POLL: Do You Trust Sam?

[Runscott]

The huge difference between yesterday's game and the two Darnold played at the end of last year, is that we almost won despite his problems, and that should give him confidence that he can beat them - especially at home - and we've still got seven games left, while those two last year were at the end of the season. I think yesterday's game probably gave the entire team a lot of confidence that no situation is too dire, even against a team that a lot of people think is the best in the NFL.

Also, the idea that Myers blew it is absurd. The offense showed no sense of urgency going for the touchdown, or going for the field goal at the end. If they had wasted ten seconds less, Myers could have been kicking a much more makable field goal.

 

[Appyhawk]

Big games as in to beat your divisional opponent to take the lead in the division. Big games like playoffs.

Pittsburgh was a good win but in my personal vernacular, does not count as a “big game”.

That is why the first game in this season was also a "big game". We lost that one too and are now only one game ahead of the Niners. That will make each game we play another big game. Intense pressure to win every week from here on out.

 

[Hawkstud]

I don't think we can fault the play calling when we bested the Rams on 3rd down, protecting the QB, passing yards, rushing yards and TOP by a wide margin.

The plan was solid . The plays where we killed ourselves with INTs should not have happened. It's not like Bosa's strip sack in week 1. That was forgivable. He didn't need to do what he did on any of those throws. At an absolute minimum, if we don't turn the ball over on those 4 drives, the bash down of the Rams D that took us 4 qtrs to do happens much sooner, the Rams offense doesn't have an opportunity to score and we win this going away.

Sure, everyone can improve, but I didn't see any catastrophic failure in play design or situational play calling to say it can be fixed enough to somehow mitigate problems like this in the future... Unless we are talking about pivoting squarely into a ball control, limit the QBs role, type of offense.

Watch for the RUN GAME explosion, expecting Darnold to do offense all by himself is pure lunacy.

 

[NoGain]

It's expected that the Hawks win the next three games against the Titans, Vikes, and Falcons. We drop one of those games, it's our fault (unless a slew of terrible injuries hit us). That will get us to 10-3. The test for Sam will come when we play the Colts and Rams again in a five day period on 12/14 and 12/18, especially that second Ram game. Those are the Hawks last big games of the regular season. You might throw the last 9er game in there if it's for the division title or key playoff spot.

Then it's the playoffs where all games are big do-or-die games.

Sam's going to have the chance to exorcise his demons and change the narrative about him soon enough. It's right in front of him just ahead.

 

[getnasty]

I don't know why anyone would trust him in the big game. To this point he hasn't done anything to earn that trust. Now there's no reason he can't get there in time but he's gonna have to earn that.

 

[Lagartixa]

Sam is still younger and developing. Learning how to handle stressful situations and learning to win consistently is a skill that sometimes takes time.

I expect the offense to slow down in the next few weeks. Clean things up and start putting an emphasis on pushing the running backs. This team can score. This team can control the ball, as long as they don’t get greedy. Sam will be fine, let him play within his strengths.

He's aged past his expected athletic peak, and he's had seven (going on eight) seasons to figure out the NFL. At what point does he have enough exposure to get it?

Look, folks, Darnold has a slow processor for an NFL QB. That's all there is to it. TANSTAAFL.

Everyone around here was pretending Darnold was some blue-chip, top-of-the-league QB at an unbelievable bargain price, but he was never that.

Darnold is a very good value on his current contract, but would be a disaster at top-QB money. With smart team construction and management, the Seahawks can get really good value out of Darnold's contract this year and next year, then send him on his way before he starts getting expensive way beyond what his performance has ever warranted in 2027.

Perfect transitional-QB situation.

Yes, he's limited, because he just can't process defenses and opportunity (and threat) reads as fast as the top QBs, and he holds on to the ball about as well as either of my dead-for-decades grandmothers, but a team that recognizes those limitations can get value out of the fact that he costs less than $35M per year and can throw the ball well enough for an NFL QB. Darnold's on the low side of the QB intelligence scale, but he's got a good-enough arm and it's just on the OC to minimize the high-pressure decisions Darnold has to make, because high-pressure decisions have a tendency to overload his limited processing capacity and turn into Darnovers.

