SEATTLE — Sam Darnold was cast aside by the New York Jets, who selected him with the No. 3 pick of the 2018 NFL draft.
The Minnesota Vikings didn’t bring him back after he led them to a 14-3 showing in the 2024 regular season but flopped in the playoffs.
Now, a year later and in his first season with the Seattle Seahawks, he’s a Super Bowl-bound quarterback.
Darnold threw three touchdown passes, his team’s “Dark Side” defense came up with a critical fourth-down stop, and top-seeded Seattle beat the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in an electrifying NFC championship game Sunday at Lumen Field.
“You can’t talk about the game without talking about our quarterback,” second-year head coach Mike Macdonald said. “He shut a lot of people up tonight, so I’m happy for him.”