The Seahawks took a chance on Sam Darnold, learning from Kyle Shanahan and Kevin O’Connell about Darnold’s time with their teams (49ers and Vikings, respectively). The chance paid off, big time. On Sunday, Darnold led his Seahawks to the Promised Land, AKA Super Bowl LX.
Even though Darnold had a productive season as the Seahawks’ quarterback, critics waited for him to fail in the postseason, seeing him as the weakest link in the Seahawks’ championship chances.
The critics were wrong. Darnold came through, and he capped it off with the NFC Championship, a hard-fought, 31-27 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. For his part, Darnold contributed three touchdowns on the night.
This was not a game-managing performance, and it was not Darnold getting by with the help of the defense and running game after throwing for 346 yards. The Seahawks needed their quarterback to win the game, expecting Rams counterpart Matthew Stafford to throw touchdowns.
Darnold delivered. It was his finest hour as an NFL quarterback.
You had a feeling Darnold would have a good day when he threw his first two completions, including a 51-yarder to Rashid Shaheed. It would set up Kenneth Walker III’s running for a touchdown four plays later, giving the Seahawks a 7-0 lead.
The Seahawks needed their quarterback to set the tone early to have a game as he would. They needed a great start against a great Rams team to have a chance. It was the perfect setup, with the defense getting three-and-out to start the game and Darnold engineering a seven-play, 81-yard touchdown drive.
When the Rams took their first lead of the game at 13-10 on Stafford’s touchdown to Kyren Williams in the second quarter, it was Darnold who came up with an answer with a touchdown of his own. He hit up Jaxon Smith-Njigba a couple of times for a couple of first downs, and he finished a six-play, 74-yard touchdown drive by hitting a 14-yard pass to Smith-Njigba in the end zone.
With the Seahawks getting a favorable field possession on that drive, they needed a touchdown, not a field goal. Beating the Rams required plenty of touchdowns in this game. That’s where Darnold showed he had the chops to deliver when he needed to. It was a boon for the Hawks to take a 17-13 lead at halftime, having the ball to start the second half after deferring to the Rams to start the game.
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With the Rams cutting their deficit to 24-20 on Stafford’s touchdown to Davante Adams on a four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter, Darnold was back to work by executing a 12-yard pass to Cooper Kupp that set up a first down on an 11-yard run by Walker. After securing another couple of first downs, the Seahawks quarterback threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kupp, giving the home team a 31-20 lead on a nine-play, 65-yard drive.
Darnold also made sure to keep his offense in the field in the team’s last possession as much as he could so that the Rams did not have the ball last and let Stafford take Darnold’s moment away from him.
It was beautiful to watch what Darnold did. He played how the Jets envisioned he could have done for them when they drafted him. It didn’t work out because the team never provided him with proper coaching or players to work with. With the Seahawks, it’s as if he died and went to heaven by having so many playmakers to work with and being coached so well.
He could always be a great quarterback, as evidenced by his USC days. There was a reason scouts loved him.
On a day like Sunday, everything came together for him. Darnold’s teammates made a point of crediting him for being calm and composed under pressure. This is where the Seahawks quarterback earned the respect of the people who matter most on this day.
Second-year Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said it beautifully about Darnold shutting a lot of people up.
The Seahawks made it this far in the NFC Championship Game with their defense, running game, and special teams. They are in the Super Bowl because of Darnold.
If there’s something we learned about the Seahawks quarterback besides the fact he can play in the NFL, it’s that he’s tougher than people give him credit for. He showed all that and then some on this Sunday.
