Darnold proving doubters wrong amid Super Bowl run
Chris Simms and Mike Florio discuss Sam Darnold 's stellar performance in the NFC Championship, explaining why the Seattle Seahawks quarterback is continuing to prove people wrong.
Video Transcript
I'll give you the floor for whatever else you want to hit on from that game.
Well, I, I, you know, I think, you know, after that, o- first, the, there, there, to me, were the two big moments, or the two moments in the football game.
One, the Seahawks always answering.
Man, Sam Darnold, right?
Sam Darnold.
But then to be down 13-10, get the drive, the big post to Jaxon Smith-Njigba before the half.
And then throw the touchdown to him, right?
To answer there.
Right, I thought that was huge.
Because there it was like, Hey, you Rams, you wanna overplay the run all day and stop all that?
Sam's gonna, he's ready today.
Yeah, yeah.
You're, you go ahead."
You know, because I think they played a little bit of like, We don't think he can beat us.
We're gonna play stop the run and prove Sam Darnold can beat us."
That was the game plan, for my money, watching it back.
And he makes these plays right here, followed by the touchdown pass a play or two later.
Again, under pressure, great throw.
But then to cap it off, go three and out to start the third quarter, and then have the muffed punt, and capitalize immediately off of the Xavier Smith muffed punt.
And throw a touchdown down the middle to Bobo right there.
That, to me, was a huge moment in the football game.
And of course, you know, we always say, like, you are who you are.
The Rams have had special teams problems the whole year.
And there we are in the NFC Championship game.
They came back again to bite them.
And that, to me, was a huge moment, that, you know.
Made it 24-13, and certainly put the Seahawks in total control.
And after the game, both Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford said all the right the, the, the, the, the situation.
And but the bottom line is, you can't have that.
At that level, you gotta be able to field a punt.
You can't look like Mike Tannenbaum in Hard Knocks fielding a punt.
Right, right.
You can't.
You've got, you've got to catch that ball.
Huge moment.
And you make a stop, your defense feeling good, and then we fall.
Drop the ball, and all the momentum again swings back to Seattle.
And then they take full advantage of it, right?
How many times did we see plays like this?
Happen, and then the other team settles for a field goal.
And you're like, "Man, they had an opportunity there to really take control game"?
And I thought that was the impressive part of the Seahawks and what they did the other night.
Every time the Rams answered or had an answer, the Seahawks and Sam Darnold came right back, and, just love that.
You know, Sam Darnold just crapped all over every narrative possible on Sunday night.
That was awesome to watch.
I'm still haunted by Jason Garrett.
He'd, he'd.
And it would be at least every other week, if not every week.
During a Vikings game, Darnold would make a play, and he'd turn to me, and he'd say, "Can't let that guy out of the building."
And, Uh, right.
Well, it's amazing.
Can't let that guy out of the building.
How much, like, people like you- I thought it was a little over the top.
Right?
I thought it was a little over the top.
Like, Kevin Burkhardt.
Like, "Oh, they ran him off."
They didn't.
Look, It was a complicated decision for the Vikings.
That's right.
Right.
And Sam Darnold had a horrible game.
Week 18, at Detroit, with the number one seed on the line.
And then the whole offense had a horrible game against the Rams in the wild card round.
So they activated their plan to roll with the guy they had.
They had invested a top 10 pick in.
So it wasn't as simple as, Oh, this guy sucks, he's out."
And I don't, I don't appreciate that narrative.
I know, it makes it seem like a better story.
Yeah, don't let the facts get in the way of it.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, agreed.
And, and, you know, it was.
It was very.
There's a lot of context to that.
Story in Minnesota.
He did a lot of good things.
I think the bottom line here with LA, or with Seattle, is he's not asked to 300 yards every game.
They play a team game, and then a game like Sunday arises, and it's like, "Hey," we need you here in this moment," and he made all the big plays and big throws in a big moment.
But, I mean, it's, it's shocking.
You know, it's not just the media and people.
I, I said this on my pod yesterday.
I mean, a lot of people in the NFL through the playoffs, right?
I mean, I've talked to a ton of coaches and techs.
Everybody was a little bit like, "Eh, I'm not sure about Sam Darnold."
Eh, I'm not sure.
I think Seattle's the best team.
But man, I don't know if Sam Darnold can really get it done.
I'm not sure, right?
I mean, that was still out there, And hopefully that squashed some people after what they saw this weekend.
What do Jets fans really do for this Super Bowl?
Do they root for Sam Darnold?
Are they against Sam Darnold?
They hate the Patriots.
What a mess.
I think Jets fans just don't watch the game.
I think that would be the only, the only real outcome.
Yeah.
The problem is we got plenty of people working at NBC, who got no choice but to deal with the Patriots and Sam Darnold.
One of them is gonna have their fingers all over the Lombardi Trophy.
