Seattle’s quarterback enters a familiar matchup with pressure, history and credibility on the line
Tonight’s divisional showdown does more than shape the NFC West race. It places Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold back in a matchup that has repeatedly brought out his worst moments and loudest questions. The Los Angeles Rams have not just beaten Darnold in recent meetings. They have controlled him, hurried him and forced games to unravel in ways that still hang over his career.
For Darnold, this game represents a chance to confront a pattern rather than escape it.
The most recent regular-season meeting with the Rams remains the clearest example. Earlier this season, in the first matchup between the teams with Darnold starting at quarterback for Seattle, the Rams turned the night into a long, unraveling loss. Darnold threw for 279 yards, a total that masked how damaging the performance became. He finished without a touchdown and threw four interceptions, each one swinging momentum further toward Los Angeles. The Rams repeatedly capitalized on short fields, tilted the field position battle and removed any margin for Seattle to settle in. Darnold’s passer rating sank to 45.5, reflecting a game where volume could not outweigh mistakes.
Los Angeles dictated that game early. The Rams generated pressure with four rushers, crowded throwing lanes and disguised coverage until the snap. Darnold hesitated, then forced throws anyway. Two interceptions came when Rams defenders jumped routes that appeared open before the snap. Another followed when Darnold tried to extend a broken play rather than accept a loss. By the fourth quarter, Seattle chased points while the Rams controlled tempo and confidence.
That loss echoed a postseason defeat last season, when Darnold faced the Rams as the Vikings’ quarterback. In the wild-card matchup, he completed 25 of 40 passes for 245 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The numbers suggested competitiveness. The reality did not. The Rams sacked him nine times, repeatedly collapsing the pocket from the inside and cutting off escape lanes. Drives stalled before they could develop, and Darnold spent much of the night throwing under constant duress as Minnesota failed to gain control of the game.
Those two games matter now because the Rams did not beat different versions of Darnold with different plans. They attacked the same vulnerabilities. They sped up his internal clock. They challenged his patience. When Darnold tried to answer pressure with aggression, mistakes followed. When he hesitated, the rush arrived. Across his career, he has beaten the Rams once and lost four times, including the postseason.
Now he faces them again in a Seahawks uniform, carrying that history into a divisional game that rarely offers forgiveness. Seattle does not need Darnold to outduel anyone. It needs him to manage the game in a rivalry that punishes turnovers and rewards discipline.
The Seahawks can help by staying balanced and avoiding long-yardage situations, but tonight still belongs to the quarterback. Divisional opponents remember tendencies. The Rams remember Darnold’s. They know where his patience has cracked and where his confidence has wavered.
That is why this matchup qualifies as a test rather than another checkpoint on the schedule. Exercising demons does not require spectacular throws. It requires protecting the football, recognizing coverage shifts and living to play the next down. For Sam Darnold, the Rams have long represented the opponent that strips games down to those basics.
He cannot rewrite his past against Los Angeles. He can answer it. Tonight gives him the chance, and the Seahawks need him to take it.
