I’m pretty confident Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald wasn’t thinking about Sam Darnold’s past struggles when he told the Amazon Prime broadcast that his team needed to step on the gas to start the second half against the Cardinals.
But I did and nodded in agreement with Macdonald’s words because Darnold and this Seattle offense weren’t built to play in tight games. That’s what I thought until I witnessed Darnold overcome some horrific decisions from his coaches Thursday night to win 23–20 and avoid an epic collapse in Arizona.
Let me be clear on where the praise should go because Macdonald doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of stepping on the gas. Then again, his definition of flooring it might mean settling for field goals and sitting on the football for most of the second half.
Darnold (18-of-26, 242 yards, TD) won that game for the Seahawks. He probably could have won it long before Jason Myers took a whiff of the smelling salt that he provided for himself before drilling the walk-off 52-yard field goal. Myers had his clutch moment, but Darnold proved he’s capable of clutch plays, too.
Darnold had it when he connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a 22-yard strike to ignite the game-winning drive, which didn’t require much help because the Cardinals missed the kickoff landing zone and allowed Seattle to start at its own 40-yard line. But Macdonald and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak just couldn’t help themselves by calling another running play and leaving their kicker with a lengthy field goal when their red-hot quarterback could have easily gotten another 10-plus yards.
The conservative play-calling made it seem as if the Seahawks didn’t want Darnold to have his moment. The drama could have been avoided had the Seattle coaches allowed Darnold to continue letting it rip after a 36-yard dart to Smith-Njigba (four catches, 79 yards) with five minutes left in regulation. Instead, Kubiak dialed up three consecutive running plays, only to watch Myers miss a 53-yard field goal, followed by the Cardinals executing a game-tying touchdown drive with 33 seconds left in regulation.
Luckily for the Seahawks, they made the wise decision to sign Darnold in free agency. Honestly, I didn’t expect to write a column filled with praise for Darnold, but he proved Thursday night that he’s capable of delivering in the clutch, regardless of the situation.
The real-deal quarterbacks make the most of bad situations. They elevate the play of others and carry teams to victories when the odds are stacked against them. That’s exactly what Darnold did in Arizona. He still has plenty to prove because beating the Cardinals in Week 4 won’t mean much in the long run. Darnold had his moments with the Vikings during his breakout season last year, which included making clutch plays against the Seahawks.
However, Darnold is finally showing that he can thrive without the perfect surroundings, without Justin Jefferson and without coach Kevin O’Connell. Darnold does have benefits in Seattle, like throwing to Smith-Njigba and playing with Macdonald’s stout defense. Still, this new-look Seahawks squad doesn’t appear headed for a 14-win season like the Vikings accomplished last year.
Getting back to the positive side for Darnold, it’s clear that he's worthy of being a long-term starting quarterback. We’re well past the ugly days with the Jets. It’s now about expecting more frequent clutch moments from Darnold, especially against legitimate contenders. It’s about beating the 49ers when the game was on the line in Week 1 in Seattle. Darnold didn’t come through then, but Macdonald did him no favors when he settled for a field goal and allowed Brock Purdy to steal the game.
Strong surroundings or not, Darnold deserves a ton of credit for guiding the Vikings to 14 wins last year. He deserves more praise for guiding his new team to a 3–1 start. But all the Seahawks have proven so far is that they’re at least the third-best team in the NFC West. They weren’t better than the 49ers in the season opener, and the Rams still appear to be one of the better teams in the NFC despite the choke job in Philadelphia last week.
Call it being a hater or skepticism, but there’s not much stock in blowing out the winless Saints and a Cardinals crew that has had trouble with producing points. Beating the Steelers on the road was impressive, but far from a signature victory. Seattle also caught a break with Kaleb Johnson’s killer special-teams mistake.
But now that the Seahawks have a clutch quarterback, they have better odds of stacking signature wins throughout the season. I didn’t see that coming when Macdonald said his team needed to step on the gas Thursday night.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sam Darnold Is the Real Deal in the Clutch—Even If the Seahawks Didn’t Act Like It.
