Re-evaluating Sam's Super Bowl

[Jac]

Speaking of the first throw to Barner being scary, that's one thing about those early throws that annoyed me. Because it was Sam Darnold, the narrative was that those passes were close to being picked off etc. and he's "lucky" If those same throws are being made by Stafford, Allen, Mahomes they are being praised for threading the needle.

Building on that, it seems like Darnold's the only QB in the league who isn't allowed to throw an interception anymore without the media dogpiling with "see, I told you". Josh Allen has 2 INTs and 3 fumbles against Denver, which probably cost them a trip to the SB.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Good point. Only Sam has turnovers, nobody else does. Then again, only Sam won the SB this year.

 

[GemCity]

I suppose it’s up to whoever is making the statement regarding QBs.

Sam had a crazy good game against the Rams.

Vs NE? Not if you look at the stat line.

But…he did exactly what we needed and had done so throughout the year (with a couple of hiccups…he’s human).

This cat has 28 regular season wins over the last two years and is now a SB champion.

19-38 for 202 yards? You’re not going to get any fanbase moist off of those numbers.

Not overpaying a QB and winning ball ball games…eventually a SB? Thats priceless.

The term ‘game manager’ used to get throw around here quite a bit. Imo, that’s what Sam is. And….its exactly what we needed.

Zero complaints over here.

 

[sutz]

By the end of the 1st quarter, it became obvious that all Sam had to do was switch into game manager mode. People hate that because it kills their fantasy stats, but if Sam had gotten greedy and tried to pad his stats to win the MVP award or something we might have lost that game.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I suppose it’s up to whoever is making the statement regarding QBs.

Sam had a crazy good game against the Rams.

Vs NE? Not if you look at the stat line.

But…he did exactly what we needed and had done so throughout the year (with a couple of hiccups…he’s human).

This cat has 28 regular season wins over the last two years and is now a SB champion.

19-38 for 202 yards? You’re not going to get any fanbase moist off of those numbers.

Not overpaying a QB and winning ball ball games…eventually a SB? Thats priceless.

The term ‘game manager’ used to get throw around here quite a bit. Imo, that’s what Sam is. And….its exactly what we needed.

Zero complaints over here.

No doubt. Doesn't matter how it looks, you either win or you don't. He's a SB champion.

 

[glenwo2]

I suppose it’s up to whoever is making the statement regarding QBs.

Sam had a crazy good game against the Rams.

Vs NE? Not if you look at the stat line.

But…he did exactly what we needed and had done so throughout the year (with a couple of hiccups…he’s human).

This cat has 28 regular season wins over the last two years and is now a SB champion.

19-38 for 202 yards? You’re not going to get any fanbase moist off of those numbers.

Not overpaying a QB and winning ball ball games…eventually a SB? Thats priceless.

The term ‘game manager’ used to get throw around here quite a bit. Imo, that’s what Sam is. And….its exactly what we needed.

Zero complaints over here.

I recall a podcast involving Greg Cossell who referred to Darnold not as a "Game Manager" but as a "Game COMMANDER" which sounds far more complimentary.

And that's what Sam was in the SB.

He was a Game Commander.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

He did very well considering the pats game plan, but it did feel like early on, a lot of his throws were just a little behind the receivers instead of leading them. Most of Gonzalez' plays were from this. If Sam leads those receivers, Gonzalez wouldn't be getting the credit he did.

Correct. Sam had a much better game against the Rams in the accuracy department.

On that post route TD to JSN vs the Patriots, for example, you see JSN having to hitch up right before the ball arrives in order to make the catch. That's what Gonzo breaks on. If Sam leads his target just a little more, Gonzo's got no window to get his hands on the ball. Same with the earlier long breakup - Gonzo is in position because the ball's underthrown. And then when JSN sneaks out of the phone booth early and has nobody anywhere near him, and Sam misses a wide-open walk-in 70-yard(?) TD that he would have made two weeks previously, was frustrating. A noticeable number of missed opportunities in that game.

What Sam did do, and I've called this out elsewhere, was a ton of nice little minimalistic pocket movement to dodge the rush. He's always had that, but it was on prominent display here because NE had enough horses up front to get close to him many times.

Sam's already proven he can play a complete, high-yardage game. He just didn't do it against the Patriots. Which ended up not mattering in the end.

 

[Seahawker]

 

[Aussie Seahawk]

IMO, Sam did *precisely* what was required from him. NO turnovers in the entire playoffs, and winning the Lombardi. How could we *possibly* ask for more? As a fan group, we dedicated 12's are truly blessed.

 

[themunn]

Speaking of the first throw to Barner being scary, that's one thing about those early throws that annoyed me. Because it was Sam Darnold, the narrative was that those passes were close to being picked off etc. and he's "lucky" If those same throws are being made by Stafford, Allen, Mahomes they are being praised for threading the needle.

And long may they continue to underestimate him!

 

[SmokinHawk]

View attachment 78980

We got spoiled with picture perfect football this year.

 

[Nerter]

Speaking of the first throw to Barner being scary, that's one thing about those early throws that annoyed me. Because it was Sam Darnold, the narrative was that those passes were close to being picked off etc. and he's "lucky" If those same throws are being made by Stafford, Allen, Mahomes they are being praised for threading the needle.

Let the mediots say what they want. Just go ask Justin Jefferson, or the Viking fans what THEY think about letting Sam walk!!!

