In the first-ever playoff win, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold didn’t need to do much. Maybe all he needed to do was avoid turnovers. However, Darnold can’t ride in the back seat to the Super Bowl.
In the blowout victory over the 49ers, Darnold faced almost no game pressure. He threw only 17 passes, completing 12 for 124 yards. Those numbers won’t win many playoff games. And the scenario in Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the Rams won’t be anything like the 49ers debacle.
The Seahawks led 17-0 in the first quarter, and there were only a few fleeting second-quarter moments when it looked like the 49ers might be able to make a game out of it. The Seahawks ran the ball 33 times for 175 yards with Kenneth Walker III scoring three touchdowns.
But in their most recent regular-season game against the Rams, Darnold had to throw 34 times. And he had to help the team overcome a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Seahawks QB Sam Darnold will have to come up big
You can say what you want about the Seahawks’ defense. And you can point out that the Seahawks ran the ball effectively against the Rams in both meetings.
But the Rams are going to put points on the board against that defense. They scored 58 points over the course of two regular-season games. If the Seahawks are going to reach the Super Bowl, they need Darnold in the driver’s seat.
Is he capable of answering that type of call?
Former Seahawks standout said the Rams are going to keep coming. And Darnold will have to keep answering, according to The Richard Sherman Podcast via heavy.com.
“If you’re Sam Darnold, you thought you overcame your nightmares with the Rams,” Sherman said. “You thought you had overcome them. You thought, ‘Hey, I only had to see it once. I killed Freddy Krueger. I killed him. He’s dead.’
“But he’s going to have to overcome. They’re going to bring back all the stats about the Rams’ pressure and how Sam Darnold struggled against it. And so, as high as we are for the Seattle Seahawks right now, they’re on the moon. They are freaking playing lights-out football defensively.”
But the Rams are capable on defense. And with guys like Jared Verse, they are capable of pressuring Darnold. The veteran journeyman will have to take care of the football, according to Speakeasy via heavy.com.
“Ram [and] Seahawks, they’ve played each other twice this season,” Emmanuel Acho said. “Matthew Stafford has five touchdowns [and] no interceptions. Sam Darnold has two touchdowns [and] six interceptions. Let that sink in. It’s not a conversation. The game of football is all about the football.
“Matthew Stafford got five [touchdowns], no picks, in the two games combined. Sam Darnold got six picks in the two games combined. Average three picks a game. If Sam Darnold goes out there and starts throwing these picks, it’s going to be blouses before it gets started.”
Can’t the Seahawks just run the ball all the time?
They will try. But with Zach Charbonnet out for the remainder of the season, they will need a workhorse effort from Walker. The problem is that Walker has zero games with 20 attempts this season. He has shared carries with Charbonnet all season.
And there isn’t a ready-made replacement for Charbonnet. The Seahawks could hand the ball to Velus Jones Jr., Cam Akers, or possibly second-year player George Holani. But none of those three inspires a great deal of confidence.
Still, head coach Mike Macdonald said Akers and Jones are on the team for a reason, according to seattletimes.com.
“That’s part of the reason we brought them here, is to provide great running back depth,’’ Macdonald said. “Both are really good players in their own right, and they got a great opportunity in front of them. You hate it to be under these circumstances, but it is what it is. We’ve got to move forward. So they’ll be ready to go.’’
Still, the Seahawks will have to trust Darnold with what will likely be 30 pass attempts. And in his last three games against the Rams, he has thrown six interceptions and suffered 13 sacks.
Let that sink in. The Seahawks are asking Darnold to play light-years better than he has against the Rams recently.
But can’t the Seahawks win on defense?
To do that, they’ll have to disrupt Stafford. Let’s see how they’ve done in that regard this year. In two games, they have sacked Stafford zero times. Yep. That’s not a lot of pressure.
The Seahawks were tied for No. 7 in the NFL with 47 sacks in the regular season. But they couldn’t get to Stafford.
Now, with this being game No. 3 against the Rams, and with Macdonald being the defensive whiz that he is, it’s easy to expect the Seahawks will get to Stafford a time or two. But it’s hard to imagine consistent heavy pressure to the point Stafford can’t get the ball to Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, and others.
That means the Rams are going to score points. And Darnold will have to respond.
Fortunately, Darnold has Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And Smith-Njigba had close to 100 yards in each of the two games against the Rams. But in the 38-37 overtime win, Darnold threw seven completions to running backs, three to tight end AJ Barner, and only three to a receiver other than Smith-Njigba.
In the four-interception game, Darnold hit Barner 10 times, and his running backs five times. Rashid Shaheed caught two passes while Cooper Kipp grabbed three.
So, if the Rams scheme to try to limit Smith-Njigba, how will Darnold move the ball down the field?
That’s the key question. And he’ll have to answer it the right way to get the Seahawks to the Super Bowl.
