Shaheed said he knew he was going to have a chance to return the punt for a touchdown.
“Based on the field position, we knew that we were going to be able to get a return. We’ve been focused on that left return all week. We knew that they had kind of a weak point with their special teams and we were able to circle the punt return team and make a big play.”
His punt return touchdown, which happened during the fourth quarter helped close the Rams lead from 30-14 to 30-22 after a successful two-point conversion.
“Rashid Shaheed gave us some life in this game,” safety Julian Love said. “It gave us life. We felt like for this game, our special teams was a weapon. We have a really good unit. When we got Rashid this year, it gave us a whole new sense of focus and energy on special teams, just knowing that he can return a kick at any moment. And now, he’s like, people aren’t getting it done, I’m going to do it myself. We love Shaheed. We felt the stadium rocking after that.”
After Shaheed’s punt return touchdown, Seattle’s defense went on to force a three-and-out and then the offense put together a two-play scoring drive and a successful two point conversion to tie the game 30-30.
“He switched the momentum a lot,” Kenneth Walker III said. “He’s a playmaker, he makes big plays and that was another big play. We love having him here.”
Head coach Mike Macdonald said, “Our special teams unit has just been a massive catalyst for us. You know, even when Tory was returning punts he was doing a great job. Having Rashid do it, being decisive, getting downhill, punt return team blocking their tails off, yeah, you’re right. That was definitely kind of ignited part of the comeback for sure.”
“I’m so glad that guy’s on our team now,” Josh Jones, who played in place of an injured Charles Cross said. “He’s been doing nothing but making plays, coming in, being himself, working hard, adapting to the coaching. You can see he’s already one of us. He’s having a hell of a year. We’re super excited to have him. He’s going to keep doing this.”
