Field Gulls
And so it comes down to this. One more win from an unlikely trip to the Super Bowl for the Seattle Seahawks. All they have to do is beat the Los Angeles Rams at home for a second time in a month to book their trip for Santa Clara. Way easier said than done given how close these teams have played, but it’s nevertheless the last hurdle for the Seahawks to clear to win the NFC Championship.
In a season in which the top of the NFC West beat the hell out of each other and all won at least 12 games, it’s fitting that the Conference Championship is an all-NFC West affair. But that’s not the only reason why this is an apt trilogy.
There’s no escaping it even though I think this story is exceedingly overdone and boring. Over the past year and change, Sam Darnold went from a prominent draft bust to a good NFL starting quarterback. As a one-year stopgap with the Minnesota Vikings, he defied expectations and had a genuinely impressive season on a 14-win team.
Then the last two weeks happened.
A blowout loss to the Detroit Lions with the division and number one seed on the line, followed by a humiliating exit Wild Card against the Los Angeles Rams in which he took nine sacks and turned it over twice. In a way, this might have helped the Seahawks because it surely lowered his free agent value.
Fast forward to his first season with the Seahawks and it’s almost an identical scenario for Sam, but so far the results have been different. After a disastrous performance in a loss against the Rams, and some disastrous 2nd half moments in the rematch with the NFC West on the line, Darnold battled back and helped lead an extraordinary comeback to give the Seahawks control of the division and never relinquish it. Week 18 was the same “win and you’re the top seed, lose and you’re a Wild Card” scenario as last year, but Darnold managed the game well and the Seahawks dispatched the 49ers on their home turf.
Despite an injury scare in practice, Darnold started and picked up his first playoff win in a humongous blowout of the 49ers. We can cross out “can you win a playoff game with Darnold at quarterback?” from the list. Now Sam is set up for one more showdown with the team that has given him considerable difficulty in terms of sacks and protecting the ball. A win would be one hell of a full circle moment for Darnold.
If the Seahawks are at the top of their game, then Darnold won’t have to do much. “Game manager” being seen as a pejorative is ridiculous because that’s the baseline thing you want your quarterback to do. Whether or not he’s some elite QB you want to build around in the long term is a conversation for another day. And even still, when...
