Super Bowl LX may not be remembered as Sam Darnold’s standout performance, but it will undeniably be remembered as the pivotal point in his career.
Once labeled a disappointment by the New York Jets, Darnold was instrumental in steering the Seattle Seahawks to a 29-13 triumph over the New England Patriots, etching his name in the annals of NFL lore.
During the showdown at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, Darnold completed 19 out of 38 passes, amassing 202 yards and scoring a touchdown, thus completing his remarkable comeback narrative.
While his statistics might not have been extraordinary, they proved sufficient on an evening when Seattle’s defense stifled the Patriots, led by Drake Maye.
Following four successful field-goal drives, Darnold widened the lead with a decisive 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end A.J. Barner early in the fourth quarter, pushing Seattle ahead to a commanding 19-0 advantage.
After four field-goal drives, Darnold broke the game open with a 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end A.J. Barner early in the fourth quarter, giving Seattle a 19-0 lead.
Darnold finished Seattle’s title run with 672 passing yards and five touchdowns without a turnover in wins against the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams and Patriots.
Darnold started slowly Sunday, completely only six of his first 17 pass attempts against a ferocious Patriots pass rush. By halftime, he had completed 9-of-22 attempts for 88 yards.
But behind a few big throws by Darnold and 94 first-half rushing yards from Kenneth Walker III, the Seahawks engineered three field-goal drives and took a 9-0 lead into halftime.
On the Seahawks’ first drive of the second half, which began at the Seattle 9, Darnold delivered back-to-back 16-yard completions to Rashid Shaheed and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, then picked up another 11 yards on a scramble.
That 10-play, 69-yard drive ended with a fourth field goal from Jason Myers, also a former Jet.
The game’s first touchdown came five plays after Seattle’s Derick Hall sacked Maye and forced a fumble, which Seahawks defensive tackle Bryon Murphy recovered at the New England 37.
After finding Cooper Kupp for a nine-yard reception on 3rd and 9 to move the chains, Darnold hit a wide-open Barner on play action for the TD with 13:24 left in the fourth quarter.
That touchdown happened while Darnold’s favorite target, Smith-Njigba, was out of the game to be evaluated for a concussion. After going into the tunnel in the third quarter, Smith-Njigba — the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year — cleared concussion protocol and returned with under 12 minutes left in the fourth.
Maye answered with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Mack Hollins. But with the Patriots still trailing 19-7, Maye threw an interception to former Giants safety Julian Love, leading to Myers’ fifth field goal — the most ever in a Super Bowl.
Now playing for his fifth team in his eighth NFL season, Darnold became the first quarterback from the loaded 2018 draft class to win a Super Bowl. Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield are yet to even appear in one.
The Jets traded up to take Darnold with the No. 3 pick in that 2018 draft, envisioning him as the franchise quarterback that had eluded them for decades.
But Darnold went just 13-25 as a starter and threw 45 touchdowns against 39 interceptions over three seasons with the Jets before they traded him to the Carolina Panthers. Weeks later, the Jets drafted Zach Wilson with the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft to replace Darnold.
“As a young player, early on in my career, I was really hard on myself,” Darnold said ahead of the Super Bowl. “After a bad rep or a bad practice, I would let it affect my attitude a little bit. Just being able to have a great attitude all the time [has been important].”
Darnold spent two seasons in Carolina and another as a backup in San Francisco before he signed with the Minnesota Vikings for the 2024 season.
That same offseason, the Vikings used a first-round pick on quarterback J.J. McCarthy, but a preseason knee injury cost McCarthy his rookie year, clearing the starting job for Darnold.
Darnold delivered a breakout campaign in Minnesota, throwing a career-high 35 touchdown passes and leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record. But Darnold struggled in the Vikings’ two biggest games, including a first-round rout by the Rams in his playoff debut.
The Vikings opted to move forward with McCarthy last offseason, leaving Darnold to sign a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seahawks.
Darnold proved to be the missing piece for a Seattle team featuring standout offensive weapons such as Smith-Njigba and Walker, as well as a stingy defense that allowed an NFL-low 17.2 points per game in the regular season.
Under Darnold, the Seahawks finished 14-3, won the NFC West and earned the NFC’s top seed.
Despite suffering an ill-timed oblique injury in practice last month, Darnold continued to prove doubters wrong this postseason, including in an NFC Championship Game victory over the Rams in which he passed for 346 yards and three touchdowns.
“He shut a lot of people up tonight,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said after that Jan. 25 win.
The same goes for Sunday night — and then some.
