Sam

Darnold

Darnold took a rough sack on Seattle’s first drive to push them out of easy goal-to-go range, but was able to come up with big plays whenever Seattle found third-and-long and authored a 16-play, 89-yard drive to crush the life out of the game despite it ending with an unsatisfying field goal off the uprights. Darnold just sneaks over 4,000 yards with this performance and finished with a 25:14 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his first year in Seattle, becoming one of only five quarterbacks to win 13 or more games in back-to-back seasons. He’ll get next week off as this win cemented the bye for the Seahawks in the NFC.

Darnold also fumbled twice, losing one of them. He was lucky to escape with “just” two giveaways, as the defender failed to complete the catch process on what would have been a horrid second pick. Today’s shaky performance comes after last week’s stirring rally against the Rams, which itself came after an awful first half. Darnold has appeared far more “regular Darnold” in the second half of the season, but he has yet to crash to the degree he did for the Vikings in 2024’s biggest games. Hopefully that doesn’t happen in Week 18 as the ‘Hawks try to nail down the conference’s No. 1 seed against the 49ers.

The Seahawks trailed 30-14 in the fourth quarter, and Seattle had an all-time record of 0-172 when trailing by more than 15 points in that period. Make it 1-172. Darnold threw a couple of egregious picks — one of them in the end zone right into the arms of a defender — but he also showed off his impressive arm strength and ball placement to help Seattle pull off the borderline-miraculous comeback. The 28-year-old’s final throw was a two-point conversion to Eric Saubert — yes, that Eric Saubert — to complete the win. Darnold and the Seahawks now are in control of the NFC, and he’ll be on the QB1 precipice for Week 17 against the Panthers.

Darnold struggled again with pressure and appeared flustered any time Colts pass rushers broke through the offensive line and Jaxon Smith-Njigba wasn’t immediately wide open. Besides a three-touchdown, highly accurate performance against Atlanta in Week 14, Darold’s play has dropped off over the past month. That hasn’t affected JSN’s fantasy production, thankfully. In Week 16 Darnold will go against a Rams defense that has given him fits over his past three matchups against them. Darnold had zero touchdowns and four interceptions in Seattle’s mid-November loss to LA. He should not be started one-QB leagues against the Rams.

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.