The Los Angeles Rams have withdrawn a pair of rule change proposals stemming from the wild backward pass 2-point conversion that helped propel the Seattle Seahawks to their stunning Week 16 comeback victory, according to a report from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio on Wednesday night.
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The news comes after a report surfaced last month that the Rams were planning to pitch two rule changes “aimed at certain details around” that play, which ended up being one of the most pivotal moments of the 2025 NFL season.
A refresher
Trailing 30-28 with 6:23 left in the fourth quarter of a massive NFC West showdown, the Seahawks lined up for a 2-point conversion attempt against the Rams. Sam Darnold tried to hit running back Zach Charbonnet for a quick screen, but his pass deflected off Rams edge rusher Jared Verse’s helmet and fell forward into the end zone.
The play was initially ruled an incomplete pass, and Charbonnet casually picked up the ball in the end zone after the whistle blew.
“Is this the craziest 2-point conversion EVER?”
The @Seahawks tie it up in a WILD way 😳
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After a replay review, it was determined that Darnold’s pass traveled backward, which made it a live ball. And even though the whistle had blown before Charbonnet picked up the ball, it was deemed that Charbonnet had done so in what the NFL rulebook describes as an “immediate continuing action.”
The call was thus overturned, resulting in a game-tying 2-point conversion for Seattle.
The Rams’ proposed rule changes
Under one of the Rams’ proposed rules changes, a backward pass tipped by a defensive player that travels past the line of scrimmage would be treated like a fumble, according to Florio. That would have meant in certain situations – the final two minutes of a half, fourth down or on a 2-point conversion attempt – only the player who fumbled would be allowed to recover the ball and advance it.
As it pertains to the Week 16 play, that would have meant only Darnold could have recovered the ball for it to be a successful 2-point conversion.
The Rams’ other proposal was a 40-second limit for the initiation of a replay review, according to Florio. In the Week 16 game, 100 seconds passed between Charbonnet’s recovery and the announcement that the play was under review.
That play’s significance
That 2-point conversion was one of the most pivotal plays in Seattle’s Super Bowl run this past season.
The Seahawks, who had trailed 30-14 with less than 9 minutes left in regulation, went on to prevail for a 38-37 overtime win that put them in the driver’s seat of the NFC race. They went on to finish 14-3 to earn the NFC West title and the NFC’s No. 1 seed, while the Rams finished 12-5 and fell to the No. 5 seed.
Had the Seahawks lost that Week 16 game to the Rams – and had every other regular-season result also remained the same – the playoff paths for both teams would have looked much different, as the Rams would have been the NFC’s No. 1 seed and the Seahawks would have been the No. 5 seed.
The bitter rivals, of course, met again one month later in the NFC Championship game, with the Seahawks outlasting the Rams 31-27 en route to their second Lombardi Trophy.
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