POLL: Do You Trust Sam?

[Double Tribble]

I will also say this. I did a search for qb's who threw lots of int's then turned it around and won sb's. There were a few. Manning, Elway, even Steve Young. So there is a small ray of hope.

 

[flv2]

Darnold is way better than he was 2 years ago, and there is still room for improvement. That said, do I trust him to play against 4 post-season opponents consecutively and not have a bad game? No, or at least not yet.

 

[hawks85]

Lots of ifs, ands and buts. Unfortunately those don't win sb's. You could package that and sell it at Costco though.

The Rams didn't outplay us at all. The Rams got very very lucky. Seattle is CLEARLY the better team.

 

[Torc]

Darnold has only played one worrisome game this year, and that was the Rams game. coming into that game he had 6 interceptions over 9 games. That's not numbers to make me panic...in fact I think that's pretty solid. He had a two interception game against the stealers, so in 4 of the 9 games he didn't throw a pick. That isn't "interception prone". He didn't play great the first game. Didn't love that but also the first game of the season with a new QB and new OC didn't make me too worried. He's had a few fluky interceptions (bouncing off of lineman's helmets and such), and a couple of really really dumb interceptions thrown while jumping. One the other hand he has also led a couple of offensive explosions of 30+ points in the first half, and had a 17 pass perfect streak going against the cardinals.

As far as the Rams....yes, he was not on his game. He was playing against a defensive coordinator who has schemed VERY well against him twice now. I expect other teams to try to attack him the same way....but not every team has the defensive roster that the Rams do. Regardless, our coaching staff needs to assume that they'll be seeing the same strategies from the Rams again, and also other teams trying to copy it. The reason I'm not overly concerned is that this staff has shown that they're very invested in making adjustments and improvements. That's one of the upgrades from our previous coaching staff. This is where Kubiak earns his paycheck. So when I say that I'm confident in Darnold, and I don't buy all the "this is just who he is" baloney, I'm really saying I'm confident in our team to figure it out and put Darnold in a position to succeed. The dude is 28, just entering his prime. I almost don't count his starting experience with the Jets as actual experience, they're such a terrible organization that he's had to unlearn habits from that. He's a second year starter in this (and a similar) system. He'll continue to improve. He's earned THAT trust at least, even if you're not confident that he'll beat the rams in a few weeks.

 

[NoGain]

I said this in another thread, but you could make the argument that we're 0-3 against the three best teams we've played so far, the 9ers, Bucs, and Rams. It's funny that the first two losses ended with a Sam fumble and interception, and the third loss just a real bad, four interception game from him. Believe me, I'm not pinning all these losses on him. Not at all. But it is factually coincidental. It's almost like he's snake-bitten in some ways.

We'll see if things change and start to go his way next month when we start playing those good teams again.

 

[Shane Falco]

Only Darnold can change the narrative about him. He's got to play well in some big games.

 

[jammerhawk]

You are what your record says you are and his record is 7-3 losing those 3 games by only 9 points in total and being in the hunt in those games right to the end, shows he is a good QB.

Yep, he has ball security issues that are serious as he has turned the ball over 15 times in ten games 5 fumbles and 10 INTs. Despite those 4 Ints against the Rams he was able to move the ball to a "potential" game winning scoring opportunity. We need to have patience with Sam I have faith he will trust his D more going forward and not take risky chances with the ball.

We are fortunate to have him, he's a good QB. I still think he's working his way out of his past attempts to play 'hero ball' and to do more than the situation may allow, it 's that reversion to the past that is of course concerning but something he can change.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Not sure I expected a 7-3 start. And all 3 losses could have gona our way. This season has been a blast.

 

[LeveeBreak]

If this team and coaching staff has proved anything, they can improve players. I have faith!

 

[Double Tribble]

The Rams didn't outplay us at all. The Rams got very very lucky. Seattle is CLEARLY the better team.

Minus the qb play, sure.

 

[NoGain]

Not sure I expected a 7-3 start. And all 3 losses could have gona our way. This season has been a blast.

Yup. We're likely going to exceed my Win/Loss forecast for the year, possibly somewhat significantly so. And the funny thing is that it's mostly because of the offense for me, in spite of the SD big game/turnover concerns. I was fairly confident that our D would keep us in most all games this year, but had concerns about our offense keeping pace, OLine, SD, depth of our receiving corp...

This has been a fun ride so far.

 

[BGHawk]

Agreed. Getting friggin ridiculous in here..on a 7-3 team. Insane

When our QB throws dimes for seven games..then throws 4 int's all of a sudden..there is a something seriously wrong with that. I'm still scratching my head over that

 

[keasley45]

Darnold has only played one worrisome game this year, and that was the Rams game. coming into that game he had 6 interceptions over 9 games. That's not numbers to make me panic...in fact I think that's pretty solid. He had a two interception game against the stealers, so in 4 of the 9 games he didn't throw a pick. That isn't "interception prone". He didn't play great the first game. Didn't love that but also the first game of the season with a new QB and new OC didn't make me too worried. He's had a few fluky interceptions (bouncing off of lineman's helmets and such), and a couple of really really dumb interceptions thrown while jumping. One the other hand he has also led a couple of offensive explosions of 30+ points in the first half, and had a 17 pass perfect streak going against the cardinals.

