The Seattle Seahawks' decision to pursue Sam Darnold and give him a big contract in the offseason was met with mixed reviews. On the one hand, he was coming off a breakout year and leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-3 record.
On the other hand, he had a long record of shortcomings, and he didn't look good in the two biggest games of the season, including the playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Mike Macdonald, however, never wavered. The Seahawks' head coach always had his quarterback's back, even in the few games he looked like the same young player struggling with the New York Jets. In fact, that's when he supported him the most.
Back in June, Macdonald was asked whether Darnold, who had been erratic in practice, could lose his starting job if he struggled to take care of the football. His response was an omen of what was to come, and the confidence really paid off.
Seattle Seahawks' Mike Macdonald always had Sam Darnold's back
“That’s just a crazy question,” Macdonald said, per Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic (subscription required). “God forbid you’re the worst player of all time because you made one bad throw or one bad decision. That is not what we’re trying to build. We want these guys to go prepare the right way. Go freakin’ let it rip. And then we’ll go fix it.”
Of course, that doesn't mean that Macdonald isn't going to hold Darnold -- or anybody else on the team-- accountable. The team had the second-most giveaways in the league this season (28), with Darnold accounting for 20 of those turnovers (14 interceptions).
Still, the Seahawks' quarterback, just like his coach, cares more about the process than about playing the blame game.
He explained that after he threw four interceptions in Week 11 in a two-point loss against the Rams: “Obviously, you’d love for those things not to happen, negative plays, but that’s football sometimes. There’s nothing I can do at that point to change that, so it’s about moving on as fast as I can and understanding why I messed up.”
Darnold has been through a lot in his career. From being the No. 3 pick to bouncing around the league as a backup, he's another example of why being in the right place and having a coaching staff that believes in you can make or break a quarterback's career.
He definitely needs to take better care of the football, but the Seahawks would've never gotten this far without him. He finished the year with 4,048 passing yards and 25 touchdowns while completing 67.7 percent of his passes, and with another 14-3 season to his name, it's hard to argue he's the right guy for the job.