 

[SoulfishHawk]

And long may they continue to underestimate him!

This right here ^^^ Even after he stopped being the "turnover machine" they called him (some of it justified) they still refused to give him credit.
Hopefully they do it again next year. Keep telling him what he CAN'T do. Keep creating that fake narrative. Esp. you Stephen A**

Oh yeah, and POOka. Looking forward to seeing him whine after more losses to Sam and the Hawks.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

I'm excited for Sam next year. I am not completely discounting the fact he could regress, especially if things aren't as good around him, like play calling. On the other hand, now that he's broken through and got the monkey off his back, he could also play a lot looser and confident and ascend to another level.

 

[themunn]

Building on that, it seems like Darnold's the only QB in the league who isn't allowed to throw an interception anymore without the media dogpiling with "see, I told you". Josh Allen has 2 INTs and 3 fumbles against Denver, which probably cost them a trip to the SB.

I don't think enough is said about how well Darnold avoids sacks too - if you have a guy who is both a turnover machine and killing a lot of drives through sacks you're going to struggle to score.

Darnold had what - 20 total turnovers? But he also only was sacked only 27 times. 4 of those sacks resulted in Darnold's fumble turnover - so he had 20 turnovers and 23 (potentially drive-killing) sacks. We all watched as time and again Wilson took sack after sack that killed drives by putting us in 2nd and 3rd and long - sure he only had 10-15 turnovers a season vs Darnold's 20, but he had 40-50 sacks that were almost as damaging.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

His ability to overcome turnovers is among the best in the NFL.

 

[Jac]

I don't think enough is said about how well Darnold avoids sacks too - if you have a guy who is both a turnover machine and killing a lot of drives through sacks you're going to struggle to score.

Darnold had what - 20 total turnovers? But he also only was sacked only 27 times. 4 of those sacks resulted in Darnold's fumble turnover - so he had 20 turnovers and 23 (potentially drive-killing) sacks. We all watched as time and again Wilson took sack after sack that killed drives by putting us in 2nd and 3rd and long - sure he only had 10-15 turnovers a season vs Darnold's 20, but he had 40-50 sacks that were almost as damaging.

And if you further dissect it, 14 of his 20 turnovers were through Week #10. And that really culminated with 2 fumbles lost against the Cardinals in Week #9 and 4 interceptions against the Rams in Week #10. Something (probably multiple things) happened at that point because he only threw 4 interceptions and lost 2 fumbles in the next 10 games through the SB. And if you dissect it even further, that trajectory improved with 0 turnovers in his last four games. He really dialed in.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Yup, not a single turnover in the playoffs or in the huge Niners game. WYKYK.

 

[SonicHawk]

I've been what I think very much a Darnold "realist" and I was nothing but happy with Sam's performance. He was elusive in the pocket, he didn't make dumb decisions, he realized early on that the defense was going to dominate and didn't feel the pressure to force things. I think he'd like to have a few throws back to put up an MVP line, but we certainly didn't take home Lombardi in spite of him. After the first pass of the game I was mortified but not a single second after it was I anything but confident.

Plus, he was exceptional vs the Rams.

 

[TheLegendOfBoom]

Sam played exactly how the game plan was to play out. The Patriots have a good defense and Seattle offensively was to play within the field positioning which was provided by the defense and special teams gave Seattle on offense.

First, you gotta give Gonzalez credit. The guy played JSN probably the best all year by a corner. Gonzalez is probably a top 3 corner this year and maybe coverage wise the best pure corner in the playoffs. And he played JSN very well.


Darnold, did not force plays just for a chance to pad his stats. Darnold made some really good accurate throws on drags to Barner and Kupp but also had some throws that was not his best that would have opened the game up.

The broken play JSN in which JSN got behind the defense and Darnold (under heavy pressure) could not throw his best ball. This would have resulted in a long TD by JSN. I don’t really blame Sam on this throw since he was under a lot of pressure and threw to get the ball out, rather, than stepping into the throw. If Sam took one more second to get ready to bomb it to JSN, I think Sam, was risking a sack fumble. I’ll take an incomplete over a possible sack fumble on this play.

Shaheed got behind the defense and if Sam hit this throw, walk in TD, however, Gonzalez played outstanding and was able to time and jump and deflect the pass from Darnold. This was more so a fantastic effort display by Gonzo than a bad throw by Darnold.

If Darnold was able to hit on these two throws without Gonzo there it’s, 43-13, Seattle.

And I’m not even counting the endzone slant to JSN that was knocked away from Gonzo again. That is 3 TDs taken by Gonzo himself.

Seattle would have dropped a 50 whopper on the Patriots.

50-13 blowout easily if it was not for a masterclass effort by Gonzalez.

Sam played exactly how the game plan was to unfold. Seattle plays elite defense on a Patriots offense that does not have enough weapons to produce yards. Seattle plays elite special teams field positioning to add pressure on the Pats moving the ball.

K9 and Seattle’s run game was exactly what Seattle leaned on and Darnold was able to make throws in between to at least setup field goals.

Darnold did not have to drop a bunch of TDs which may make it seem he did not play well but Darnold played exactly how they game planned Darnold to play this particular game. Gonzo played his ass off and if it was not for Gonzo, Darnold has three more TDs and Seattle easily blowout wins 50-13 and we are not having to have this discussion.