Ahead of the Seattle Seahawks' Divisional Round game against the San Francisco 49ers, quarterback Sam Darnold strained an oblique muscle and was listed as limited for the game. He said he would play in the days leading up to the contest, and he did, in fact, play. He did well.
Darnold wasn't asked to do much as Seattle basically won the game on the opening kickoff when Rashid Shaheed returned the kick for a 95-yard touchdown. That and the extra points would be all Seattle needed, as it turned out. Head coach Mike Macdonald's team won 41-6.
Macdonald's quarterback is still dealing with the oblique issue, however. He gave away some of his QB1 reps in practice before the Rams game to backup Drew Lock. That is a logical precaution in case Darnold unexpectedly gets worse before the NFC Championship or aggravates the injury during the game.
Will Sam Darnold be ready as the Seattle Seahawks play the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game?
The good part is that there is little question that Sam Darnold is going to start and play against the Rams. Macdonald even told the media during the week that Darnold was feeling better now than he was a week ago. Against the 49ers, a dinged-up Darnold completed 12 of 17 passes for just 124 yards. He did throw a touchdown pass and had a quarterback rating of a very good 110.9.
Again, he didn't need to do much against the overmatched 49ers. The quarterback will likely need to do more against the Rams.
The game could be a mix of the two games the teams played in the regular season. In Week 11, Darnold threw four interceptions against LA, but his team barely lost 21-19. In Week 16, head coach Sean McVay's offense had 581 total yards against Macdonald's defense (an all-time worst for the Seattle franchise), but Macdonald's team won in overtime.
Based on those two games, fans of both teams can expect a tight game that plays with the emotions and causes a lot of stress. Hopefully, like in Week 16, the Seattle Seahawks can find a way to come through and win the game.
Maybe that will happen at the end, just as the NFC Championship game between Seattle and the 49ers unfolded near the end of the 2014 season. The Seahawks won after cornerback Richard Sherman broke up a late pass that turned into an interception.
No matter what happens this season, though, what is clear is that the Seahawks will have Sam Darnold available against the Los Angeles Rams. Now, let's just hope he plays well.