As far as the Rams....yes, he was not on his game. He was playing against a defensive coordinator who has schemed VERY well against him twice now. I expect other teams to try to attack him the same way....but not every team has the defensive roster that the Rams do. Regardless, our coaching staff needs to assume that they'll be seeing the same strategies from the Rams again, and also other teams trying to copy it. The reason I'm not overly concerned is that this staff has shown that they're very invested in making adjustments and improvements. That's one of the upgrades from our previous coaching staff. This is where Kubiak earns his paycheck. So when I say that I'm confident in Darnold, and I don't buy all the "this is just who he is" baloney, I'm really saying I'm confident in our team to figure it out and put Darnold in a position to succeed. The dude is 28, just entering his prime. I almost don't count his starting experience with the Jets as actual experience, they're such a terrible organization that he's had to unlearn habits from that. He's a second year starter in this (and a similar) system. He'll continue to improve. He's earned THAT trust at least, even if you're not confident that he'll beat the rams in a few weeks.

But he leads the league in turnovers since last year... And he has set that mark playing within two fairly dynamic and competent offensive schemes with teams that have weapons around him to the point he isn't asked to win the game, just execute the plan.

And there were signs that this might happen in the weeks before the Rams game against lesser opponents when he inexplicably brain farted his way into bad mistakes. He was give a pass because he otherwise played well. But it's easier to play well against weak teams that can't scheme effectively against you and don't have the talent to match up for an entire game. So the fear was that sure, against the likes of the Saints, Commanders Cards, he could put up solid numbers. But ratchet up the degree of difficulty, and those moments where he craps the bed begin to happen more frequently.

Leading the league in TOs across 28 games isn't just a 'blip' on the radar. And again, it's not like he is playing under questionable coaching on a talentless team, with no online protection and an offense that requires him to do too much or to be Superman for his team to win. He has had a fairly cush ride relative to other QBs who turn the ball over at anywhere near the rate he does. Yet still there he is.

 

[Aircrew]

While the sample size is admittedly small, he has folded in the biggest moments. Until that changes, I will be suspicious.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

And that goes with the position too. QBs for the large part will always make fans nervous. Just like kickers.
I want to be all in on trusting him, but this isn't a fluke, he has been a turnover machine. He has played well and won a lot of game the last couple years. But it's the BIG games that he needs to cut WAY back on the bad decisions. You can't panic as a QB, you can't force things as a QB. You have to take what the defense is giving you. The Hawks win that game easily if he even just throws 2 picks, imo.
The defense was playing lights out. Why in the world are you forcing passes and giving them a short field? Take a sack or throw it away. Punt it away and play defense. Rams' offense had around 250 total yards. Just my opinion, but that is handing a game away.
I'm not turning on the guy, and I'm not being a "hater" or whatever. These turnovers are a REAL concern.

 

[Hawkstud]

Can't keep going back to the same watering hole, gators be knowing you keep frequenting there.
Went out and got Rashad Shaheed, past time to get a #2 guy involved.
Time for offensive line to get more push and get the run game going, and help Sam from having to keep airing it out so much to try and move the chains.
Teams have lots of film on what habits (good and bad) that Sam has, and they are going to exploit them.

 

[FLSeahawk]

So far, it's hard to argue the narrative. He certainly didn't help his cause yesterday.

I am going to stomach watching the game in its entirety today. I am curious what my impression will be.

I've seen the (low)lights of his picks. Some were, "Okay, shit happens" and some were "WTF?"

You’re a better man than me. Some of those decisions were terrible to watch in real time. I get frustrated just thinking about re watching them to see what the thought process was

 

[SoulfishHawk]

The jump pass was...........never mind.

Go Hawks

 

[bileever]

It was interesting to hear some of the analysis on the national TV and radio shows about the game and Sam Darnold's interceptions. (Particularly Chris Simms, Jim Miller, Rich Gannon)

Many commentators pointed out that both the Seahawks and Rams schemed against the tight-end heavy formations in similar ways, choosing to go with more defensive backs, knowing that both teams liked to throw out of that formation.

Stafford recognized that it wasn't a good defensive scheme to throw against, Darnold didn't. Or rather McVay recognized it, but Kubiak didn't.

Here's an interesting article in the Athletic (may be behind a paywall) about it:

NFL defensive coaches shed light on league’s matching-mismatching strategy trend

Versatile players like Kyle Hamilton and Quentin Lake are giving defensive coordinators an advantage in the chess game.

www.nytimes.com

Some of the narrative before the game was that the weakness of the Ram's defense was their secondary, and maybe that's why the Seahawks chose to attack it. They weren't necessarily wrong, but chose the wrong spots.

It's still Sam's poor decisions that ultimately resulted in the interceptions, but the play-calling didn't help.

 

[hox]

It was interesting to hear some of the analysis on the national TV and radio shows about the game and Sam Darnold's interceptions. (Particularly Chris Simms, Jim Miller, Rich Gannon)

Many commentators pointed out that both the Seahawks and Rams schemed against the tight-end heavy formations in similar ways, choosing to go with more defensive backs, knowing that both teams liked to throw out of that formation.

Stafford recognized that it wasn't a good defensive scheme to throw against, Darnold didn't. Or rather McVay recognized it, but Kubiak didn't.

Here's an interesting article in the Athletic (may be behind a paywall) about it:

NFL defensive coaches shed light on league’s matching-mismatching strategy trend

Versatile players like Kyle Hamilton and Quentin Lake are giving defensive coordinators an advantage in the chess game.

www.nytimes.com

Some of the narrative before the game was that the weakness of the Ram's defense was their secondary, and maybe that's why the Seahawks chose to attack it. They weren't necessarily wrong, but chose the wrong spots.

It's still Sam's poor decisions that ultimately resulted in the interceptions, but the play-calling didn't help.

Yes when Rams were in dime, there should have been a check to run the ball.