Sam Darnold faced the same scenario last year with the Vikings. Beat a division rival and earn the top seed. Lose and pack your bags for a road game. He failed the test last year. With the Seattle Seahawks, he has answered every nagging doubt.
Coming into this season, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the personnel changes the Seahawks made. None was more controversial than the addition of the guy who was seen as a major draft bust, Sam Darnold. Yes, he was great for the Vikings last year- until he wasn't.
Faced with a game that would lock in his team as the number-one seed with a win or the fifth seed with a loss, he was abysmal. He hardly fared better as the Rams escorted the Vikings out of the postseason with an easy win in the first round.
Seattle Seahawks' Sam Darnold proved he's the man in the NFC title game
Fast forward to 2025, and Darnold faced the same scenario. A loss in Week 18, and the Seahawks would be the fifth seed. Darnold wasn't great, but he filled the role of the classic game manager and didn't lose the game. The road to the big game would be through Seattle.
In the first playoff game, the Seahawks' defense throttled the Niners again, while the running game dominated them. Darnold was even better this time, but it still wasn't a starring performance. But he answered those doubters. He'd have an even better answer in the conference championship game.
Darnold wasn't exactly at his best when facing the Rams this season. In Week 11, he had by far his worst game as the Seahawks' QB. Throwing four interceptions is never a recipe for success. Had he played at just his average level, Seattle would have won the game handily. It was hardly a confidence booster for the 12s.
But his teammates had a very different view. In fact, at the press conference immediately after that loss, linebacker Ernest Jones IV gave his quarterback the strongest endorsement possible. He was hardly the last of Sam Darnold's teammates to give him such a ringing endorsement.
What stood out to me was that this was a team leader on defense, the unit that had every right to complain about how the offense failed in that game.
Darnold earned up to his teammates' support with the unbelievable comeback win in the Week 16 rematch with the Rams. Seattle's stellar defense was absolutely torched, but Darnold led the team back from the brink. Yes, he threw two more picks against his nemesis,
But it takes a special talent to shrug it off and come back from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Scoring on three critical two-point conversions made this Darnold's game.
His performance in the playoffs has erased all doubts about his play. At least, it should have. Yes, he was bad in his two high-pressure games last year with the Vikings.
He has been phenomenal in this postseason, ranking among the best postseason QB performances in the past 20 years. Who woulda thunk it? Certainly not Mina Kimes, who has owned up to her mistaken opinion on Darnold at the start of the season.
Not that I'm piling onto her for that take. I had my doubts, along with a lot of 12s. And I am so happy to say that once again, I was off-base with my opinion. But give me some credit. At least it wasn't as bad as my take on Eddie Lacy.