Until last season, seemingly nearly all NFL pundits had lost faith in the belief that Sam Darnold would ever be a very good quarterback. Yet, in 2024 with the Minnesota Vikings, the quarterback changed the narrative. He was very good, good enough to get a nice new contract with the Seattle Seahawks.
He could have shown himself to be a one-year wonder, but instead, he appears to be proving that his original team, the Carolina Panthers, simply had no idea what they were doing. Sam Darnold is a very good quarterback...to a degree.
One issue with Darnold that hasn't gone away is late-game mistakes. In Week 1, on a drive that could have led to a last-minute touchdown and deep in San Francisco 49ers territory, Darnold's hand was hit when right tackle Abraham Lucas was pushed into him. The QB fumbled, and the 49ers recovered.
Seattle Seahawks might need an even better Sam Darnold moving forward
In the fourth quarter of Week 5, with the score tied at 35 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Darnold attempted to throw the ball away, but the ball hit a Bucs defender's helmet and went into the arms of another for an interception. Tampa Bay kicked a field goal to win the game.
In Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Darnold had a ball batted into the air and was fortunate that a Jags player did not pick the ball off. Doing so might have changed the course of a game in which the Seahawks appeared to firmly be in control.
In Week 7, Darnold was pressured in his own end zone as he dropped back to pass and was sacked. The problem was compounded by the quarterback seemingly trying to change the ball to a different hand while being tackled. He fumbled, and the Houston Texans pounced on the ball for a touchdown.
None of this is to take away from Sam Darnold's overall play because he is certainly better in Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's system than former QB1 Geno Smith would have been. A huge reason the team is 5-2 is because of Darnold.
But the Seahawks could easily be 6-1 or 7-0 if not for Darnold's second half mistakes. Being a quarterback in the NFL is a tough business.
While the fumble in Week 1 and the interception in Week 5 might have simply been untimely accidents, Darnold has a reputation for being good until his team needs him the most. With the Vikings in 2024, for example, he was fantastic until Week 18, but was awful in the final regular season game against the Detroit Lions, and not much better in a playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Sam Darnold has not yet completely dismissed that he is not great in the most important moments of a game. The Seahawks need him to be the rest of the season.