Tag Archives: Sam Darnold

#MINvsSEA

Bears, Rams, Hawks lead frantic NFC race for top seed

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“We’re in the death zone now. The NFC’s jumping, it’s popping, there’s great teams all around. You’ve got to win these games.” — Ernest Jones IV

The Seahawks’ defense was not happy that it did not hold down the lowly Titans properly in Seattle’s Week 12 win at Tennessee. Well, DeMarcus Lawrence, Ernest Jones IV and the rest more than made up for it in Week 13, leading a 26-0 shutout of Minnesota.

That helped the Seahawks catch the Rams, who lost 31-28 to surging Carolina (6-3 in the last nine) on Sunday. The Hawks, Rams and 49ers (who beat Cleveland) all have nine wins – matching the current top seed, Chicago, which beat Philadelphia on Friday and has lost just once since an 0-2 start.

The Packers and Eagles have eight wins, so the race for the NFC’s top seed is going to be fast and furious over the final five weeks.

Continue reading Bears, Rams, Hawks lead frantic NFC race for top seed →
#SEAvsLAR

Solution to Darnold’s mistakes: ‘Listen to my feet’

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At this point, there is only one nagging question that needs to be answered before we can definitively declare the Seahawks a Super Bowl contender: Will Sam Darnold learn from his mistakes against the Rams so he avoids that kind of disaster game the rest of the season?

As we said on Twitter/X, if Darnold had just played his “normal” game, throwing even two interceptions, the Hawks would have won.  

Has he learned to do that, even in the face of strong defenses? The proof will come in the final month, when he and the Hawks face the Colts, Rams, Panthers and 49ers to finish the season.

For now, we have to take some solace in the fact that Darnold at least is able to articulate why he threw four interceptions in the 21-19 loss last Sunday.

Continue reading Solution to Darnold’s mistakes: ‘Listen to my feet’ →
#SEAvsLAR

Let’s reserve judgment on Darnold, who will have more chances to prove himself

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Shortly after the Seahawks signed Sam Darnold back in March, Matt Hasselbeck talked about Darnold’s need to develop the “clutch gene.”

That was a reference to Darnold and the Vikings’ failures in the final two games of 2024, including a blowout loss to the Rams in the playoffs.

On Sunday, Darnold threw four interceptions that led to a 21-19 loss to the Rams instead of what could have been a comfortable win.

As former Rams QB Kurt Warner put it, “I think some guys have the ‘big game gene’ and others not so much. Not saying he doesn’t, but hasn’t shown it at this stage of his career.”

While a lot of fans are writing off Darnold as a paper tiger, we are going to let the season play out before making that judgment. Darnold has played too well across most of this season, and he will have a few more chances to prove his mettle.

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#SEAvsLAR

After close loss, Macdonald proclaims Hawks ‘a great team’

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“Obviously we’re disappointed, but it’s very clear to me that we have a great team.” – Mike Macdonald after the Seahawks lost to the Rams, 21-19

Imagine if Sam Darnold had played a normal football game – one without four interceptions and a 1-for-4 red zone performance. The Seahawks could have blown out the Rams. That is clearly what Mike Macdonald was thinking after the Hawks fell short, 21-19, on Sunday.

Darnold’s poor performance aside, Macdonald seemed quite satisfied with how his team played. It was a big litmus test for his defense, and that unit’s dominance clearly validated to him that the Seahawks are in fact a Super Bowl contender.

“Obviously we’re disappointed, but it’s very clear to me that we have a great team,” Macdonald said. “We’re going to learn to win games like that, and we’re going to learn from weeks like this. We’re young. You’ve got a young head coach — I’m learning how to prepare our team from week to week. So we’re all learning, we’re all growing. I actually think that’s a competitive advantage for us as we start to grow.”

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Franchise history, The roster, Trades

How Schneider built a Super Bowl contender as fans called for his firing

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After the 2024 season, a lot of Seahawks fans wanted John Schneider to be fired. They were understandably tired of his failure to put together an even average offensive line throughout his 15 years as general manager, and they were annoyed by a 2024 offseason that seemingly had done little to help the franchise.

