Sam Darnold raising Seahawks' floor to serious playoff contender

The Seattle Seahawks (3-1) are a serious playoff contender for many reasons, including quarterback Sam Darnold, not despite him. 

There were a lot of doubts from many analysts and major outlets, as they felt that Darnold’s past experiences with the New York Jets and the final three games last season with the Minnesota Vikings would show the real Darnold. These first four games for Seattle have proven otherwise.

Darnold is taking a young, but energetic, talented team and leading it to average 27.8 points per game. Several major analysts felt that the Seahawks' rushing game would be the driving force of the offense. The offensive line, however, had a tough time blocking for Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet in Thursday’s road game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Darnold, however, would find ways to get the ball to his tight ends later on Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Darnold relied on JSN and rookie Tory Horton in the Seahawks’ road win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite having Super Bowl MVP in wide receiver Cooper Kupp, the newly signed Seahawk hasn’t had a breakout game yet. Darnold isn’t forcing him to break out just yet. 

Through the first four games, Darnold has thrown for 905 yards, five touchdowns, and only two interceptions. Those two interceptions came against the Steelers, with one of them coming from a properly read screen pass from the Steelers' defense. He is seventh in the league in quarterback rating (106.5) and 11th in QBR (65.5) in a quarterback-driven league.

Sam Darnold is proving he can lead the Seahawks to playoffs

Darnold continues to show why he can be a franchise quarterback after a failed attempt at bad teams (New York Jets and Carolina Panthers from 2018-2022) and serving as a backup (San Francisco 49ers in 2023). He showed he can play at a Pro-Bowl level with the Vikings last season. That pressure near the end of the season and into the payoffs didn't last, although the offensive line's play didn't help.

Darnold was praised by Colin Cowherd on "The Herd" a day after the Seahawks defeated the Cardinals.

"When you surround him with winners and quality people and quality teammates, Sam wins a lot. Tied for the league in wins. I think it's impressive he's doing it with Seattle because Minnesota had some older star players....this is a young team. He just plopped into Seattle and it's already working." 

"Darnold is a playmaker. When you put him around players and smart coaches, Darnold, he's elite."

Several quarterbacks in the league are elite by their own skill level, including Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes II and Buffalo's Josh Allen. Some high-value quarterbacks need consistency to play at a Pro-Bowl level, like Darnold, but that's most of the quarterbacks in the league.

Darnold needs to keep winning and keep getting more analysts to turn their attention to what he is accomplishing in Seattle. He isn't going to make the Seahawks a Super Bowl contender by himself, but he is raising the floor this season and beyond. The goal for Darnold and the Seahawks is to get back to the NFC playoffs for the first time since 2022.