Sam Darnold led the Seattle Seahawks to an OT victory against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday. However, one turnover-filled win was all it took for the old narratives about Darnold to resurface, and the head coach, Mike Macdonald, wasn’t having any of it.

“When I’m thinking of big moments with Sam, I’m thinking of the guy that took us down the field in San Francisco, I’m thinking of the guy that scored that helped us win the game against Arizona at the very end, I’m thinking of the guy that put us in field goal range against the Rams to go kick the field goal to go win it, I’m thinking of the guy that in forty seconds, took us down the field to kick a game winning field goal against the Colts,” Macdonald said on Seattle Sports.

“Show me the times where in big moments this guy hasn’t responded as a Seahawk,” he added.

He’s not wrong. Criticizing Sam Darnold after the season he’s had misses the point. Seattle’s defense has deservedly grabbed most of the attention, but Darnold has quietly been the steady hand late in games.

Thursday night wasn’t clean at all. Darnold threw two picks, which could’ve proved costly. But when the game was still there to be won, he held his own. In OT, he led Seattle on a 65-yard scoring drive. The decision to go for the two-point conversion proved right. The throw to Saubert, his only target of the night, might’ve been the most important of his career.

Resilience is what counts in this league. That’s why the Seahawks are in the driver’s seat for the NFC’s top seed. The games Macdonald mentioned, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis Colts, and the Los Angeles Rams, weren’t Darnold’s best performances. Not even close.  But he found a way to win anyway.

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Seattle took a chance on him. So far, that bet is paying off.

Seahawks’ $100M Sam Darnold deal looks pretty cheap now

If nothing else, the Seahawks can quietly thank the Minnesota Vikings for the choice it made. The Vikings decided to hand the keys to second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy and moved on from Sam Darnold. Darnold landed with the Seahawks on a three-year, $100.5 million deal in March, and the ripple effects are obvious now.

At the time, Minnesota’s decision raised some eyebrows. Darnold had just led the

Vikings to a 14–3 season on a one-year, $10 million contract. And that production usually gets you something bigger than a prove-it contract, certainly more than a goodbye. Fast forward a season, and the Vikings might be regretting that decision.

Darnold is third in the league with 3,703 passing yards, and his 24 touchdown passes rank fifth. Seattle has structured Darnold’s contract with a great deal of flexibility. They could move on after this season and only be on the hook for $37.5 million, but nothing about his performances indicates that Seattle would be looking to part ways.

If Darnold is back in 2026, he’s due $27.5 million, and that would bring his two-year total to $65 million. That’s a lot of money, but it’s also the median money for a quarterback who wins games and fits the system like a glove. He may not be in the MVP conversation, but he understands how to manage pressure, and he’s been a solid fit in Mike Macdonald’s playstyle.

The availability matters as well. Darnold has played every game this season. Not a lot of quarterbacks this season can say that.