RENTON – Conventional thinking would say that a truncated week and an opponent that has created problems in the past would lead to a lot of long, sleepless nights for a quarterback.
But this is not a week where Sam Darnold is cramming for a test like it’s finals week back in college, even if the exam he’s about to face on Thursday night is his most important to date in a Seahawks uniform.
“To be honest, I’m not up all night studying. It’s making sure that I get my sleep, get my recovery in because it is such a short week,” Darnold said Tuesday.
Therein lies the balance Darnold is trying to find this week with the NFC West showdown against the Rams looming at Lumen Field.
Overthinking and overstudying would be an easy trap to fall into with only three days of preparation, especially since Darnold has struggled badly the last two times he’s played against the Rams. He threw four interceptions earlier this season on the road in Los Angeles and last January was overrun by the Rams in the NFC wild-card game while still with Minnesota.
But that three-day window is all Darnold gets to rest following last Sunday’s 18-16 win over Indianapolis and an afternoon where he took a handful of significant hits from the Colts’ aggressive defense.
While there won’t be any all-nighters this week, his other waking moments are centered on figuring out how to play better than he did last month when he first saw the Rams this season.
“Playing these guys last time wasn’t my best effort,” Darnold said.
Until the day comes that Darnold plays well in what is deemed as a big game, the stigma of falling short in those moments will linger.
Take away the early part of his career where he struggled badly with the Jets and look just at the past 12 months, and there are three clear examples where Darnold played poorly in a big game and his team suffered.
It started in Week 18 last year against Detroit when Darnold was a mere 18 of 41 passing in a blowout loss that gave the Lions the NFC North title.
It continued a week later in the opening round of the playoffs when the Rams sacked Darnold nine times – yes, nine times – and forced him into two turnovers in a 27-9 loss that ended the Vikings season.
And it rolled into this season with the Nov. 16 loss in Los Angeles serving as the biggest dud in what otherwise has mostly been a solid season from Darnold when he threw four interceptions in the 21-19 loss to the Rams.
There were bigger issues than just Darnold in those first two losses. But the setback last month and the four interceptions can be put squarely on his shoulders, which only amplifies the attention that will be on the quarterback on Thursday night.
“That’s the kind of football you want to be playing in December, meaningful football,” Darnold said. “We take that head on in the locker room and we love it.”
In the four games since losing to the Rams, the Seahawks are 4-0 even if Darnold and the offense have at times sputtered. That includes the last three games where they have failed to score an offensive touchdown in the first half, capped by last Sunday when six field goals from Jason Myers accounted for all the scoring.
Darnold has committed just two turnovers during that span, which is good, and ultimately the wins are all that matters. But being a little more careful with the ball, plus facing a couple of good defenses in Minnesota and Indianapolis, seems to have caused a bit of the explosiveness from the offense that was there earlier in the season to erode.
Darnold hasn’t topped 300 yards passing in any of the last four games and the Seahawks have just 11 pass plays of 20 yards or more – an average of just over 21/2 per game.
Over the first 10 games, the Seahawks had 39 pass plays of 20 or more yards, an average of nearly four per game.
“I think he’s done a phenomenal job and the explosives will come. They come in bunches just like interceptions come in bunches,” Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak said. “Sam’s doing a phenomenal job and making really good decisions with the football, and we’ll just keep growing. Every game is going to be so different. It’s not going to be the same, they’re going to take away the things you do well, and you’ve got to find new ways to move the ball down the field.”
The weather for Thursday night looks likely to be very “Seattle in December,” with rain expected along with wind gusts. Darnold will have his chance to make some plays, but a victory may ultimately come down to a part of the offense he doesn’t control very much and a run game that’s been inconsistent for most of the season. The first matchup against the Rams was one of the better days of the season for the run game with 135 combined yards, the most this season against a team not named Arizona.
It’s one of many factors that will play into what happens on Thursday and the final result. But a lot of eyes will be focused on Darnold.
“I want Sam to play like I want our football team to play, which is decisive, shocking and relentless. Have it be really clear on what you want to do in the game and in that play, so he can go rip it,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said.