When the Seattle Seahawks replaced Geno Smith with Sam Darnold, there were rightfully a lot of questions from 12s and national pundits. After all, Darnold had had one good season out of seven in his career, while Smith had been a productive but limited QB1 for three seasons in Seattle.
In Week 1, Smith got a victory with his new team, the Las Vegas Raiders, while Darnold and the Seahawks lost to the San Francisco 49ers. Darnold wasn't bad, however. The offensive scheme was conservative; no receivers other than Jaxon Smith-Njigba were getting open, and the running game was invisible.
For a quarterback to succeed, most of the above needs to be working well. Darnold was efficient, but the overall overall was ineffective.
Seattle Seahawks QB1 Sam Darnold already making the Minnesota Vikings miss him
Seahawks fans learned in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers what Sam Darnold might be capable of in 2025, and that is extremely promising. Meanwhile, Darnold's former team, the Minnesota Vikings, found out the hard way what they are missing by not having Darnold.
Last season, Darnold had 35 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions in Minnesota. He wasn't good in the final two games of the year for the Vikings, however, and they clearly thought the future might be brighter with quarterback J.J. McCarthy. So far, not so much.
McCarthy is basically a rookie after being injured in the 2024 preseason and missing last season. In Week 1, he was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after leading his team to a fourth quarter comeback, but McCarthy didn't really earn the award. He was good in only one quarter.
Things fell apart for the Vikings in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, not exactly a great team. McCarthy was 11 of 21 passing for 158 yards and two interceptions. His running game didn't help him, and he was sacked six times. Darnold could probably empathize.
While Darnold wasn't perfect in Week 2, he threw a bad interception near the beginning of the game, he got better as the game grew old. His second interception later in the game was a deflected pass. But when his team needed him to play his best, he did.
With Seattle up 24-17 and a little less than eight minutes left in the game, Darnold led the Seahawks on a touchdown drive that was ultimately seal the game. On the drive, he hit tight end AJ Barner for a 19 yard gain, and then Darnold threw a dime to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 43 yards to set Seattle up deep in Steelers territory.
He was showing exactly why the Seattle Seahawks made him a priority to sign in free agency after trading Geno Smith to the Raiders. Sam Darnold also showed the Vikings how good they might have had it had they kept him on the team.