Seahawks’ DeMarcus Lawrence insists key play was ‘Law logic,’ not luck

RENTON, Wash. – What Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay called “a fortuitous bust” in how the Seahawks defended a critical fourth-down play in the NFC title game Sunday, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence chalked up to a little “Law logic.”

And the result of Lawrence’s improvisational play, said safety Julian Love?

“He (Lawrence) saved my (butt),” Love said.

Thursday, as the Seahawks returned to the VMAC to begin preparation for the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots on Feb. 8, Love and Lawrence talked about their role in the defensive stop with 4 minutes, 54 seconds left that helped make the trip to Santa Clara, California, possible.

The Rams faced a fourth-and-4 from the Seattle 6-yard-line, trailing 31-27. The Seahawks initially had eight men at the line of scrimmage, set for an all-out rush on Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Sensing that, the Rams called a play in which running back Kyren Williams was tasked to quickly race out of the backfield, to the sidelines and hopefully into the open to take a pass from Stafford.

The Rams’ assumption was Williams would find a wide swath of open turf in a spot a Seahawks defender had vacated to rush.

Williams indeed got a quick step at the line past Love, whose job was to peel back out of his planned rush and take Williams if the Rams running back turned into a receiver.

And for a second, the Rams’ play appeared to be working and Williams looked like he might be in position for an easy TD.

Lawrence, who lined up just inside of Love on the right side of the line, decided to also peel back and cover Williams instead of rush the passer – his intended responsibility on the play.

When Stafford saw Lawrence also covering Williams, he pivoted in the pocket and threw to the middle of the field and the back of the end zone to tight end Terrance Ferguson.

Ferguson was well-covered by cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who batted the ball away.

The Seahawks took over at their own 6 and got three first downs to take all but 25 seconds off the clock to clinch the win and the fourth Super Bowl appearance in team history.

McVay said: “They kind of lucked out on two guys peeling on Kyren right there. I know that can’t be a part of their design. Fortuitous bust by them.”

Added Stafford: “They double peeled on the (running) back. It’s just a mishap by them but lucked into covering our guy.”

Lawrence indicated he doesn’t care what anyone calls it since the Seahawks won.

“Man, I take it,” he said when asked about McVay’s “fortuitous bust” comment. “I take it all day.”

Lawrence acknowledged he wasn’t supposed to be in coverage but said his “instincts” led him to make a quick decision that he’d be better off trying to cover Williams than rush Stafford.

“Well, the situation was I understood that the back was flaring,” said Lawrence, a 33-year-old, 12-year NFL vet. “Love came down to let me know that he was here, so that means he has the back. But the back flared out so fast that I knew that it was a funky look, and I had to use my Law logic and help out.”

Also factoring into his quick decision?

Recalling that it was the 37-year old Stafford in the pocket.

“I mean, I wasn’t threatened by Matt Stafford running the ball,” Lawrence said. “So why not drop?”

Love said the decision by Lawrence was a game-saver.

“They were going to try to throw the ball my way,” Love said.

Love admitted he initially misread the play. Love said he figured Williams might at least hesitate or try to lay a chip block before going out for a pass, which would give Love a second to read if he had to peel back in coverage.

Love took a step in to rush and saw Williams break out on a pass route.

“I was a step too far upfield and (Williams) was up pretty quick,” Love said. “And then D-Law, he felt something funny going on. I think he thought it was a screen or something weird because of how fast the back got out. … So something was off in his mind, and thankfully he had the wherewithal to then drop. He just bailed into the zone and was obviously in a great spot (to cover Williams) just off of instincts.”

Indeed, Lawrence said that when he saw Williams take off that fast he decided to drop back.

“He didn’t wait, so that was an indication (that Stafford was going to look to Williams),’’ Lawrence said. “… It was like an ‘oh (expletive) moment’ the back is flaring out fast.”

That the Rams had thrown to Williams for a TD in the second quarter also played into Lawrence’s mind.

“As long as I’ve played, you start to pick up on those things,” he said.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald acknowledged later that the way the coverage turned out was not what was called.

“We actually didn’t even execute that play well on fourth down,” he said after the game.

Lawrence, who signed with the Seahawks in March after 11 years in Dallas, smiled Thursday when asked if Macdonald has said anything to him about his improvisation.

“Me and Mike ain’t talked about it yet,” he said. “But like McVay said, ‘Fortuitous bust.’ ”

Lawrence said he doesn’t think Macdonald will be mad.

“I definitely believe he trusts us to do that,” Lawrence said. “He puts us in all great positions to make plays, so why not go just make it?”

And even if the play wasn’t by design, Love disputed that it was lucky.

“I don’t believe in luck in football,” Love said. “I think plays are made or they are not. When plays don’t go our way, you don’t hear us going around saying, ‘Things got lucky or fortuitous.’ It’s ‘we lost that rep or we won that rep.’ That’s how I was brought up.”

Love took to the social-media platform X after the game to state sarcastically: “Just a ‘lucky’ win I guess. 12’s we up.”

Love said that post had nothing to do with McVay’s postgame comment but was targeted to others he heard during the week about the 38-37 overtime win over the Rams in December.

“You hear a ton of their defenders especially, talking about, ‘We got lucky,’ (that) ‘they had Sam’s (Darnold’s) number,’ ” Love said. “Like the whole week you keep hearing like, ‘Oh they got lucky last time’ … so that was in reference to that. The whole week was, ‘Oh, they got lucky. They got lucky.’ ”

What happened Sunday, they said, proved otherwise, and not just the decision Lawrence made but also the play Witherspoon made.

“That’s a terrific play,” Lawrence said. “We got off the field and won the game, and that’s the most important part.”