 

[Lagartixa]

Watch for the RUN GAME explosion, expecting Darnold to do offense all by himself is pure lunacy.

The Seahawks have already been running a lot with pretty lousy results. They've got the fifth-most rushing attempts in the league, fourth-worst yards per carry and third-most rushing fumbles in the league. Running more doesn't seem like a guaranteed recipe for success.

OK, it's true that good teams run because they're winning (people get confused and think the teams are winning because they're running), so maybe a lot of the Seahawks' rushes are just burning up clock. Still, there's nothing that suggests running a lot more will somehow turn the Seahawks' rushing attack into a positive (or even close-to-league-average) contributor.

I agree that expecting a bargain-basement (and great at bargain-basement prices!) QB to do top-QB stuff is silly, but I don't think leaning on the part of the offense that's been pretty bad is necessarily going to be a successful strategy.

 

[hawks85]

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?"

I don't care what anyone tells me about this game. I've been going at it with a Rams fan all week. We DOMINATED that game after the 1st quarter. We pretty much spotted them 14 points. They had one legit drive the whole game. Sure, they had some splash plays here and there, but for the most part we shut them down. Let me ask all of you a question. What if the role was reversed? What if the Rams threw 4 picks? The Seahawks are so good we'd win by 3 TD's in that situation. The Rams are not all that and I'm not scared of them one bit. With 4 picks they should have won by at least 2 TD's and they didn't. Matter of fact if their punter didn't drop the punt on the 1 foot line and it bounced into the end zone, I'd bet my house we win that that game. Hell, if Sam threw 3 picks we win that game. We out gained them by almost 200 yards.

 

[nwHawk]

Look, folks, Darnold has a slow processor for an NFL QB. That's all there is to it. TANSTAAFL.
…
Yes, he's limited, because he just can't process defenses and opportunity (and threat) reads as fast as the top QBs…

I loved the “There ain’t so such thing as a free lunch” reference. You don’t hear that very often.

There are very few perfect QBs. We all know that.

Sam has a lot of good qualities, and he reminds me of Hass. “We what the ball and we are going to score.” Sometimes Sam gets a little too amped up too. KK didn’t notice that the Rams were funneling Sam’s play reads to the center of the field either so it wasn’t just Sam this game. Both will be be better. I have no doubt.

 

[thegameq]

I really want to say yes--but I just can't until he proves otherwise.

Sam's problem is between his ears. If he can conquer his mental mistakes he can be a long term solution for the hawks. That said, I still like our chances this year for a deep playoff run.

OT: Did Horton play Sunday? It seems like it's JSN, the TEs or bust? I know Shahid just came into the mix, but I'd like to see more production from Horton.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Sadly, Horton is probably out for awhile. He's nursing a couple different injuries.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

As far as Sam goes, he now has that stigma on him of not coming up in big games. He has a huge opportunity to change it. Until he knocks off some really good teams and/or wins huge games, I can understand why some don't trust him. I haven't lost trust, but I absolutely understand the other side of it. He looked like a different QB than we have seen much of the season in this game. These are game changing turnovers. There's no reason for him to throw some of these passes.
He DID look better the last couple of drives. We got spoiled with Prime Russ at the end of games. I can't honestly sit here and say that part of me isn't concerned a little about Darnold in the clutch.

 

[Atradees]

It takes time to build an offense. 10 games in Sam looks great. Darnold has really lifted the offensive line and run game. There is also a new coordinator; a strange one at that. Everyone is disappointed in losing at the Rams.

Big Boy pants fans. We are crushing it so far.

 

[bileever]

As recently as 2023, Josh Allen had 18 interceptions in a season. Not saying that Sam is like Josh Allen, but interceptions happen.

The more important question is: Is Sam Darnold clutch? Is he someone who has ice water in his veins? Does the game slow down for him at important times?

