Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has been the talk of the town lately, and for all the wrong reasons. Darnold has struggled mightily in recent weeks, serving up turnovers as if he was running his own bakery. Going into Week 7, Darnold was on a two-game losing stretch where he had back-to-back games throwing two interceptions. It was particularly brutal in Week 6 when Darnold's two picks game in the fourth quarter and overtime, directly costing the Seahawks a chance at a win.
As a result, calls for his benching started to grow among the frustrated 12th Man, and understandably so. His play was directly costing the Seahawks much-needed wins. Darnold had to find a way to turn the narrative around in Week 7, otherwise, his stint in Seattle
might have been headed to an early end.
Well, the narrative has been (partially) re-written thanks to Seattle's dominant 20-3 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The story of the game was obviously how dominant the Dark Side defense was, along with another sublime performance from Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But some praise is warranted for Sam Darnold, who had a considerably improved outing.
No, he was not perfect. He did throw a brutal interception in the end zone that was returned an astonishing 65 yards. Fortunately for Darnold and Seattle, the Chiefs did not manage to turn that pick into points, as Harrison Butker's field goal attempt right before half time was short.
Despite the pick, Darnold played mostly well! He looked more confident, making decisive throws on time and on target. He surgically picked apart Kansas City's secondary, completing 20-of-28 passes for 257 yards with a lone touchdown pass. More importantly, Darnold did not take a sack. Kansas City only logged two quarterback hits, both from George Karlaftis, and the lack of pressure in a literal sense helped ease the pressure metaphorically.
We all know Sam Darnold is one of the more "pressure sensitive" quarterbacks in the NFL. When he is under constant duress, he starts to wilt. But when Darnold is given time and a clean pocket, he can dice up any defense. With Darnold, it's sometimes a double-edged sword the Seahawks have to deal with, and in Week 7 it was the opponent who had to deal with the blade... not Seattle.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks QB Sam Darnold showed great improvement in Week 7
