DeMarcus Lawrence signed with the Seahawks in part because he believed they were a team that could help him reach the Super Bowl for the first time in his decorated 12-year career.
And over the course of the 2025 season, the veteran outside linebacker was a huge reason why the Seahawks had the NFL's best defense and went 14-3 to win the NFC West and earn the conference's top seed.
Now, Lawrence will play in the Super Bowl for the first time in his 12-year career, and one reason why he and the Seahawks were able to beat the Rams in the NFC championship game to advance to Super Bowl LX was the instinctual play he made late in the fourth quarter on one of the most critical plays of the game.
With the Seahawks looking to protect a four-point lead late in the fourth quarter, the Rams had driven as far as Seattle's 6-yard line when they faced fourth-and-4 with just over five minutes to play.
As the Seahawks often do in passing situations, they crowded the line of scrimmage with potential pass-rushers, in this case, seven players, leaving Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford to discern who might actually be rushing and who might be dropping into coverage.
With a blitz potentially coming, Stafford's first read was running back Kyren Williams coming out of the backfield. And if the play had gone as designed for both teams, Williams would have had a one-on-one matchup with safety Julian Love, who was one of the seven players on the line of scrimmage threatening to rush the passer. But Lawrence has seen enough football to know when things seemed off, and based on the movement he saw from Williams, he knew the back wasn't going to stay in to block, and he knew that, based on the way Love was aligned, it would be a tough task for the safety to cover Williams.
So in an instant, Lawrence made a calculation, realizing that Stafford was not really a threat to run, and also that the veteran QB would be able to get the ball out to an open running back faster than a pass rush could get home, and after making that split-second decision, Lawrence went off script and dropped into coverage along with Love. The result was a muddled look for Stafford with his first read, and after he scanned the field looking for options with eight Seahawks dropped into coverage, he fired a pass over the middle that was broken up by Devon Witherspoon.
An NFL Films breakdown of the play referred to it as a miscommunication between Love and Lawrence. Rams coach Sean McVay said after the game that it was a "fortuitous bust" by the Seahawks defense.
In fact, it was neither. It was a very savvy play by a five-time Pro-Bowler who recognized a potential problem and took care of it in one of the biggest moments of the season.
"The situation was, I understood that the back was flaring, Love came down, let me know he was there, so that means he has the back, but the back flared out so fast, it was a funky look, and I had to use my Law Logic and help out," Lawrence said.
Asked about McVay's "fortuitous bust" comment, Law grinned and said, "Fortuitous bust? Yeah, man, I'll take it. I'll take it all day. Understanding the type of scheme that he runs, I wasn't threatened by Matt Stafford running the ball, so why not drop. Instinctual players will harp on looks to own, and if that's one of the looks, why not go make a play instead of running for nothing."
While Macdonald acknowledged after the game that the fourth-down play didn't go as planned, saying, "we actually didn't even execute play well on the fourth down," Lawrence's ability to understand the situation and make that play is still indicative of good coaching in its own right. Lawrence was prepared enough to recognize what was coming and react accordingly, and Macdonald and the rest of the coaching staff have shown their players enough trust and confidence to allow Lawrence to feel good about making that decision in the moment.
"I believe he trusts us to do that. He puts us in great positions to make plays, so why not go make it," Lawrence said.
Asked more about what he saw to decide to bail into coverage, Lawrence explained, "The back was too fast (coming out of the backfield). If it was a regular design and the back wasn't as hot, the back would have waited to see if Julian was going to rush first, and then flared it out, but he didn't wait, so that was definitely an indicator, like an 'Oh shit' moment. The back is flaring out that fast, that means that's (Stafford's) hot, so he's going to the back first. Playing football as long as I've played it, I've seen so many formations and schemes, you start to pick up on those things.
"Like McVay said, fortuitous bust."
As for Love's role in the play, he acknowledged he was slightly out of place, making him grateful for the play Lawrence made. Love could have still made a play to break up the pass, but with Williams having a step on him, and with Stafford being as accurate as he is, it would have been a tough play for Love.
"I was a step too far up field, and (Williams) got out pretty quick," Love said. "It was a designed play, obviously, and D-Law, he just felt something funny going on, I think he thought it was a screen or some weird action because of how fast the back got out versus a pressure look. So something was off in his mind, and thankful he had the wherewithal to drop and clear screen, and then he just bailed into the zone. Obviously, he was in a great spot just off of instincts.
"He's special, he's the perimeter killer. Every screen play that you've seen, he's involved in, he's chasing something down because he's like, 'No, something's wrong.' And he gets out. And that was one of those, and thankfully he saved my ass on it… It was just such a heads up play by him. Something was off, and he just had the wherewithal to read it out, get out there quick. He's just been around the block a long time, and sometimes instinct just takes over. I'm definitely grateful. They would have tried to throw the ball my way, so he cleared that window, and Stafford didn't know what to do with it."
Because of that instinctual play made by Lawrence, as well as Witherspoon's pass-breakups on back-to-back plays, which Macdonald called, "some of the best plays in our team history probably, including in the circumstances," Lawrence will play in his first Super Bowl after never advancing past the divisional round during his 11 seasons with the Cowboys.
"It means everything, a completion of my career," Lawrence said. "Going as long as I have and finally getting to the point that I've been looking for my whole career, it's truly genuine, it's a special time for me and my family. Shoot, man, I'm going to celebrate the hell out of this one."
Lawrence called the postgame scene after the NFC championship win "a surreal moment, man. Just seeing all the confetti come down, you and all your boys are in tears, and it's like, 'Damn, all the work we put in together, it officially paid off.' It was truly remarkable seeing all the guys enjoying their families. You can actually let go a little when you see that confetti fall down, like, 'man, it's really happening.' It was a blessed moment that we had, and definitely waiting for the next one."
When Lawrence signed with Seattle, he said one of the reasons he chose the Seahawks was that he saw an opportunity to finally reach the Super Bowl. Now, thanks in no small part to his play this season, his faith in the Seahawks was rewarded.
"It was very realistic," Lawrence said. "See, this is one of the problems with the world, we have a lack of belief. When you're going into a situation, if everything is aligned right and your belief patterns are right, then you should believe that you have an opportunity to do that. I stand firm on my belief in what we were building here as a team, and shoot, we're here.
"I definitely think I made the right choice," he said. "… I'm having the time of my life, playing with a great team, a great atmosphere, and playing for the 'chip. That's all you can ever ask for, and whatever God brings you in the future, you take that too."
