The Seattle Seahawks have established themselves as one of the best teams not just in the NFC, but in the NFL as well, rising to 7-2 following a 44-22 beatdown of the Arizona Cardinals, which was 38-7 at halftime. According to John Boyle of Seahawks.com, the team boasts a 103-point differential. That would give them the highest point differential in the NFC and the second-highest in the NFL. Only six other teams in Seahawks franchise history have had better point differentials, including the franchise’s three Super Bowl teams in 2005, 2013, and 2014.
Quarterback Sam Darnold was the most significant addition to the team this offseason, and on Sunday against the Cardinals, he continued to display his efficient, steady play. Despite only throwing 12 passes, Darnold had 183 yards passing, one touchdown, and an 83% completion percentage.
Darnold last year with the Minnesota Vikings, and this year on the Seahawks, is displaying the intangibles that made him a top-five pick in the draft, and what had commentators like Colin Cowherd buy all the way into Darnoldâs potential.
Cowherd’s Victory Lap
Colin Cowherd was an early believer in Sam Darnold, and now that heâs leading one of the best teams in the NFC, he wants to take a victory lap of his nearly decade-old take being proven right.
On Tuesdayâs episode of âThe Herd,â Cowherdâs guest was his fellow FS1 commentator Nick Wright, and the two were going over Cowherdâs âHerd Hierarchyâ of the best teams in the NFL, and the Seahawks came in at number two on the list. Cowherd then took the opportunity to brag about knowing Darnold had always had this kind of potential, based on what coaches and general managers had told him during their evaluations of Darnold.
âI know what I’m not good at, which is a lot, so I often rely on people who are smarter than me, and their opinion, and always knew [Kyle] Shanahan loved him [Darnold],â Cowherd said. âAnd I knew [Sean] McVay liked him, and I knew Kevin O’Connell liked him. Those are three of the smartest guys in the league, and they all liked him.â
Cowherd then noted that Darnold reminded him of another Pro Bowl quarterback, Andrew Luck.
âI came out, and I said heâs not Andrew Luck, but he shares the qualities. People crushed me for years. I didnât get that by myself. I got that from a GM that said, âI know how much you like Luck, Darnold is like 79% of Andrew Luck,â and so I just stuck with it,â Cowherd said.
Darnold may be â79% of Andrew Luckâ to Cowherd and the general manager he spoke to, but Darnold has 100% buy-in from his Seahawks teammates.
Darnold’s Teammates Aren’t Surprised
Over the last two years, Sam Darnold has proven many people who wrote him off wrong. Darnold has shown, with both the Vikings and now the Seahawks, that he has what it takes to lead a successful team. However, his teammates arenât surprised by this revelation or Darnoldâs skills being on display.
After the Seahawks’ victory over the Cardinals, wide receiver Cooper Kupp discussed Darnoldâs play-making ability and how he had observed it going back to Darnold’s New York Jets days. Seahawks.com provides the transcript of Kuppâs answer.
âI think he’s doing a great job of being able to step up, two hands on the ball,â Kupp said. âI know it was something he was saying, that he had focused on early in his career, about being able to create that habit. He’s done an incredible job off schedule. Some of the stuff, movement wise; the first throw he made, moving to his left to Jaxon, for the score, that’s an unbelievable throw, where he put that one. His ability to do that, and he’s been doing that for his whole career. Those kinds of throws, are something that you can see all the way back when he was in New York. Very impressive, and that’s part of his game. That’s part of what he does. Definitely not surprised by it.â
Darnold is continuing to show that people who believed in him at the beginning of his career werenât wrong â just early.
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