offensive snaps last weekend during the Pats’ win over Houston.
The former FCS All-American worked his way up from the practice squad after going undrafted and finally earned a roster spot at midseason, then carved out a role for a Super Bowl team.