Ever since he arrived in Seattle, and despite coming off the best season of his career, Sam Darnold was tabbed as the Seattle Seahawks' weakest link. He played well for the most part, but the turnovers didn't do much to change the narrative during the season.
Even when the team was deep in the playoffs, some still questioned whether Darnold would get the job done. He took great care of the football in the postseason and helped the team beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, but the narrative is still essentially the same.
Notably, it looks like even he feels the same way. Talking to former NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan on the Bussin' With the Boys podcast, the former USC star claimed he didn't play well in the Super Bowl.
Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold is raising the stakes for himself
"Not to be a friggin' douche, but I didn't play great in the Super Bowl," Darnold said. "I missed way too many throws. We still won. Our defense balled out. I didn't turn the ball over, which helped. But dude, to win the Super Bowl that way, I was kinda bummed. I want(ed) to score 40 points, you know what I mean? I want to go out there and ball out, and it's just, dang, I didn't play my best football in the Super Bowl? That sucks."
Numbers-wise, Darnold actually played a pretty decent game. He completed 50 percent of his passes (19 of 38) for 202 yards, one touchdown, and no turnovers. The Seahawks didn't need him to do that much with Kenneth Walker III dominating on the ground en route to a 29-13 win, but he took care of business when he had to make a play.
More importantly, Darnold didn't give the ball away, which was a somewhat stunning development after watching him turn the ball over 20 times in 17 regular-season games (14 interceptions and six fumbles lost). That's something he knows he's got to be better at in his second year with the organization:
"Another area to grow is the turnovers. I thought I had too many turnovers last year," he said. "So just continuing to -- kind of like I did in the playoffs."
All things considered, it's nice to know that Darnold isn't satisfied with just one ring. More than that, he's not there for the easy ride to the top; he wants to be the reason why the Seahawks are a contender, and not feel like they're winning despite him.
Darnold has made huge strides since entering the league as an uber-talented but erratic signal-caller for the New York Jets. He's learned a lot from his previous stops, and as a late bloomer, he's clearly still a work in progress.
To be fair, his turnover numbers would've looked much better if he hadn't thrown four picks in a single game vs. the Los Angeles Rams. All in all, six of his 14 interceptions came against the same opponent, which isn't necessarily encouraging after they added Trent McDuffie and Myles Garrett, but it's definitely not as bad as it looked in a vacuum.
Darnold is humble enough to realize that he can always be better and that he's still got some work to do to flip the script. He's fought with bones and nails to get to where he is, and he won't take it for granted.
Likewise, raising the bar for himself will also make people hold him to a different type of standard. And with a contract extension looming large, the fans and the team can use his own words against him when it's time to get paid -- unless he delivers.
Add us as a preferred source on Google