‘Playing Out of His Mind,’ Sam Darnold Brings Finishing Touch For Streaking Seahawks in Arizona
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Seeing a 14-point lead evaporate in the fourth quarter thanks to two touchdown passes by Kyler Murray, everything seemed to be working against the Seattle Seahawks with momentum jumping across the field to the Arizona Cardinals’ sideline.
In a matter of minutes, Murray’s theatrics as a passer and runner had turned what once looked destined to be a comfortable prime time road win for the Seahawks into an unexpected 20-20 barnburner at State Farm Stadium. Many teams would have caved under the pressure after coughing up a two-score advantage, especially playing on the road.
But in the case of the Seahawks, even only four starts into his tenure as the franchise’s starting quarterback, the team has taken on the personality of Sam Darnold, who never gets too high or too low during the course of a game. It doesn’t matter whether his team has a 30 point lead, trails by 20, or finds itself deadlocked in a tie as Seattle was inside 30 seconds to play on Thursday, his demeanor and body language remains unchanged regardless of situation or circumstance.
Unfazed by the Cardinals knotting up the game on a short touchdown pass from Murray to running back Emari Demarcado, Darnold calmly took the lead on the sideline, ready to orchestrate a game-winning drive with 28 seconds on the clock with the mindset the Seahawks would move the ball down the field as they regularly do in situational work at the VMAC during the week.
“I think it was just ‘Alight, here we go. I’m going to get ready for a two-minute (drill) and treat it like practice,’” Darnold told reporters after the game. “At the end of the day, when you get in those two-minute situations… we run through those situations so much in practice so at the end of the day, all I can do is just be me, our guys go out there and not do too much and do whatever the play is called. If we have to make an adjustment from there, we go from there.”
Even with the stakes being so high in front of a national audience, Darnold wasn’t going to let the moment become bigger than it needed to be, and that quiet confidence reflected onto teammates such as Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Once Arizona kicker Chad Ryland’s ensuing kickoff failed to reach the landing zone and Seattle received the ball at its own 40-yard line without any time coming off the clock, the third-year receiver had “no doubts” his quarterback would march Seattle into position for the game winning field goal.
“Them making a huge penalty that got us on the 40-yard line, I knew that we just needed one play, a couple plays and Jason's (Myers) going to go down there and seal the deal for us,” Smith-Njigba said.
Like clockwork, playing with the poise and calm that has endeared him to teammates and coaches alike since his arrival as a free agent in March, Darnold stood firm in the pocket behind stellar pass protection up front as the Cardinals sent five rushers after him, unloading a perfect back shoulder throw to Smith-Njigba on a fade route for a 22-yard gain. The wideout astutely extended the ball out of bounds, preserving Seattle’s lone remaining timeout, and after a four-yard run by Charbonnet, Myers split the uprights from 52 yards out as time expired to secure a thrilling 23-20 victory.
Though Darnold wasn’t quite able to finish off a last second win against the 49ers in the season opener, coming through in the clutch with the game on the line has become routine for the veteran signal caller over the past two years. Dating back to the start of the 2024 season while quarterbacking the Vikings, he has now engineered six game-winning drives, the second-most in the NFL during that span behind only Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes, making it easy to see why everyone in the building has gravitated to him as the undisputed on-field leader so quickly.
Through four games, with Thursday providing another opportunity for him to prove his breakout 2024 in Minnesota wasn’t a fluke, few quarterbacks have been sharper than Darnold, who has thrived in coordinator Klint Kubiak’s offense so far. After going 18 for 26 with 242 passing yards, a 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end AJ Barner, and a 24-yard run against Arizona with no turnovers, the eighth-year veteran ranks seventh in completion rate (70 percent), third in yards per attempt (9.1), seventh in passer rating (106.5), and third in turnover worthy play rate (0.9 percent) according to Pro Football Focus.
“Sam's playing out of his mind right now,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald gushed. “You see him and he’s such a cool customer. He is a guy on a mission. He's just so determined for us to be a great team and a great offense. He's doing a great job leading us.”
Prior to Thursday, Darnold had benefited from improved pass protection from Seattle’s offensive line, taking only three sacks in the first three games. Arizona found success getting to the quarterback, however, sacking him four times behind an aggressive game plan frequently sending five or more rushers after him and mixing in stunts up front to create confusion. In the past, he would have wilted in such an environment.
But unlike earlier in his career where Darnold infamously told reporters he was “seeing ghosts” while playing for the Jets in 2019, the quarterback has come of age when it comes to navigating the pocket and handling pressure. Even with him crediting the Cardinals for a strong defensive game plan, he didn’t let those sacks derail him, using his legs to advantage escaping the pocket while keeping his eyes downfield to complete several throws, including a pivotal third down strike to rookie tight end Eljiah Arroyo while in the shadow of the Seahawks’ own goal post that went for 32 yards.
With a bunch of green in front of him, Darnold could have taken off and gotten the first down as a runner. But he trusted Arroyo to come back to the ball and the second round pick rewarded him for that belief by making a fantastic contested catch to move the chains, setting up a Charbonnet touchdown run to cap off the drive and extend the advantage to 14-3 late in the first half. It’s just another example of the chemistry and rapport the quarterback has quickly built with his new stable of targets.
“It's an incredible play,” Darnold commented. “He showed his big-play ability throughout OTAs and camp. I'm really happy he came down with that one because I think I had 20 yards in front of me of green grass. I'm really happy he made that play.”
As is always the case, the NFL remains a “what have you done for me lately?” league, and for some, Darnold’s struggles in his first several seasons in New York and Carolina will impact their evaluation of him in the present. Some will also point to his rough playoff showing for the Vikings last January in the same stadium he conquered on Thursday night where he took nine sacks in a loss to the Rams, questioning if he can handle the pressure of winning the big game.
For both sectors of analysts and fans, Darnold’s only true answer to silencing those critics will be leading the Seahawks to a playoff win. But for those who have truly paid attention to his trajectory, Thursday night stands out as one of many examples why those narratives don’t hold any weight anymore for a player who overcame immense adversity to re-establish himself as a quality starter, and teammates such as Barner as well as coaches - the only one’s whose opinions matter - have the utmost confidence in the rejuvenated quarterback being the guy to take them on a special run this season.
“Just great composure, great consistency. Keeps on doing his thing and keeps leading the guys. A true veteran presence out there. Consistency and he doesn’t put us in bad situations with turnovers and he’s really doing a great job.”
