THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: A big one for the birds in Seattle

1-172.

No, that wasn’t my record when predicting the outcome of college football games in the Big Ten or SEC this year.

Pretty close though.

IT IS safe to argue that Thursday’s 38-37 overtime win for the Seattle Seahawks over the visiting Los Angeles Rams could be the franchise’s wildest win.

In its previous 172 games when trailing by 16 points in the fourth quarter, well, it hasn’t ended the best.

Seattle really had no business beating Green Bay in the 2014 NFC Championship Game. Not after Russell Wilson threw four interceptions and the team had to rally in the final five minutes.

Green Bay had the ball and a 19-7 lead and everything going its way on that January day.

But Seattle found a way.

In 2013, Seattle nearly lost in the NFC Championship Game to San Francisco, but a late defensive stop was the difference as the Seahawks held on and then won the Super Bowl two weeks later in East Rutherford, N.J.

On Thursday, Seattle trailed 30-14 with under 10 minutes remaining. Seattle scored on a 58-yard punt return by Rashid Shaheed to cut the deficit to 30-22, and tied the game on a controversial two-point conversion by Zach Charbonnet.

On the play, it appeared that a pass to Charbonnet was incomplete. However, thanks to video replay, it was determined to be a backwards pass and Charbonnet picked the ball up and walked into the end zone.

Thursday, that changed when Sam Darnold found Eric Saubert for a two-point conversion, giving the Seahawks the win, a lead in the NFC West and the top spot in the conference with the playoffs starting in two weeks.

JUST HOW much that win matters remains to be seen for Seattle this season.

The Seahawks' road to the playoffs will run through Carolina next Sunday, then to San Francisco the following weekend to close out the regular season.

And both Carolina and San Francisco are still well within the crowded NFC playoff mix as well.

San Francisco, with a win on Monday at Indianapolis and a home win against Chicago, could very well be playing for home field in the playoffs as well when the Seahawks come to town on Jan. 4.

Coaches will tell you that all they really want is a ticket to the dance, and that’s what Seattle earned on Thursday.

Whether playing at home, or if it comes to being on the road, it might not matter to this group of players.

Everyone wants to be at home in the playoffs. But Seattle has lost twice in the friendly confines of Lumen Field this season.

On the road, a missed field goal against the Los Angeles Rams was the difference in a 21-19 loss.

Sure, Seattle is having a great season and easily one of the best in franchise history.

But there’s a lot of work ahead to get anywhere near those teams in 2013 and 2014.

Getting that one on Thursday was huge.

We’ll see just how big in a few months.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1206 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on ‘X’, formerly Twitter @JECdAPress.