On Sunday evening, the Seattle Seahawks punched their ticket to the Super Bowl with a thrilling 31-27 win over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game. This was arguably the best game of the season for quarterback Sam Darnold, who completed 25 of his 36 pass attempts for 346 yards and three touchdowns against no interceptions.
After the game, Seahawks backup quarterback Drew Lock had nothing but praise for Darnold after his epic performance.
The Sam Darnold I know can go win any game he steps on the field,” said Lock, per Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. “That’s what I believe, that’s what this team believes, and that’s what matters. He got to go do it tonight and prove to others, but he didn’t need to prove it to anybody in this locker room. We knew he’d go out there and do it.”
Coming into this game, Darnold was not without his doubters. While he had mostly played very well for the Seahawks this year in his first season with the team, he had struggled against the Rams, a trend which had dated back to last year's playoff loss to Los Angeles, when he was a member of the Minnesota Vikings.
However, none of those struggles were evident on Sunday evening, as Darnold carved up the Los Angeles secondary, converting several third-and-long situations, including on the Seahawks' final drive of the game to help drain the clock and leave Matthew Stafford and company with very little time to work with.
The Seahawks will now take on the New England Patriots' defense, which has shut down all three quarterbacks it has faced so far this postseason, in the Super Bowl, in what will be a rematch of the 2014-15 matchup between the two teams, which New England won in thrilling fashion.
That game is set for two weeks from Sunday.
