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Sam Darnold witnessed the reversal of the last regular season finale he played in. He took a 31-9 Detroit Lions beatdown with the Minnesota Vikings around this time one year ago. Now he has the Seattle Seahawks looking like the NFC favorite — by beating the San Francisco 49ers.
Darnold picked apart his former team with completing 20-of-26 passes for 198 yards in the 13-3 Seahawks road win Saturday. He joined his new Seahawk teammates in rocking the NFC West champion hats at Levi’s Stadium.
Darnold, again, redeemed himself when he earned a new chance to seal the division and the top seed in the conference. But he insisted “nothing really” changed for him in overcoming that 2024 season finale moment.
“Just learning from mistakes and staying calm,” Darnold began to Laura Rutledge of ESPN after the game. “[Just] understanding my progressions and getting the ball down to my backs and our offensive line too. That last drive was incredible.”
But then he got asked why this team is constructed for a new Super Bowl run.
“We’re just resilient,” Darnold said. “We’ve won so many different ways all year.”
Darnold inked a massive $100.5 million contract in March 2025 to fuel this upcoming Seahawks run.
Turns out he earned another big payday by beating the rival Niners.
By hitting past 4,000 passing yards Saturday, Darnold reels in $500,000. But he ends the regular season completing 67.5% of his throws — handing him an additional $500,ooo — giving him $1 million for beating the 49ers.
Turns out head coach Mike Macdonald landed the Darnold in his prime — not the injury-ravaged QB at the start of his career. Darnold put together his second consecutive Pro Bowl season but this time in the Pacific Northwest.
Now he’s QB1 for the conference’s best team; backed by the brute force of his backfield and the league’s fifth-ranked defense. Darnold downplayed having last year’s infamous season finale embedded inside his mind. But now he and the ‘Hawks are forcing everyone to come to Lumen Field and face the loud decibel levels of the “12th man” soon.
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