On Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks fell back down to Earth with a narrow road loss at the hands of the divisional rival Los Angeles Rams, dropping their record to 7-3 in the process. It was a tough game for Seattle, who was hoping to gain the upper hand in the NFC West divisional rest but instead came up just short.
It wasn't a great day for Sam Darnold, who struggled against the Los Angeles Rams in last year's playoffs when he was still a member of the Minnesota Vikings, and had a similarly poor performance on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Recently, ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes took to X, formerly Twitter, to break down why the Rams aren't the best matchup for Darnold.
“No, Sam Darnold isn't a ‘choker.' But he does struggle with a specific type of pressure that Chris Shula is very good at drawing up–which Seattle has to figure out down the stretch,” wrote Kimes.
“The Rams simulated pressure, they had to sort it out, and they were able to get interior pressure through a combination of stunts… games upfront that force him to hold onto it for a tick, and then interior pressure, seems to be the combination that is leading him to panic,” said Kimes.
Indeed, Darnold looked like a deer in the headlights at times during the game against the Rams on Sunday, similar to how he did when the Vikings and Rams matched up in last year's postseason.
While the Seahawks are still in good position to make a playoff push, they'll certainly want to get that cleaned up before the two teams match up again on December 18 in Seattle.
In any case, the Seahawks will have a good chance to get back in the win column this weekend when they hit the road to take on the Tennessee Titans at 1:00 pm ET.
