Essentials Inside The Story
- One messy overtime win was enough to reopen old doubts about Sam Darnold
- Seattle's head coach stepped in fast and forcefully shut all the criticisms down
- With wins piling up and stakes rising, the Seahawks' gamble at quarterback is starting to look a lot smarter than anyone expected
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.
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“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.
Mike Macdonald on @SeattleSports pushed back on notion that Sam Darnold needed to prove he can deliver in a big game. Cited SF, AZ (Week 4), LA (W11) & Colts games as instances of Sam coming thru. "Show me the times where in big moments this guy hasn't responded, as a Seahawk."
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.
Seattle took a chance on him. So far, that bet is paying off.