The NFC Championship trophy was handed to Seattle Seahawks Sam Darnold after a
31-27 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, and a stellar performance by the 28-year-old
quarterback. He outdueled MVP favorite, Matthew Stafford, completing 25 of 36 passes
for 346 yards and three touchdowns (no interceptions). It was the fourteenth 300-yard
game of his career, and the seventh with three touchdowns or more.
It wasn’t long ago that it would have been unimaginable for Darnold to put up numbers
like this in a championship game. He finally looks like the quarterback he was supposed
to be when the New York Jets took him third overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. It has
certainly been a long and winding road for the kid from Capistrano Beach, but he has
finally arrived, and he’s trying to make sure nobody ever questions him again.
The College Days
Darnold was a four-star recruit in high school, and according to ESPN, was the
eighth-best quarterback in the draft and the 115th overall ranked player. He chose USC,
and when he arrived, the Trojans’ defensive coordinator asked if he was interested in
being a linebacker instead of a quarterback (the doubting had already begun). Darnold
declined and redshirted his freshman year.
Darnold lost his first college start, but won every game for the rest of the season. He
completed 67.2% of his passes for 3,086 yards and 31 touchdowns. He had a bit of a
dropoff as a sophomore (63.1% and led the Pac-12 in interceptions (13). Projected as a
top pick, Darnold declared for the Draft.
The New York Jets and Belichick’s Ghosts
Darnold went 4-9 as a rookie, completing just 57.7% of his passes and had 17
touchdowns to 15 interceptions. He unexpectedly went viral in his second season,
against one of the greatest defensive coaches in history. In a 33-0 loss to the New
England Patriots on October 21, 2019, Darnold was mic’d up and was overheard telling
a coach, “I’m seeing ghosts out there.”
This was to say he couldn’t process the defenses that Belichick and the Patriots were
throwing at him. He finished the game 11 of 32 (34.4%) for 86 yards and threw four
interceptions but no touchdowns. This was the most interceptions he would throw in a
game until a loss to the Rams this season. He had 279 yards in that game, through.
After three seasons in New York, Darnold was dealt to the Carolina Panthers for a
second, fourth, and sixth-round pick. He went 8-9 in Carolina before accepting a backup
job for the San Francisco 49ers. When the Minnesota Vikings’ job opened up (Kirk
Cousins went to the Falcons), the team gave Darnold a one-year deal to be a place
holder for their first-round pick, JJ McCarthy.
Darnold surprised everyone, going 14-3 as a starter, throwing for 4,300 yards and 35
touchdowns. With McCarthy in the fold, the team was not going to give Darnold a
long-term deal, and the Seahawks were waiting with open arms. They gave him $100
million, and he rewarded them with yet another 14-win season, and now a Super Bowl
birth.
Seahawks Sam Darnold Vs Patriots Again
Darnold has never won a game against the Patriots. He went 0-3 against them as a Jet
and 0-1 as a Panther. He is hoping to kick that trend, and will have to in order to hoist
the Lombardi trophy. New England fans are hoping that head coach Mike Vrabel (who
played under Belichick) can stir up a few new ghosts for the game. Even if he does,
there’s a chance Darnold could chop a power pellet before the game (that’s a Pac-Man
reference).
