Why Sam Darnold may succeed with Seahawks unlike ever before

The Seattle Seahawks likely hoped quarterback Sam Darnold would continue the success he had with the Minnesota Vikings last season when they signed him to a three-year, $100.5M contract in March. 

Darnold has gone 6-2 as the Seahawks' QB1, and he looked like a championship-caliber signal-caller as he led the team to a dominant 38-14 win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday night. 

In a piece published on Tuesday, The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar suggested that the stellar play of Seattle's offensive line has Darnold feeling quite comfortable whenever he drops back to pass.

Seahawks' blockers may be the real MVPs of season's opening half

Darnold may or may not have been haunted by "ghosts" during the final two outings of his Minnesota tenure. Thus far, such spirits haven't yet bothered him with the Seahawks.  

"Darnold has the 12th-lowest pressure rate (34.2 percent) and second-lowest sack rate (4.0 percent) among qualifying quarterbacks, after entering the season with a career sack rate of 7.7," Dugar wrote. "Five of his nine sacks this season were the fault of an offensive lineman; the others were the responsibility of another position or of Darnold, whose job is to get the ball out when teams bring pressure." 

Pro Football Reference shows that 32 quarterbacks took more total sacks than Darnold (nine) over the campaign's first nine weeks (Seattle was on the bye in Week 8). To compare, Geno Smith was sacked 50 times over 17 contests with Seattle last season. 

Darnold enters Week 10 ranked second in the NFL among qualified players with a 77.9 adjusted QBR, third with a 116.0 passer rating and sixth with an average of 260.5 passing yards per game. Against Washington, the 28-year-old completed all 16 of his pass attempts for 282 yards, four touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the first half of what became a laugher. 

Could Sam Darnold match Russell Wilson's accomplishments with Seahawks?

"He was pressured on just 12.5 percent of dropbacks, the lowest rate of the season," Dugar wrote about Darnold's outing at Washington's Northwest Stadium. 

Dugar added: "The Seahawks’ pass protection in its current form is arguably a tick above the support Geno Smith received in the first few months of the 2022 season — the last time they made the playoffs — and on par with the lines Russell Wilson played behind during his rookie contract." 

A 2012 third-round draft pick, Wilson led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship and a pair of Super Bowl appearances over his first three seasons. 

For now, Darnold will focus on preparing for Seattle's home game versus the Arizona Cardinals (3-5) this Sunday. As of Tuesday afternoon, ESPN BET had the Seahawks as 6.5-point favorites.