Has Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold changed the narrative that he can't win the big games? Not yet. The label he can't play well when his team needs him most has been placed on him for years. Not even back-to-back 13-plus win seasons have changed his story.
Seattle managed a victory against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 16, but Darnold was pretty bad for the first three quarters of the game. He was brilliant at times in the fourth quarter and overtime, but he has yet to play at a high level for an entire game in the most important contests for the Seahawks.
He will get another chance to prove he can be great when greatness is needed in Week 18 when Seattle plays the San Francisco 49ers. The game will determine the top seed for the NFC (and, obviously, home-field advantage for as long as the team is in the postseason) and the NFC West title. Plus, Darnold needs to show he can be as good as Caleb Williams was in Week 17.
Sam Darnold can prove further to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18 that is an elite quarterback
The 49ers defeated Williams' Chicago Bears 42-38, but the quarterback threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns (with zero interceptions), and he ran for another 18 yards. If Darnold can't come close to those numbers or lead his offense to the same kind of efficiency, people's doubts about Seattle's QB won't dissipate.
The absolutely best-case scenario for Sam Darnold and the Seahawks is for Seattle to defeat San Francisco fairly easily, but for the quarterback to be the biggest reason why. That would help the team and the player psychologically, entering the playoffs.
As great as Sam Darnold can be, he is still a human being who can be prone to bouts of self-doubt. He hasn't truly had a great game when one of his teams needed him to be. Like in Week 16, sometimes his teams have remained in a tight game against a very good team despite Darnold's play.
If Darnold can prove to himself, the Seattle Seahawks, and the rest of the NFL that he can be brilliant against an iffy 49ers defense, that will likely further impress on his team that there is enough overall talent and ability to translate that talent into production in important games, to win a Super Bowl.
Sam Darnold can make all that happen. Or he can revert to his previous form of being bad in meaningful games. If that happens in Week 18, many pundits and fans will simply point at the Seahawks quarterback and say, "See. I told you so."