It’s surprising how quickly things can change. Amid a 7-2 start that has featured major contributions from half a dozen new players and proven that Sam Darnold is indeed a franchise quarterback, Schneider has been getting a lot of credit.

In fact, in a survey of 42 NFL decision makers by Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, 23 voted him as the executive of the year at the midseason point.

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#SEAvsLAR

Blowout wins send Hawks, Rams into huge Week 11 clash

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The Seahawks and Rams are clearly the class of the NFC West and among the very best in the NFL as well, as they both proved by eclipsing 40 points in blowout wins against division opponents Sunday.

They have been on a collision course for division dominance for weeks now – and that head-on clash is coming in Week 11 as the pair of 7-2 teams finally square off.

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The roster, Trades

The promising future of the Hawks this year and beyond

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As the Seahawks take a week off to rest, self-evaluate and prepare for the final 10 games, they are in great position – both for this season and beyond.

At 5-2, they are one of seven NFC teams with a winning percentage over .700 – and right where we thought they would be, positioned for a second-half run into the playoffs.

By DVOA, they actually are rated the best team in the league – thanks to the top-ranked special teams and the No. 2 defense. Their net point differential (plus-57) is fifth.

The Hawks are blowing away Vegas projections, which had the Hawks finishing with seven or eight wins (a 7.5 over/under). We had predicted at least 11 wins. Well, this team is on a pace for 12. Looking at the rest of the schedule, the Hawks look capable of a 7-3 finish – thus a 12-5 record for the season.

This is clearly a playoff team. The bigger question: What happens once the playoffs arrive? Do the Hawks have what it takes to go all the way?

Let’s look at what they have and what they might need to make a Super Bowl run this year and beyond.

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#HOUvsSEA

Defense dominates; Mike Mac dreams of ‘all three phases clicking’

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“Just imagine when it’s all three phases clicking.” – Mike Macdonald to his team after a mistake-filled 27-19 win over Houston

If you had told us the Seahawks would score 27 points and beat Houston by eight on Monday night, we would have taken that. Heck, we still will – since the Hawks moved to 5-2 and kept pace with the NFC leaders with a 27-19 win.

But, as the quote above shows, even Mike Macdonald was dreaming about the blowout that should have been – and the day his team plays a complete game.

Early on, it looked like this might be one of those. The Hawks jumped to a fast 14-0 lead and kept threatening to blow the game wide open in the first half. But they kept turning the ball over, committing penalties and having other odd things happen. What should have/could have been a 24-0 halftime lead instead was just 14-6. And despite their dominant defense, the Hawks never could put away the Texans until the final seconds.

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#HOUvsSEA, X's & O's

Hawks are winning with play action, not giving up on run game

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“We need to improve on our run game. It’s pretty cut and dry.” – Mike Macdonald

The Seahawks have the NFL’s No. 5 scoring offense (27.7 ppg), the No. 10 offense by EPA and the No. 4 offense by DVOA – all without any consistent running attack.

There are two schools of thought about the Seahawks’ struggling running game – and both have their merits.

The first is what Mike Macdonald said on his radio show Monday: The running game is not good enough. The second is that the threat of the running game via play action has enabled the passing game to thrive and it’s a fair sacrifice to make.

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The formula for winning: Darnold, JSN and D-line

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The Seahawks’ most reliable factors so far this season have been their QB1-WR1 connection, their defensive front and their special teams. They lost to the Bucs last week largely due to a rare bad game by the defensive line.

They won 20-12 in Jacksonville today because that unit returned to dominance and helped out Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who continued to play as well as any QB-WR duo in the NFL.

Last week, Mike Macdonald said Baker Mayfield had too many “Mississippis” (a reference to the old backyard football pass rush rule). Well, the Seahawks got to Trevor Lawrence after one “Miss” on half of his dropbacks today.

Continue reading The formula for winning: Darnold, JSN and D-line →