Quarterback Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks appeared ready to cruise to a Week 4 victory against their division rival, the Arizona Cardinals, on Thursday night. That is, until a late 14-point Cardinals rally threatened to send the contest into overtime.
But as the saying goes in sports, Darnold and the Seahawks didn’t flinch.
Despite just 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter and only one timeout remaining, the Seahawks were aggressive on their last possession of regulation. As a result, a 22-yard completion from Darnold to receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba placed the Seahawks on the fringe of field goal-range.
In the final seconds, Seattle kicker Jason Myers nailed a 52-yard field goal to propel the Seahawks to a 23-20 victory.
Seattle’s final drive started at the team’s 40-yard line because Arizona’s kickoff didn’t first bounce in the landing zone. That helped allow the Seahawks to be aggressive even though there was under 30 seconds left in the half.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, though, suggested Darnold’s play was an even bigger influence on the team’s aggressiveness.
“Sam is playing out of his mind right now,” Macdonald told reporters. “When you see him, he’s just like such a cool customer.
“He’s a guy on a mission; he’s just so determined for us to be a great team and a great offense. He’s doing a great job leading us.”
Sam Darnold’s Strong Start for Seahawks
The veteran quarterback experienced, by far, the best season of his career with the Minnesota Vikings last season. Fresh off the career year, the Seahawks signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million deal.
The question for 2025, though, was would 2024 prove to be a career year or a breakout campaign for the quarterback.
Through the first quarter of the 2025 season, it’s looking more like a breakout campaign.
Darnold entered Thursday with a 70.3% completion percentage and a nine yards per attempt average in the first three weeks of 2025. He also had four touchdown passes versus two interceptions.
Against the Cardinals in Week 4, Darnold was very efficient again, going 18 for 26 with 242 passing yards and a touchdown. While he took three sacks, Darnold averaged 9.3 yards per pass.
Last season, the 28-year-old posted his first 4,000-yard season and 30-touchdown campaign. After four games in 2024, he had a 68.9% completion percentage and 8.8 yards per pass average with 11 touchdowns.
While Darnold has just five touchdown passes after four games this season, he’s posted a 70% completion percentage and 9.05 yards per attempt.
Darnold Experiencing Success Without Kevin O’Connell
In 2024, Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 mark. Clearly, he found a home in O’Connell’s offense.
Over the first six seasons of his career, Darnold went 21-35 as a starter.
Some pundits criticized the Seahawks this past offseason for believing in Darnold outside of O’Connell’s offense. But the quarterback is proving those doubters wrong.
He’s led the Seahawks to three consecutive victories after a Week 1 loss. The only defeat he’s suffered with Seattle was at the hands of the undefeated San Francisco 49ers.
Darnold is now 17-4 in his last 21 regular season starts. He only needs four more wins this season to match the number of victories he earned as a starter in his first six campaigns.
Darnold is clearly becoming the reason his team succeeds, not just the product of great coaching. The Seahawks are huge beneficiaries to this fact. Darnold is leading them to contention in the NFC West.