First things first. This headline is wrong. It didn’t take Sam Darnold an entire half to erase fears of a late-season collapse. It took him 25 minutes. He was pulled with five minutes left in Seattle’s 37-9 demolition of Atlanta. The Seahawks outscored the Falcons 31-3 in the second half to blow the game open.
It certainly wasn’t all Darnold. The Seahawks began turning momentum when Rashid Shaheed returned to second half kickoff 100 yards to break the tie. It was one of countless plays made by both the special teams and defense. Those plays were essential in the first half when the offense was sputtering.
Charles Cross was struggling in pass protection for the first time …. maybe ever. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was being targeted, but there were no big plays. The running game was sluggish. And Darnold seemed off. Coming on the heels of several weeks of uneven performances and the ghost of his late-season collapse last year, Seahawks fans had reason to ask some questions.
Then Darnold answered those questions.
Sam Darnold and the Seahawks’ offense come alive in the second half
There was actually a little sign of Darnold’s revival late in the first half. With his team down by three and just a minute to go, Darnold led a drive that resulted in a field goal and a tie game at halftime. One of the key plays was a 12-yard scramble that moved the ball near midfield with 22 seconds left.
He was being pressured, but showed off the athleticism that people sometimes forget about as he outran the defense to the right sideline.
Then he hit two straight passes to pick up an additional 21 yards and give Jason Myers a good shot at his second field goal. Myers did not miss. When he came back for the second half, Darnold didn’t miss very much either.
After that touchdown by Shaheed, Seattle got the ball five more times in the second half. On the first four, Darnold led drives that totaled 211 yards on 26 plays. 8.1 yards per play.
On the first drive after the Shaheed return, Darnold went five for five, completing short throws to three different receivers before rekindling his connection with Jaxon Smith-Njigba on two splash plays. The second resulted in Darnold’s first touchdown pass in two full games. His last came early in the second half against Tennessee.
In those four drives, the QB completed 11 of 15 throws, including two more touchdowns. His last showed off Darnold’s ability to move in the pocket as he ran forward and then found JSN on a short cross just inside the end zone.
Darnold moved in the pocket on rollouts and boots all day. After a shaky start in which he was getting pressured and which featured another interception, he seemed more and more comfortable with the plan Klint Kubiak had installed. He even threw in another nice scramble in the second half.
Seattle can win a lot of games with its defense and special teams. But to challenge the best teams in the league, they need their offense to regain the swagger it had in the first half of the season. For a while, it was looking like the offense, and in particular, the quarterback, had lost something.
Then Sam Darnold led a 31-point second half explosion – the fourth time Seattle scored at least thirty in a half this season. (The rest of the league, combined, has done it six times.)
Suddenly, everything seemed just fine with Seattle’s starting QB.