Can Sam Darnold shed his turnover-prone past and lead the Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory? The Patriots aim to force his old demons to surface.
There's a familiar face for Minnesota Vikings fans that is set to play in the Super Bowl. Former Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is there after falling short in Minnesota a season ago.
Darnold is set to lead the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots in the game. How he plays could have a big impact on the result.
Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston is discussing what the Patriots need to happen to secure a Super Bowl title over the Seahawks. According to Perry, getting after Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold should be one of the team's top priorities.
"(Darnold) finished the regular season fifth in the NFL in passing yards (4,048), second in yards per attempt (8.5) and seventh in completion percentage. In the NFC Championship Game, he put together an immaculate performance with 346 yards passing, a 69.4 percent completion rate, a gaudy 9.6 yards-per-attempt figure and three touchdown passes.
It was the oeuvre of his well-traveled, eight-year, five-team career.
But you don’t have to go back all that far to find that some of that old Darnold DNA may still be lingering within him. He led all quarterbacks in turnovers this season with 20, and he ranked 28th out of 33 quarterbacks in EPA per dropback when pressured this season."
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) throws against Los Angeles Rams linebacker Jared Verse (8) during the second half in the 2026 NFC Championship Game at Lumen Field. Kevin Ng-Imagn Images"Old Darnold" may be long gone after the Seahawks' most recent run of games. Darnold went 14-3 with the Seahawks just as he did with the Vikings a season ago. Only this time, the journeyman quarterback's team dominated in the postseason, knocking off the San Francisco 49ers 41-6 before taking out the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship. In doing so, Darnold knocked off arguably the top two NFC contenders of the last five years.
Perry suggests Darnold's poor expected points added number under pressure means that the quarterback can be thrown off his game. The degree to which that happens is up for debate.
It's hard to say the Seattle offense has been derailed this season with just three losses on the year. It will take quite the effort to make the quarterback revert to the lost state he was in during his time as the quarterback for the New York Jets. The Darnold that Patriots fans are most familiar with may not be the one they see on Sunday evening.
Vikings fans will have a bittersweet time watching Darnold in the Super Bowl on Sunday, but what's certain is he's not the quarterback he used to be in the league. We'll see what that adds up to as the game unfolds over the weekend.