The Seattle Seahawks have pulled off a historic rally and pulled into first place in the NFC. After throwing a touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Sam Darnold delivered a game-winning two-point conversion pass to little-used tight end Eric Saubert to defeat the Los Angeles Rams in an instant classic, 38-37, in overtime.

The Seahawks overcome 457 yards and three touchdowns by Matthew Stafford and 12 catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns by Puka Nacua. That duo connected on a 41-yard score on the first possession of overtime, but Darnold and the Seattle offense would not be denied. Darnold, who was unsteady much of the night and had two interceptions, made huge plays on the game-winning drive, including a beautiful 21-yard pass to Cooper Kupp before the two scoring plays.

Seattle, which trailed 30-14 in the fourth quarter, had been 0-172 when down 15 or more points in the fourth quarter all time.

The Seahawks (12-4) clinched a playoff berth but still has it sights set on the top overall seed in the conference. Darnold finished with 270 passing yards and two touchdowns, and Smith-Njigba had eight catches for 96 yards and a touchdown — all after halftime. Kenneth Walker III had 164 yards from scrimmage.

After a somewhat sleepy first half — the Rams led 13-7 behind a ground-and-pound game plan, and the Seahawks hardly had the ball — the big plays came quickly in the second half. Kenneth Walker III ripped off a 55-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the opening drive of the half, giving Seattle a 14-13 lead. Moments later, though, Matthew Stafford converted a third-and-9 with a 48-yard pass to Xavier Smith, who had gotten behind a normally stout, disciplined Seattle secondary. A Harrison Mevis field goal — his third of the game — gave Los Angeles the lead back, 16-14.

Then it was the Los Angeles defense’s turn to make a big play. Josh Wallace was in perfect position when San Darnold tried to fire a slant to Rashid Shaheed, and the second-year cornerback took his first career interception back 56 yards all the way to the Seattle 1-yard line. Blake Corum banged it in from there to extend the visitors’ lead to 23-14.

After another fruitless Seattle drive, the Rams took off on another lengthy scoring drive, this time with the big play being a 58-yard completion from Stafford to Nacua. Nacua fittingly finished the drive with a 1-yard score off a nifty Stafford pass.

The Seahawks embarked on another long drive and got into the red zone, but defensive lineman Kobie Turner dropped back into coverage, catching Darnold by surprise, and picked off the Seattle quarterback.

At that point, Los Angeles appeared ready to cruise to victory. As it turned out,  it was simply Seattle’s turn to make the big plays.

The Rams quickly went three-and-out, and Rashid Shaheed took the ensuing punt 58 yards for a touchdown. After another Rams three-and-out, Seattle needed just two plays to cover 57 yards: a 31-yard run by Shaheed on a reverse and then a 26-yard touchdown toss from Darnold to A.J. Barner.

Then came one of the strangest two-point conversions ever: Darnold’s screen pass was tipped away by Jared Verse. At least, that’s what it looked like. But replays showed Darnold’s throw had actually gone backward — meaning it was actually a fumble — and because Zach Charbonnet jogged over and picked up the ball in the end zone before any official blew his whistle, it counted as a successful two-point conversion. Tie game.

Stafford once again led the Rams down the field, but Mevis’ 48-yard field goal leaked wide right. That set up a wild, back-and-forth overtime and, ultimately, plenty of heroics for Darnold.