I say that we don't know right now, but it was encouraging to see him on Sunday after the interceptions, not putting his head down but staying aggressive and leading the drives at the end of the game. We've seen that a couple times before, against the Bucs and in the first Cardinals game.

The mental mistakes can be coached out, but if the mistakes are a result of panic or nervous anxiety, that's hard to fix. As a coach, I knew which players I could trust in critical situations and then there were players you knew would melt down if you put them in a tough spot. Let's hope Sam's problems can be dealt with.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

It takes time to build an offense. 10 games in Sam looks great. Darnold has really lifted the offensive line and run game. There is also a new coordinator; a strange one at that. Everyone is disappointed in losing at the Rams.

Big Boy pants fans. We are crushing it so far.

Good points. Also, this defense keeps this team in every single game.

 

[hox]

The Seahawks have already been running a lot with pretty lousy results. They've got the fifth-most rushing attempts in the league, fourth-worst yards per carry and third-most rushing fumbles in the league. Running more doesn't seem like a guaranteed recipe for success.

OK, it's true that good teams run because they're winning (people get confused and think the teams are winning because they're running), so maybe a lot of the Seahawks' rushes are just burning up clock. Still, there's nothing that suggests running a lot more will somehow turn the Seahawks' rushing attack into a positive (or even close-to-league-average) contributor.

I agree that expecting a bargain-basement (and great at bargain-basement prices!) QB to do top-QB stuff is silly, but I don't think leaning on the part of the offense that's been pretty bad is necessarily going to be a successful strategy.

Run game, at low YPC or not, does take pressure off the QB, and make teams respect the playaction, which Sam has been great at.

Going pass happy can and will result in picks. Balance is key.

Besides the run game does look to be improving in the past couple of games.

 

[projectorfreak]

Both of the poll questions can be simultaneously true.
No matter how dark the sky gets there is always hope and the light can be seen

 

[FrodosFinger]

Run game, at low YPC or not, does take pressure off the QB, and make teams respect the playaction, which Sam has been great at.

Going pass happy can and will result in picks. Balance is key.

Besides the run game does look to be improving in the past couple of games.

Depends on the game. When you fall behind early and chip away with field goals it makes you sort of question the red zone play calling and design. The Rams had so many dudes in coverage they were able to double cover our tight ends, notably Arroyo down the seam which resulted in an interception but Sam will be fine. They got a practice game against the Titans on Sunday so he needs just continue firing away. I don’t care about the interceptions I care about the process and hoisting of another Lombardi

 

[Double Tribble]

All the apologies here for his poor play in big games sounds exactly like the people who were defending GeNOOOOO last year, and we saw how that turned out. Geno is who he is, and he proved all of us doubters correct. This year proved it even more so. Now the same can be said of Sam, who actually has more int's than Geno this year. Sam is who he is, until he isn't. We have no other choice but to support him now, but it's only prudent to hedge our bets and start exploring other options after this year if his play doesn't drastically improve this year in the biggest moments. It's exasperating though, because he's 0-3 against the Rams, but 24-5 against everyone else. Even so, 0-3 against the Rams isn't going to get it done. He simply has to do better and win. Period. End of story. The clock is ticking, and if he doesn't improve, we can't let this drag out for years like we did with Geno. So far, we're last year's Vikings 2.0, and now we're starting to see why they let him go. Logical.

 

[Double Tribble]

I don't care what anyone tells me about this game. I've been going at it with a Rams fan all week. We DOMINATED that game after the 1st quarter. We pretty much spotted them 14 points. They had one legit drive the whole game. Sure, they had some splash plays here and there, but for the most part we shut them down. Let me ask all of you a question. What if the role was reversed? What if the Rams threw 4 picks? The Seahawks are so good we'd win by 3 TD's in that situation. The Rams are not all that and I'm not scared of them one bit. With 4 picks they should have won by at least 2 TD's and they didn't. Matter of fact if their punter didn't drop the punt on the 1 foot line and it bounced into the end zone, I'd bet my house we win that that game. Hell, if Sam threw 3 picks we win that game. We out gained them by almost 200 yards.

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