All eyes were on Sam Darnold even before he popped up on the injury report Thursday with an oblique issue that he suffered during practice.
Darnold eased concerns that he might miss Saturday night’s Divisional Round playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, describing the chances as “closer to zero,” even though backup Drew Lock took some first-team practice reps.
Yet the attention on the Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback remains.
That’s because Darnold, 28, seeks his first-ever playoff victory — and his ability to rise to the occasion is the biggest question still facing the top-seeded Seahawks.
“It’s an important game,” Darnold said. “We don’t get it twisted at all. We understand the implications of the game and the playoffs.”
Now in his eighth NFL season, Darnold is much improved since the Jets drafted him No. 3 overall back in 2018 and all but anointed him the franchise savior.
Darnold fizzled over three years with the Jets, going just 13-25 before they traded him to the Carolina Panthers and drafted his replacement, Zach Wilson, in 2021.
Two years in Carolina and another as a backup in San Francisco followed before Darnold broke out last season with the Minnesota Vikings, going 14-3 with a career-high 35 touchdown passes.
But Darnold struggled in the Vikings’ two biggest games — a Week 18 loss to the Detroit Lions with the division on the line, followed by a 27-9 drubbing by the Los Angeles Rams in his playoff debut.
Darnold was sacked nine times, threw an interception and lost a fumble that the Rams returned for a touchdown in that lopsided loss.
“For me, it’s just continuing to treat it as another week,” Darnold said this week when asked what he learned from last year’s postseason experience.
“Just like I did last year, but just having that same mindset and letting the guys know, maybe, it’s just another game. Obviously, you prepare the same way, but when we get out there, we know Lumen [Field is] gonna be rocking.”
Minnesota moved forward with J.J. McCarthy at quarterback, while Darnold signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seahawks in the offseason.
Darnold then led Seattle to a 14-3 record and the NFC West crown. Over the past two regular seasons, Darnold is 28-6 as a starter, totaled 60 touchdown passes against 26 interceptions, and earned a Pro Bowl selection both years.
This season, Darnold led a Seahawks unit that finished eighth in total offense (351.4 yards per game) and third in scoring (28.4 points per game).
He helped unlock third-year wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards.
And he proved to be the missing piece on a Seattle team that boasts the NFL’s stingiest defense, allowing a league-low 17.2 points per game in the regular season.
But long-awaited playoff success would further validate Darnold as one of the NFL’s top QBs.
And the pressure is on, considering Seattle enters as a 7.5-point favorite.
The injury-plagued Niners are compromised without the likes of George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and others, but they remain dangerous behind the hot play of Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey.
San Francisco already pulled off a road upset in the Wild Card round, eliminating the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles, 23-19.
“It’s the playoffs, but this is Week 19. This is the 19th week of the season for us,” Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald said, preaching a similar mantra as Darnold.
“That’s what I expect our team to be thinking about: What can we accomplish right now within our power to get ready for our Week 19 game? You start making it bigger and you start including all the other stuff out there, that takes you away from how we want to play and how we want to operate.”
That starts with Darnold, who took a step in the right direction with a clean performance in Seattle’s 13-3 win over the 49ers in the regular-season finale. That victory clinched the division, the NFC’s top seed and a first-round bye for the Seahawks, while the 49ers (12-5) settled in as a Wild Card team.
Darnold said the high-stakes Week 18 clash felt like a playoff game. But the real thing starts Saturday.
“It’s awesome,” Darnold said, “to be playing in games like this.”
