Seahawks expect more Darnold magic

Seattle Seahawks playmaker Sam Darnold intends to show that winning Super Bowl last season wasn’t a fluke for a quarterback who is still not widely respected in the NFL despite that success.

After an indifferent early career spell Darnold had his resurrection season in 2024 with the Minnesota Vikings, playing like an MVP candidate. Many thought that after leaving Minnesota, the Seahawks would not get the same version of Darnold. The former USC Trojan built on that great year though and led the Seahawks to a dominant season, capping it with a 29-13 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.

Running back Kenneth Walker won the Super Bowl MVP award after rushing for 135 yards, securing only the second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history for Seattle at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. From that win Darnold proved the doubters wrong and now he wants to build on that success.

Darnold still has issues with turnovers which is why he is one of the most underappreciated quarterbacks in the league. Many expected his play to regress after he left what was a perfect situation in Minnesota to join some uncertainty on offense with the Seahawks. Thankfully, his stats improved and if anything, he killed old narratives about being vulnerable in the clutch.

Yet he couldn’t help but dwell on his mistakes, even as Seattle dominated and Darnold notched a career-changing victory in the process. “I missed way too many throws,” the 29-year-old Californian said of his Super Bowl display. “We still won. Our defense balled out. I didn’t turn the ball over, which helped.”

Seahawks face the Arizona Cardinals in their season opener on September 20. Darnold knows that he will be an even bigger target for the opposition.

This season, the perfectionist in him is going to make fewer mistakes, he insists. “I think the biggest thing is continuing to build off of my weaknesses, understanding what I wasn’t great at this past year, which I think for me is continuing to hone in on the deep ball, understand how I can be better that way, quieting my feet in the pocket.”