Can the Patriots pull off a ‘seeing ghosts’ sequel with Sam Darnold?

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Can the Patriots pull off a ‘seeing ghosts’ sequel with Sam Darnold? | Karen Guregian

Karen Guregian · MassLive

Mon, Feb 2, 2026 ·

5 min read

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There haven’t been any signs of ghosts in Sam Darnold’s life this season.

The Seattle Seahawks quarterback hasn’t been spooked by any defense in the lead-up to Super Bowl 60.

But then again, he’s yet to go up against the Patriots , the team that conjured up a few phantom images in his head.

Six seasons ago, in his second year with the New York Jets , Darnold threw four interceptions and lost a fumble in a 33-0 loss to the Patriots in a primetime game at MetLife Stadium.

At one point during the second quarter, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football’ cameras caught him looking dazed and confused on the sideline.

Worse, a microphone caught him expressing how much Bill Belichick’s defense had flummoxed him: “I’m seeing ghosts.”

Now, in the biggest game of Darnold’s career, against the Patriots in Super Bowl 60, how does he avoid having flashbacks?

Obviously, a lot of time has passed. Certainly other teams have studied film of that game to see what the Patriots did to buffalo Darnold.

No doubt Mike Vrabel, Zak Kuhr & Co. have a beat on the ghost-inducing formula.

So do the players who actually caused Darnold to see things that weren’t there.

That 2019 Patriots defense was pretty special. Many of the members of that unit had been together in Belichick’s system for a number of years.

They had won a Super Bowl in 2018, holding the Rams’ vaunted offense to just three points. By the end of that game, Jared Goff knew exactly what Darnold was feeling a year later.

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Duron Harmon , who was part of Darnold’s worst football nightmare, talked about the experience the group had together and how that played a role.

Harmon, Devin McCourty , Patrick Chung , Stephon Gilmore , Jason McCourty , Jonathan Jones and J.C. Jackson made up the secondary.

Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins , Kyle Van Noy , Ja’Whaun Bentley were the linebackers while Lawrence Guy , Deatrich Wise, John Simon, and Adam Butler were up front.

“You’re talking about a very veteran, older defense, guys who had played in that system for 6-7 years,” Harmon said. “We knew what to do and how to manipulate a young quarterback. We knew what to do to make him shudder, and that’s what we did that night. He hadn’t seen anything like it.”

Harmon said they had different blitz packages, utilized different disguises.

They’d show blitz, and drop into a Cover-2 zone. They’d show blitz, and come at him full throttle.

“Everybody is within five yards of the line of scrimmage,” Harmon said. “So it’s hard to see, it’s hard to read because sometimes we’re blitzing, sometimes we weren’t … so we had him where we wanted him.”

They had him ready to be fitted for a straightjacket.

“He was a young quarterback, definitely didn’t have the experience, and he also didn’t have, in my opinion, the coaches who could help him do what he needed to do,” Harmon said. “And for him at that time, that was a very, very tough scheme, and a tough defense and a lot of smart players to go against. He just wasn’t prepared for what we did to him that night.”

Darnold was 22 that year. He’s 28 now.

He’s learned all along his journey starting in New York, moving on to Carolina, San Francisco , Minnesota and now Seattle.

But has he truly exorcised those demons?

We’ll see if that’s the case come Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

The 2019 Patriots defense couldn’t implement all of their blitzing and disguise, however, without shutting down the run.

“You have to stop the run first,” Gilmore said via text when asked about the strategy. “Get a lead, and make him drop back and pass. Then send the pressure.”

Darnold does lead the league in turnovers for a quarterback with 20. Fourteen of those are picks, six are fumbles.

Gilmore, who was teammates with Darnold in Minnesota last year, said during the playoffs, the Rams took a page out of the Patriots’ book. They were relentless pressuring the Vikings quarterback last year in their divisional round matchup. They sacked him nine times. He also fumbled, with that turnover returned for a touchdown.

Said Gilmore: “The Rams ruined our playoff run.”

It also ruined a very good season for Darnold, who wasn’t re-signed by the Vikings , and wound up signing with the Seahawks in free agency.

Harmon also talked about the level of preparedness those Patriots teams had. With Mike Vrabel in charge, Harmon has seen much of the same with this Super Bowl team.

They might not have the same type of experience playing together as the 2019 team, but they show the same type of discipline and savvy.

He also praised Vrabel for how well he makes adjustments during the game. Harmon is sure the Patriots defense will be prepared. He believes they’ll test Seattle’s quarterback early and often and is eager to see how that “chess match” develops throughout the game.

“The objective is to go out there, put a game plan together, obviously, you don’t want to change everything, but you want to put some wrinkles in there to be able to steal a few plays,” Harmon said. “You gotta shake some stuff up.”

The former Patriot, however, does see a different Darnold than the one the Patriots spooked seven years ago. Harmon thinks he’ll be ready to go.

But like many, still wouldn’t trust him in the Super Bowl, especially against the team that rattled him like no other.

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