It appears Darnold's performance in the NFC Championship game hasn't moved McCoy one bit.
It appears that Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is destined to be doubted for the remainder of his career, regardless of what he produces on the field.
In an era where opinions are flying off the shelf, some justified, others not, Darnold has been on the wrong end of some heavy criticism. Most of which was correct.
But when Darnold plays well, surely he deserves credit, right?
In the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, Darnold tore apart the defense, going 25-of-36 for 346 yards and 3 TDs en route to a 31-27 win. Is that good? It seems like that's good.
For most, Darnold's performance quieted the skeptics, but apparently not former NFL running back LeSean McCoy.
“What do you want me to say? He’s a great quarterback? I can’t do that,” McCoy said on Speakeasy. “When I watch the game, the Rams made it super easy for him. They rushed four all day, and they played zone.”
The Rams made it easy? Hang on.
So Sean McVay's defense went into the NFC Championship game and wanted to make it easy for Darnold? Or was it simply that Sam tore apart their gameplan with how he played?
Either way, credit where it is due.
Darnold had the entire NFL world waiting for him to slip up, to then pile on with criticism of his performances in big games.
But that didn't happen.
In the biggest game of his career, against a defense that many thought would cause him problems based on previous history, Sam tore them apart.
So it appears that the narrative surrounding Darnold, at least from McCoy's perspective, won't be changing anytime soon, because the Rams made it "easy" for Sam.
But I offer this.
What if Jalen Hurts, the quarterback for McCoy's former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, put up the numbers that Darnold did? Would McCoy be saying the same thing?
Did the defense make it easy for Hurts? I think you know the answer to that. McCoy would praise Hurts for making the Rams defense look the way it did, which is what Emmanuel Acho stated when McCoy asked where the defense and special teams were.
"They were there, Sam Darnold just made it look like they weren't," Acho said.
Bing, Emmanuel.
Darnold might not get an apology from McCoy, but he's gotten one from everyone else.