From Ex-Ram to Seattle hero: Cooper Kupp delivers Super Bowl trip for Seahawks

RENTON, Wash. - Cooper Kupp may not have expected it would take until a conference championship game to finally score his first touchdown at home as a member of the Seattle Seahawks.

That it came against his former team in the Los Angeles Rams, and served as the game-winning score in the NFC championship game to send the Seahawks to their fourth Super Bowl appearance? Well, that's a story you'd expect to come from Hollywood.

"It was cool," Kupp admitted on Monday. "For the story to be what it was, that it had to be through the Rams to be able to get to where we wanted to go, the NFC championship, in that moment. Yeah, scriptwriters did a great job with that one, tell you that."

Kupp did his best to downplay anything extra being on this matchup coming into the game last week, preaching that the collective story of the Seahawks being a far bigger tale. But Kupp has also spoken about how adrift he was when the Rams made the decision to part ways with him after last season, and the chance to beat the Rams to return to the Super Bowl was just how it was meant to be.

Kupp's only two touchdowns for Seattle this season had come on the road in Jacksonville and Atlanta. The Yakima native had yet to find the end zone at Lumen Field since becoming a member of the team he grew up rooting for in Central Washington. But on third-and-3 late in the third quarter, a 13-yard catch-and-run crashed into the end zone for what would become the decisive points in Seattle's 31-27 win on Sunday night.

"I don't know, just a small part of me that knew that at the end of the game it was going to come down to – like, man, it's going to come down to me having to make a play. I know it is," Kupp said. "So to be in that place and be able to have the opportunity to make that play, it meant a lot. It was a really cool thing to be a part of."

Kupp was at least the third option on the play as quarterback Sam Darnold initially looked left before coming back to the right to find Kupp in a hole in L.A.'s zone coverage, catching the ball at the 7-yard line and barreling into the end zone for the score.

"How about that?" head coach Mike Macdonald said. "Coop against his former team, NFC championship gets a touchdown. Some whispers before the game like how cool would it be if Coop scored a touchdown today, and he did. I mean, we love him. He's the best."

It wasn't the only key play Kupp made to help get the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl. On a third-and-7 in the fourth quarter, Kupp stretched for a first down on third-and-7 with Rams cornerback Cobie Durant barely unable to keep him from getting to the line. 

"So that's a cardinal sin. You don't do that on third down," Kupp said of reaching for the first down line. "… You never reach on third down. Fourth down, end of game, last play of the game where it's fourth down, that's where you can reach. On third down it's because of that. Like if it was close and you get tackled and you're short you have an opportunity to go for it still. You reach for it on third down, fumble, that opportunity is gone now. You eliminated the chance for anything on fourth down. And so that's why you don't do it on third down."

It's an outright contradiction for Kupp, who values process above everything. Reaching for that first down was bad process. But "process" wasn't going to get that first down. 

"I felt good about where I was at holding the ball and I also felt like, based on how my momentum was going, where the DB was, how my body position was, the only chance I had was to try to reach that thing out," Kupp said.

If he'd failed, it would have forced a decision from Macdonald to punt or go for a fourth-and-inches at their own 34-yard line with 3:11 left to play and nursing a four-point lead. Macdonald said later that he would have gone for it and stayed aggressive as they didn't want to give the ball back to Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense.

Kupp's effort eliminated the need. The Seahawks were able to burn close to three more minutes off the clock before they did punt, but Seattle had done enough to close out the game and claim the NFC championship.

"I’m most happy for Coop," said linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who was also sent packing by the Rams a season ago before landing in Seattle. "I’ve been in that position, I’ve been there, I’ve left that place. I know everything he went through. I know this feels good for him, and I’m happy we were able to do it."

Kupp can now win a second Lombardi Trophy, for both himself and the Seahawks next week at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara against the New England Patriots.

"It's going to be a new journey, new team, new experience, and excited about these next two weeks. Going to be really fun," Kupp said.

Super Bowl LX: Injury Reports

Wednesday was the first day that the Seahawks and Patriots needed to submit injury reports for next week's Super Bowl.

Neither team actually practiced on Wednesday, so participation is estimated by the teams.

For the Seahawks, linebacker Ernest Jones IV and backup tackle Amari Kight were the only players listed as unable to participate.

Jones was listed with a new chest injury, while Kight is still dealing with a knee injury from last week's NFC Divisional round victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

Nine more players were listed as limited participants: quarterback Sam Darnold (oblique), left tackle Charles Cross (foot), safety Julian Love (shoulder), linebacker Drake Thomas (shoulder), fullback Robbie Ouzts (neck), tight end Eric Saubert (hamstring), wide receiver Jake Bobo (hand), tight end Brady Russell (hand), and tackle Josh Jones (knee/ankle).

The injuries to Darnold, Cross, Ouzts, and Jones all carry over from prior to the NFC championship. Love, Thomas, Saubert, Bobo and Russell are all new injuries from the win over the Los Angeles Rams. 

For the Patriots, linebacker Harold Landry (knee), linebacker Robert Spillane (ankle), and tackle Thayer Munford Jr. (knee/illness) were the only three listed as not participating for injury reasons.

Quarterback Drake Maye (right shoulder) and wide receiver Mack Hollins (abdomen) were limited.

Landry did not play in the AFC championship for New England, while Spillane was injured in the win over the Denver Broncos.

Injury Report:

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