Toradol injection sparked controversy after Sam Darnold's playoff performance. Was the painkiller a strategic advantage or an unfair edge?
How did Sam Darnold fight through his oblique injury during his Seattle Seahawks' destruction of the rival San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night in a playoff win?
Modern medicine, in part.
Sure, there was a game-plan aspect to this. Seattle seemed to emphasize conservatism and the run, with Kenneth Walker totaling almost 150 scrimmage yards and scoring three touchdowns in what became a 41-6 blowout.
And that score mattered, too, as it resulted in Darnold having to throw only 17 passes.
But there was almost certainly another factor: A pain-killer. ... and that revelation has created some unnecessary controversy.
Mike Sando at The Athletic quotes an NFL exec as saying, "He didn't throw a pass until 45 minutes before kickoff. That tells me they gave him the shot an hour before the game. You have a strategy where you are trying to time it up. You want to wait as long as you can before giving him the shot."
And 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan chimed in.
I know Sam would have an oblique so warmups are like that, but it takes a while for the Toradol to kick in,” Shanahan said during the postgame presser.
Fans are reacting angrily to Shanahan's input here, using social media to label him a "loser'' and "clueless.''
But the truth? While it was weird for an opposing coach to mention Toradol, it is not at all unusual for it to be utilized by an NFL player.
Darnold predicted that the oblique injury would not be an issue, and in the end, he was right.
He's also right about Seattle as a whole, saying, "We’ve got a great squad, a really resilient bunch, a group that I’d play football with any day of the week. So, I’m really proud to be a part of this team and this organization."
That "pride'' - and maybe some "pain'' - now carries over to another weekend, Sunday's NFC Championship Game with the Los Angeles Rams visiting Lumen Field.
Darnold has some challenge here, as his two worst games this season both came against the Rams; of his 14 interceptions in 2025, six of them came against L.A.
He'll want to fix that. And the medical staff may want to "fix'' him ... as one more solid effort from this QB, surrounded by his "great squad,'' can push the Seahawks on their way to the Super Bowl.