The Seattle Seahawks went from all but done to on the way to the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks staged an epic late-game comeback to beat the Green Bay Packers 28-22 in overtime.
Seattle scored twice in a 44-second span, survived a game-tying field goal with 14 seconds left, and won in overtime on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to Jermaine Kearse.
Wilson and Kearse will be viewed much differently now than they would have been had the Packers protected their 16-point halftime lead and 12-point cushion with 10:53 remaining.
Prior to the game-winning touchdown, Wilson was 0-for-5 with four interceptions when targeting Kearse, who has now caught a touchdown in four straight playoff games.
ESPN's win probability data gave the Packers a 94.4 percent chance of winning at halftime (when leading 16-0) and a 96.1 percent chance of winning with 5:04 left in the fourth quarter (leading 19-7). But it's the Seahawks who advanced to the Super Bowl.
The history
This will be the Seahawks' second straight Super Bowl appearance and third overall.
They are trying to become the first team to win consecutive Super Bowls since the 2003 and 2004 Patriots and the first NFC team to do so since the 1992 and 1993 Cowboys.
The Seahawks have won nine straight playoff home games, tied for the third-longest postseason home winning streak in NFL history. They are 26-2 at home over the last three seasons and are 11-2 at home in playoff games in franchise history.
Seattle is now 10-0 over the last three seasons against quarterbacks who have won a Super Bowl in their careers. Wilson is now 3-0 as a starter against Aaron Rodgers.
The Elias Sports Bureau notes that the Seahawks are the first team to give up the fewest points in consecutive seasons and make the Super Bowl each season since the Dolphins in 1972 and 1973. They are also the first No. 1 seed to make consecutive Super Bowls since the Buffalo Bills in 1990 and 1991. The last NFC team to do that was the Redskins in 1982 and 1983.
Winning in spite of themselves
The Seahawks won despite …
• Leading in regulation for only 71 seconds.
• Trailing by 16 points at halftime. It is the largest halftime deficit overcome in a conference championship game and the third-biggest deficit overcome at any point in a conference title game since the AFL and NFL merged in 1970.
• Trailing by nine points at the end of three quarters. They are the first team to win a conference championship game in which they trailed by more than seven points entering the fourth quarter.
• Committing five turnovers, their most in a game since December 2010, when they had five against the 49ers.
• Wilson throwing four interceptions, the most he’s thrown in any game in his career. Teams are now 2-42 (.045) in postseason games in the Super Bowl era when they throw at least four interceptions. The only other team to win such a game in that time was the Bills, who beat the Jets 31-27 in 1981 despite four interceptions from quarterback Joe Ferguson.
Wilson's QBR of 13.6 is the lowest by a starting quarterback in a postseason win in the 97 postseason games for which we have QBR data (starting in 2006).
Key to comeback: Zone-read
Through the first three quarters, the Seahawks’ zone-read rushing game hadn’t generated much production.
Seahawks Zone-Read Rushing
Seattle had seven zone-read rushes for 28 yards at the end of the third quarter, all by Marshawn Lynch.
In the fourth quarter, the Seahawks had 85 yards on zone-read rushes, including 16 yards and a touchdown with 2:13 left by Russell Wilson that cut the Packers' lead to 19-14.
An unlikely touchdown
The Seahawks’ first touchdown came on a fake field goal with 4:44 left in the third quarter, with Jon Ryan throwing his first career touchdown pass to offensive lineman Garry Gilliam.
It was Gilliam’s first career reception.
Ryan is now 3-for-3 completing passes in his career. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that he's the first punter to throw a touchdown pass in a postseason game in the Super Bowl era.
Stat of the Day
The game-winning touchdown is the second overtime touchdown in an NFL conference/league championship game. The other was by Alan Ameche in the 1958 NFL championship between the Colts and the Giants. That game is often referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played" in NFL history.