Seahawks' Sam Darnold off to NFL's hottest 'newbie' start since MVP QB 27 years ago

Sam Darnold's continuing resurrection with the Seattle Seahawks is re-writing the record books.

This season he's already become the first NFL quarterback to start for five different teams before turning 29. And in last week's excruciating loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers he joined with Baker Mayfield for the first game in league history to feature two quarterbacks throwing for 325+ yards with 80-percent completions. He and Mayfield combined for six touchdowns and only 10 incompletions in the 38-35 thriller.

But Darnold's hot game against Tampa wasn't an outlier, but more a microcosm of his start with the Seahawks. Yes, he's had two late-game turnovers - the interception against Tampa and the fumble inside the 10-yard-line against the San Francisco 49ers - but no way around it: Darnold is playing quarterback at arguably the highest level in the NFL through five weeks.

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In quantifying Darnold's performance, CBS Sports unearthed a shocking stat this week. Writes CBS:

"He's averaging 9.3 yards per attempt this season, the most by a quarterback in his first five games with a team since Kurt Warner's start with the Rams from 1998-99."

Who expected the Seahawks to part with veteran receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett and still re-create the St. Louis Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf" offense that won Super Bowl XXXIV.

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Darnold is just part of a group of quarterbacks flourishing this season with new team's after being first-round draft pick busts along with Mayfield, Jared Goff (Rams), Daniel Jones (Colts) and Mac Jones (49ers).

Darnold tries to continue his record pace when the 3-2 Seahawks visit the surprising 4-1 Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday in Florida.

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