Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold showed no question in his mind to his teammates after the Arizona Cardinals rallied from 20-6 down to tie Thursday’s game 20-20.
Darnold guided the Seahawks downfield, and kicker Jason Myers booted a 52-yard, game-winning field goal to edge the Cardinals 23-20, despite Myers’ recent miss from 53 yards only minutes before. It marked Darnold’s 11th career game-winning drive and Myers’ seventh game-winning field goal.
“I think it was just ‘Alright, here we go. I’m going to get ready for a two-minute (drill) and treat it like practice,’” Darnold told reporters afterward. “At the end of the day, when you get in those two-minute situations… we run through those situations so much in practice, so at the end of the day, all I can do is just be me, our guys go out there and not do too much and do whatever the play is called.”
“If we have to make an adjustment from there, we go from there,” Darnold added.
Arizona had the momentum after Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray hit running back Emari Demercado on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left. Murray also had a 16-yard touchdown pass to star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. earlier in the fourth quarter.
After benefitting from a penalty on the kickoff, Darnold connected with wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 22 yards. Those two places largely helped set up Myers to walk off the Cardinals.
“I was just reading out the play that was called, and sometimes we have to make adjustments, and we make adjustments from there,” Darnold said. “We’ve done so much in practice, but we’re just going to continue — for me, especially, I’m going to treat every play as its own and go from there.”
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Also ‘Had No Doubt’ About Final Drive
Darnold finished with 18-26 passing for 242 yards and a touchdown, and he had a 24-yard run. Smith-Njigba, who had four receptions for 79 yards, felt confident going into the final drive.
“I had no doubt we were going to go down there and score honestly,” Smith-Njigba told reporters about the drive. “And them making a huge penalty that got us on the 40-yard line, I knew that we just needed one play, a couple plays, and Jason’s going to go down there and seal the deal for us, if not score.”
“Sam made a perfect throw,” Smith-Njigba continued. “Back shoulder ball, the corner was on top of me, so he just placed it perfectly, and it was an easy grab.”
Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba Connection Growing
Darnold and Smith-Njigba have only played four games together now, and the confidence is only growing on the field. Smith-Njigba leads all Seahawks receivers with 26 receptions for 402 yards and a touchdown this season.
It’s a connection that resembles Darnold’s connections in his prior stint with the Minnesota Vikings, where he had a career year and the team went 14-3. Danrold’s career has otherwise been marred by subpar play and losing seasons, despite being a No. 3 draft pick with the New York Jets in 2018.
“I think Sam is a great player, and I don’t think any of that matters,” Smith-Nijigba said about the past. “I think him being a Seahawk and us just focusing week after week is our mindset, and definitely his mindset and approach.”
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