Sam

Darnold

Darnold got off to a disastrous start in the first quarter. His first drive ended after three plays via a sack. His third drive ended in just as many plays with an interception. Throwing on the run, Darnold targeted a thoroughly covered Elijah Arroyo. The pass was easily deflected and fell into the hands of Mike Hughes. Tied 6-6 coming out of halftime, things were looking astonishingly bleak. Rashid Shaheed then gave the team a shot in the arm with a kick-return touchdown and the Seahawks were off to the races. Darnold would go on to score three touchdowns and a field goal on his next four drives. Atlanta did not stop Darnold from scoring once during the second half. Seattle’s final drive ended with a punt, but Drew Lock had taken over by that time. After a rocky start, Darnold exorcised some demons against the Atlanta secondary in the second half. He will remain on the QB1/2 border for his date with the Colts next week.

We might see him pop up on the injury report ahead of Week 14’s matchup with the Falcons for maintenance reasons. Darnold spent some time in the medical tent against the Vikings on Sunday. He’ll be a risky start in one-quarterback leagues against a solid Falcons pass defense.

Darnold played miserably from start to finish. The Vikings defense had their former quarterback in a blender thanks to well-timed simulated blitzes that thoroughly confused Darnold and led to two fumbles, one of which he lost. This is Darnold’s second disastrous outing in three weeks. It appears Seahawks opponents have finally caught on to the tricks Seattle OC Klint Kubiak has used to help Darnold manage the team’s offense in 2025, the way he did for much of 2024 with Minnesota. Darnold should be a viable streaming option in Week 14 against Atlanta.

Reeling from another “big game” face-plant in Week 11 against the Rams, Darnold responded with a turnover-free effort where he averaged 9.4 yards per attempt. That’s more like it, and more like what we have been seeing every week from a player who is environment-sensitive, but typically in the right environment with the Seahawks. As usual, Darnold leaned heavily on his Jaxon Smith-Njigba connection in this one, finding his No. 1 wideout for 8/167/2. Darnold is a bit of a fantasy conundrum because he comes with a high weekly floor, but scripts that would typically produce ceiling — high-scoring back-and-forth affairs — tend to bring out the worst in Seattle’s starter. The more obvious the passing situation, the more liable he is to take a sack or lose a fumble. That’s unlikely to be the case for his Week 13 “revenge game” with the Vikings, who just can’t trade points right now with J.J. McCarthy under center. Especially with all 32 teams active for Thanksgiving week, Darnold will be a high-end QB2 but nothing more.

It was the same old Big Game Blues for Darnold, who has been an EPA machine this season coming into a huge Week 11 clash with the division rival Rams. Darnold made a handful of baffling throws in this one, collapsing under pressure as he did in the final two games of the 2024 season in Minnesota. As usual, Darnold peppered Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 12 targets. He was under enough pressure to check down relentlessly (11 targets) to TE A.J. Barner as well. It was the drive-killing mistakes that cost Seattle the game despite the Seahawks’ defense playing well against Matthew Stafford’s offense. Darnold will look to bounce back in Week 12 against a poor Titans defense.

It was a typically efficient performance for Darnold and the Seattle offense, though it will be disappointing for fantasy managers to see the Seahawks pour on the points with Darnold throwing just 12 passes against Arizona. Darnold, coming off his dismantling of the Commanders in Week 9, ripped the Cardinals secondary in the first quarter, connecting with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 43-yard score before the game got out of hand with multiple defensive touchdowns for Seattle’s dominant defense. Darnold will likely see more normal game script in Week 11 against the Rams. He’ll be a borderline starting fantasy QB in what could be a high-scoring affair.

Darnold set a career high with 17 straight completions, 15 of which occurred in the first half as the Seahawks jumped out to a 31-7 lead while scoring on all five possessions before the break. His second incompletion of the evening was his only real mistake as he attempted a cross-body throw over the middle of the field that led to an interception. He eventually gave way to Drew Lock with just over six minutes remaining to play in the fourth quarter. The convincing win sends the Seahawks to a tie atop the NFC with a 6-2 record, and they have now won 11 of head coach Mike Macdonald’s first 12 road games since the start of the 2024 season. Up next for Darnold and the Seahawks are the Cardinals at home in Week 10.

Darnold should be good to go, following the Seahawks’ Week 8 bye. The Seahawks’ passing offense is averaging a league-best 9.03 yards per play and can be expected to keep the momentum going against the Commanders on Sunday. Darnold is playing extremely well in his first season with the Seahawks and can be treated as a borderline QB1/2.

Darnold finishes with a sub-60.0 percent completion rate for the second straight week, but he made up for it with multiple pinpoint throws against the Texans. Darnold repeatedly connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for big gains along the sidelines and perfectly threaded the needle on a touchdown pass to his No. 1 wide receiver on the Seahawks’ third drive, miraculously fitting the ball between two Texans defensive backs. Darnold is a borderline QB1/2 against the Commanders following the Seahawks’ Week 8 bye.

More ludicrous efficiency from Darnold, who averaged 10.9 yards per pass in Jacksonville. He has now managed 10.0 or better in 3-of-6 Seahawks starts, and has been held below 8.9 only once. Awesome stuff. Today he had a 61-yard Jaxon Smith-Njigba touchdown and 61-yard AJ Barner catch-and-run to thank. Not that Darnold wasn’t partly responsible. He dropped a perfect dime to JSN after the wideout got a step on recent trade acquisition Greg Newsome. Darnold’s other score was a perfectly placed ball to Cooper Kupp in man coverage near the goal line. Even cutting down on his sacks this season, Darnold is somehow leveling up on what seemed destined to be an outlier Vikings campaign last year. The Texans’ tough pass defense and rush awaits for Week 7.