After his New Orleans Saints finished out their 2024, then-OC Klint Kubiak got a chance to see Sam Darnold throw away the Minnesota Vikings' near-flawless season. In the span of just two games, the Vikings went from potentially the top seed in the NFC to getting bounced out of the playoffs in the first round — and the blame fell squarely on Darnold and his struggles.
A year later, Darnold is in the same position as he was a year ago, with a chance to make right in Seattle what he couldn’t in Minnesota. And Kubiak, now his offensive coordinator with the Seahawks, made sure to challenge Darnold not to let those ghosts from the end of the 2024 season to haunt him again in 2025.
"So, whether it’s decision-making, throwing the ball, holding onto it, then protecting our quarterback so that we’re not getting sack fumbles," Kubiak said, as Seattle gets set to play for the NFC West and the No. 1 overall seed in the conference against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night. "There’s a lot of things that go on there, but something’s got to get better if we want to be a championship team."
Klint Kubiak challenging Sam Darnold to fix his biggest flaw just might work
There's a reason Kubiak is focused on decision-making and being smart with the ball. Darnold is tied for the third-most interceptions in the NFL with 14, a problem that has especially reared its head late in the year: He's thrown four interceptions in the last four games, including two in the overtime win against the Los Angeles Rams a couple of weeks ago. While it largely hasn’t affected the Seahawks’ success this season, it could be what cuts their playoff run short.
When Darnold struggled in 2024 in Minnesota, it was less about the turnovers and more about consistency. He was extremely inaccurate against both the Detroit Lions in the season finale and against the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round. He can’t allow those same struggles to affect him this time around: Seattle turned to him over Geno Smith, and while that was in hindsight a massive upgrade, it's one they paid a price for.
That money can’t be wasted on potential. Seattle turned to Darnold because they felt he was the perfect fit to take them from the playoff bubble to Super Bowl contenders. But he can’t turn the ball over if he expects to achieve the latter: This season, Seattle has forced 28 turnovers, but Darnold is responsible for 20 turnovers himself. They can’t expect to have any sort of playoff success – or even earn the No. 1 seed on Saturday against the red hot San Francisco 49ers – if Darnold can’t protect the ball.
Sam Darnold can’t be the reason the Seattle Seahawks don’t go on a playoff run
A lot of things can happen in what's shaping up to be the most wide-open NFL playoff picture in recent memory. But one of them can’t be that Darnold allowed another miserable performance to thwart his team's chances. A year ago, he got the benefit of the doubt; he hadn’t been in that situation since he was taken No. 3 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, and his regular-season renaissance was still a feel-good story.
Last year, he was new to the playoff atmosphere and, quite frankly, the spotlight as a whole. This season, he knows what being in that moment feels like. He was passed around the NFC in hopes of finding a new team, and the Seahawks gave him the long-term deal he sought. But he can’t throw it back in their face with a sub-par game on Saturday, and then again in the playoffs.
Part of the reason Minnesota didn’t run it back with Darnold is because he failed to step up when they needed him most. If he does that again, it will be less that he's not ready for the moment and more that he simply can’t perform in prime time.