This Saturday night, the San Francisco 49ers head to Seattle for another chapter in one of the NFL’s fiercest rivalries. The Seahawks are riding high after a dominant 13-3 Week 18 win over San Francisco to secure the NFC’s No. 1 seed, while the 49ers are coming off a Wild Card upset of the defending champion Eagles.
With a trip to the NFC Championship on the line, concern has surfaced around Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, who appeared on the injury report with an oblique issue. Though head coach Mike MacDonald expects him to play, a Super Bowl champion suggested the injury could be a built-in excuse if Darnold struggles.
What Did This Super Bowl Champion Have To Say About Sam Darnold’s Injury?
Former Steelers defensive back and current NFL commentator Ryan Clark shared some speculation regarding Sam Darnold’s recent injury on First Take.
“It sounds like the setup for an excuse,” Clark said. “It sounds like the things that you say before a game when you don’t play well.”
Clark added that it’s the biggest game of Darnold’s career, and the Seahawks should be more concerned about his mentality going into the game.
Although Darnold has had back-to-back 14-win seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks, Clark and the broader narrative say Darnold has struggled in high-stakes games.
According to PFSN’s 2024 QB Impact Ratings, Sam Darnold had a QBi of 77.6, ranking 15 out of 39 eligible quarterbacks. That same season with the Vikings in the Wild Card round, Darnold scored a 69.3 rating in the team’s 27-9 loss, the second worst among quarterbacks that round.
This season with Seattle, Darnold sports a much higher QBi of 90.8 and ranks third in the entire NFL in that category. Darnold has played much better throughout the season, and although he has yet to play in his second career playoff game, he has still played in multiple high-stakes games.
The most notable was his performance against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11. The Seahawks dropped that game 21-19 while Darnold threw four interceptions and had a QBi of 72.9 that week.
Darnold did have slightly better statistical performance in Seattle’s Week 16 38-37 overtime comeback win against the Rams. However, Darnold’s impact score was actually worse than his Week 11 score with a 69.3 rating.
The last time Seattle played San Francisco in Week 18, Darnold played his part by limiting turnovers and having a high completion percentage with the No. 1 seed on the line. Once again, his QBi was 75.3 that week.
It remains to be seen if Darnold can “exorcise some of those demons,” as Ryan Clark puts it, against the No. 6-seeded 49ers this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET at Lumen Field.
