What Sam Darnold Said After His Sensational Game Against the Rams

As Tom Brady said on the broadcast, hitting your first deep ball early in the game makes you feel nine feet tall as a quarterback.

That certainly seemed to be the case for Sam Darnold, whose first completion went to Rashid Shaheed for over 50 yards, setting the stage for an all-time confident and clean performance from the Seattle Seahawks' new franchise quarterback.

Darnold had struggled badly against the Los Angeles Rams in Seattle's two previous meetings with LA earlier this season, throwing a total of six interceptions - nearly half of his season total. However, Darnold never looked more confident, sharp or capable as last night. Darnold wound up posting a spectacular line of 25/36 for 346 yards, three touchdowns, no picks and a 127.8 passer rating

With Darnold finally playing his best ball again after a shaky finish to the regular season, these Seahawks look to be inevitable as Super Bowl champions. Here's what No. 14 had to say about his big game against the Rams after it was over.

Sam Darnold speaks on NFC Championship

Sam Darnold, vindicated though he won’t say it.

He can’t recall if he’s ever practiced less over a full week (with his oblique injury) then played.

Talked to his teammates about how that was no big deal before #Seahawks won the NFC title to advance to the Super Bowl. pic.twitter.com/gFuSFOJK0N
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) January 26, 2026

At this point, winning the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots in two weeks will just be a feather in the cap for Darnold, who managed to erase the narrative that he can't win a big game. Darnold had already done that earlier in the year more than once, but for the casual fan this was the ultimate repudiation of those old ideas about what kind of QB Darnold is and can be.

From where we're sitting, Darnold looks to be the best value of any starter in the NFL right now who isn't still on their rookie contract. Playing in the biggest game of his life, Darnold couldn't rely on the other things the Seahawks normally do well.

Their top-ranked scoring defense got scorched by Matt Stafford, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams and they also had trouble against the run. Meanwhile, their own rushing attack that had been red hot coming in got shut down, with Ken Walker and the rest of Seattle's running backs getting held to just 3.3 yards per carry.

That meant it was all on Darnold to step up and produce a true Playoff performance for the first time in his career. Darnold answered the call and then some, delivering an almost-flawless game against an excpetionally well-coached team that had previously had his number. That's what champions do when it maatters most.

However the Super Bowl plays out, the Seahawks have got their guy at QB - and he's more than good enough to lead them to more championship games in the future.

Sam Darnold speaks on NFC Championship

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