SEATTLE — Sam Darnold was cast aside by the New York Jets, who drafted him No. 3 in 2018. The Minnesota Vikings didn’t bring him back after he led them to a 14-3 season but flopped in last year’s playoffs.
Now, in his first season with the Seattle Seahawks, he’s Super Bowl-bound.
Darnold threw for three touchdowns, the Seahawks’ “Dark Side” defense came up with a critical fourth-down stop and Seattle advanced to the Super Bowl, beating the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in an electrifying NFC Championship Game on Sunday.
“You can’t talk about the game without talking about our quarterback,” second-year Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “He shut a lot of people up tonight, so I’m happy for him.”
Led by Darnold — an eight-year veteran playing for his fifth team — the Seahawks reached their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history and first in 11 years. Seattle lost that 2015 appearance to the New England Patriots, its opponent in two weeks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Darnold, who was blown out in his playoff debut last season with Minnesota (by the Rams, no less), played through an oblique injury and completed 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards with no turnovers on Sunday. Wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba registered 153 receiving yards — the second most in a playoff game in franchise history — and a touchdown on 10 catches.
“Can’t say enough about Sam, man,” Smith-Njigba said. “It’s been a great first year. We got one more to go. But for him to overcome what he had to overcome, I’m riding with Sam all day.”
The Seahawks needed Darnold to keep pace with Matthew Stafford, who drove the Rams into position to take the lead with 4:59 remaining in the contest. On fourth-and-4 at Seattle’s 6-yard line, Los Angeles coach Sean McVay elected to go for it, and Stafford’s pass was broken up in the end zone by cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
“He’s just the heart of our defense,” Seattle safety Julian Love said of Witherspoon. “He just is the essence. Spoon is it. He plays with just such a raw energy. And we love him for it.”
The Rams didn’t get the ball back until there were 25 seconds left, and wide receiver Puka Nacua was tackled in bounds near midfield on the final play.
Stafford threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns, but the Rams were undone by critical errors, including a muffed punt by Xavier Smith in the third quarter. On the next play, Darnold connected with wideout Jake Bobo for a 17-yard touchdown and a 24-13 lead.
“That was a tough one,” McVay said.
The Seahawks led 31-20 late in the third quarter on Darnold’s 13-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Cooper Kupp. But the Rams got back into the game when Seattle cornerback Riq Woolen was flagged for taunting after breaking up a pass to Nacua on third-and-12, giving L.A. a first down.
On the next play, Stafford threw at Woolen again, and Nacua beat him in the corner of the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown.
“Even though I made a great play, I wasn’t great for my team,” Woolen said, “and I’ve got to be better with that and celebrate with the team.”
The Rams forced a punt on Seattle’s next possession and went on a 14-play, 84-yard drive that came up empty thanks to Witherspoon’s pass breakup.
Seattle stayed aggressive on its final possession, with Darnold throwing for three first downs to run out most of the clock.
Darnold set the tone with his first completion of the game, a 51-yarder to wideout Rashid Shaheed. Four plays later, running back Kenneth Walker III rushed 2 yards for a score to make it 7-0 Seattle.
Leading 13-10, L.A. forced a three-and-out late in the second quarter. But after two straight incompletions by Stafford, the Rams punted the ball back, and it took Darnold just 34 seconds to put the Seahawks ahead for good.
Smith-Njigba caught a deep pass from Darnold, absorbed a big hit by safety Kam Curl and held on for a 42-yard gain. Four plays later, Darnold and Smith-Njigba hooked up for a 14-yard TD for a 17-13 lead heading into halftime.
“I told my team, I’m going to do whatever it takes. Whatever y’all ask of me, I’m going to get it done, whatever that might be,” said Smith-Njigba, the NFL’s leading receiver in the regular season. “And that’s what you saw today. You just saw grit, determination, you saw passion out there and you saw a group, a collective, going out there and getting the job done.”
“I know that if he wants to, he’s still playing at a pretty damn good clip,” McVay said. “I mean, he’s the MVP of the league, and if he’s not, respect for everybody else. But this guy played a level that’s just different.”
The Seahawks opened as 3.5-point favorites over the Patriots for Super Bowl LX at DraftKings Sportsbook. The game total opened at 46.5.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
