Against the Rams, it’s time for Sam Darnold and Seahawks to escape the past

The showdown’s coming in two days on Thursday Night Football, and there’s more at stake than the NFC West title for the Seahawks.

A win would give them a one-game lead over the Rams in the division and put them in position to earn the NFC’s No. 1 seed, which would give them a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

A loss doesn’t damage their playoff hopes, but it would dramatically decrease their Super Bowl dreams, possibly dropping them as low as the No. 6 seed by the end of the season, prompting a potential first-round wild-card matchup at Philadelphia against the defending champion Eagles.

Sure, they’ve been terrific on the road this year, going 6-1, but all three times they’ve made it to the Super Bowl, the Seahawks have been the No. 1 seed.

And history is what they’re staring down Thursday night, specifically Sam Darnold’s sorry past of not exactly shining in the most significant games.

When you combine that kind of reputation with the fact that he leads the NFL in turnovers with 15 this year, you can’t feel very confident in the Seahawks’ chances against the Rams Thursday night.

As you know, Darnold flamed out in the Vikings’ biggest games last year when he looked nothing like the quarterback who led Minnesota to a 13-3 record, blowing an opportunity to be the No. 1 seed in the final regular season game against the Lions before being booted from the playoffs by the Rams. In both games, Darnold looked uncertain and shaky.

Those unappealing traits reappeared last month against the Rams, in which Darnold mystifyingly thought, on some passing attempts, that throwing the ball into coverage was better than taking sacks. That strategy led to four interceptions and a 21-19 loss.

Therein lies the problem, again, just like it was with the Vikings. As my partner on the Puck Sports.com podcast, Jason Puckett, says - Darnold doesn’t have to be the reason why the Seahawks win, he just can’t be the reason why they lose.

In each of the Seahawks’ three losses this year, you could say that Darnold was the biggest reason why. You’d get blowback on that from the coaching staff, but here’s your ammunition:

In a 17-13 loss to the 49ers, in the final two minutes, the Seahawks were at the 49ers’ 9-yard line when Darnold was sacked by Nick Bosa and lost the ball.

With the score tied 35-35 against Tampa Bay, Darnold threw a ricochet interception off of a Bucs’ helmet, and the Bucs turned that into a game-winning field goal.

Then there were those four interceptions against the Rams.

Here’s what’s crazy - say that Darnold gets sacked by Bosa but hangs on to the ball. Maybe he throws a game-winning touchdown pass on the next play.

Say he doesn’t hit a helmet with that throw against Tampa Bay, maybe Jason Myers turns a 38-35 loss into a 38-35 win.

And say he throws two or three instead of four interceptions, they could have feasibly beaten the Rams. As it was, Myers had a chance to do it anyway but missed a 61-yard field goal on the last play.

That’s the difference between the Seahawks being 14-0 and 11-3.

Aside from the second half at Atlanta, Darnold didn’t do much to silence doubters in the four games since the loss to the Rams. In his defense, even if he had, everyone would have said, sure, we know he can do it against the so-so teams, but what about the superior teams?

And the unfortunate thing, Mike Macdonald’s team has made a case for having the best defense in the league after allowing 25 points combined - and only one touchdown - in the last three games. This defense is challenging the Legion of Boom defense as the greatest in Seahawks’ history.

The Legion of Boom defense carried the Seahawks to their only Super Bowl championship by stifling the high-powered Broncos.

That team had an efficient and explosive Russell Wilson at quarterback. This one has a good quarterback too, but Sam Darnold’s tendencies to turn it over and play poorly in the biggest games are bound to cause a disappointing finish to the 2025 season.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. He appears Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m. on Jason Puckett’s podcast at PuckSports.com. He writes a Substack blog at jimmoorethego2guy.substack.com. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) @cougsgo.

This story was originally published December 16, 2025 at 11:20 AM.