All eyes were on Darnold with the season on the line, and Sam didn't disappoint.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold had to live with the playoff failure of last season, and he's overcome it in fantastic fashion.
Darnold and his Seahawks on Sunday booked their spot in the Super Bowl after a superb 31-27 NFC Championship Game win over the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field, and yes, Sam was a main character.
In a game where many were waiting to see Darnold, as he did last season, wilt under the pressure and bright lights, well, he didn't.
Darnold would finish his NFC Championship night going 25-of-36 for 346 yards and 3 TDs to be a cool, calm, and collected piece of Seattle's win.
In fact, Sam led drives of 14, 10, and 11 plays, all resulting in touchdowns, playing mistake-free football, something we knew needed to happen if Seattle was to win.
But make no mistake, this game wasn't all on Darnold.
The defense came up with a huge fourth-down stop in the fourth quarter as Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense managed to get ot Seattle's six-yard line.
Not to mention the special teams recovery of a muffed punt that Darnold, on the first play after, hit Jake Bobo for a 17-yard touchdown strike.
Oh, and a player by the name of Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 10 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown, too.
Sam had all the pressure on his shoulders coming into the NFC Championship game, and with each snap, he looked more and more comfortable.
And speaking post-game, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald gave his thoughts on the win, and had some special praise for his quarterback.
"It's a team win," Macdonald said. "Special teams had to pick it up, the drive at the end on offense was just tremendous, I think Klint [Kubiak] called a great game. You can't talk about the game without talking about our quarterback. He shut a lot of people up tonight, so I'm really happy for him."
Shut them up, he did.
Over 300 yards and 3 TDs with no mistakes, Darnold was the epitome of efficiency at Lumen Field, guiding his Seahawks to a date with the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
The main storyline of this game was how Darnold would fare against a team that had given him so much trouble this season. Plus, given the stakes, would he sink or swim?
Well, after a 31-27 win, Sam has shut up all the doubters.
You hear that?
Yeah, me neither.
That, my friends, is the sweet sound of vindication for Darnold.