Ryan Clark tried to speak it into existence. Other pundits doubted Sam Darnold, too. The Seattle Seahawks had had a brilliant regular season, but surely their quarterback would let them down in the playoffs. That was the narrative many had written for Darnold before he even played a playoff down for Seattle.
To make matters potentially worse for Seattle, Darnold had suffered an oblique strain in practice in the days leading up to the Divisional Round playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers. Not only would Darnold fail, many thought, but the Seahawks now had a built-in excuse for the loss.
What was odd was that national pundits wanted to work it both ways. Sure, Sam Darnold was going to have too many turnovers and sink Seattle's season, but if he couldn't play because of his new injury, the Seahawks had no chance to win if backup Drew Lock was going to play.
Seattle Seahawks had a great reason for replacing Sam Darnold with Drew Lock
So, which was it? Darnold was going to be bad, and the Seahawks would lose? Or did Darnold need to play for Seattle to have any hope of beating the 49ers? Logic is not always strong in the current world of sports media.
In the end, the narratives of Darnold and Lock were both and neither. Each played against the San Francisco, but for no negative reason at all. Sam Darnold didn't need to have an extremely productive game, but just be efficient. He was and completed 12 of 17 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. He had no turnovers.
Lock came into the game in the fourth quarter with the Seahawks leading 41-6. Lock wasn't asked to do anything but hand the ball off. There was no reason for him to do anything else other than simply run out the clock. The damage was done.
The game ultimately did not belong to Sam Darnold or Drew Lock, but to the Seattle Seahawks elite defense, kick returner Rashid Shaheed, and to running back Kenneth Walker. Walker scored three touchdowns and ran 19 times for 116 yards. At one point in the second half, he ran the ball six straight times. It was old-school football, and it was beautiful for 12s.
The hope is that Drew Lock will continue to play in every Seahawks playoff game, and for the same reason he played against the 49ers. That is, Seattle is so far ahead that Lock simply needs to hand the ball off to close out another victory.