Sam Darnold ain’t No Pumpkin!

Turns Out That Seahawks Quarterback, Sam Darnold “Ain’t No Pumpkin”, as some social media podcaster and NFL sports commentator or even analysts would have you believe.
I’ve written a number of articles over the past few years, on the topics of lazy reporting and their reliance upon, what often times, turns out to be nothing more than echoing poisonous narratives, that serve no good purpose and instead have repeatedly proven to cause irreparable harm on public perceptions on players, coaches, teams and the NFL as a whole, verses the rehabilitation of our Critical Thinking and the painstaking investment in actual investigative research, results in the presentation of factual and supportable evidence and information, that reflects the facts, whatever they may bare. In the long run negative or positive, nothing but productive and meaningful information can come from it.
From the first day it was announced that Sam Darnold had signed on to become the Seahawks starting quarterback for the 2025 season, with it came a never ending succession of “sports personalities”, supposedly in the know in NFL circles, falling in line advancing the unfounded narrative, that Sam Darnold’s success as the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, could only be attributed to the Vikings top rated offensive unit and that proof of that narrative would be bore out in the first games of the Seahawks 2025 season.
I practice what I preach and rather than follow the pide pipers flute over the abyss and into the sea, I committed myself to a fact finding investigation that would firstly trace back to the root, the basis for this poisonous conclusion and once established, investigate the events that these narratives were predicated upon.
In the two post season appearances that the Vikings appeared in, they played against the Detroit Lions and the LA Rams.
Both of those teams had very good seasons and were considered amongst the very best in the NFC Conference.
In both games, in both watching the games individually and assessing their stats and performance results, the first thing that was evidenced was that the Vikings defense failed to stop either the Rams or the Lions from amassing considerably more points than the Vikings did. When a team is presented with this overwhelming challenge against opposing defenses that collectively gave up fewer points than most other teams in the NFL, they have only one option and that is to abandon their running game and go for broke in the air.
In both games the Vikings offense failed to provide Sam Darnold with any significant protection and in turn Sam was repeated subjected to a constant pressure, which he responded to admirably.
In spite of being repeatedly sacked, and being forced to release the football to his targets in a matter of one or two seconds per snap, it’s not surprising at all that a few of his passes would be intercepted or missed by the intended receivers. However, if you watch these games you will see, as I did, that throughout it all, Sam Darnold remained cool and composed, his calm and deliberate demeanor was projected on to his offensive cadre, who were, in this instance were clearly being outplayed by the top NFC teams in their divisions and conferences.
In spite of everything that unfolded during these games, Sam Darnold, at no point in time “turned into a pumpkin”. In fact quite the opposite, Sam remained cool and composed and continued to execute at the highest levels to the last remaining seconds of both games and executed what were some of his most notable completions of that entire season.
If you then watch these games first four games of the the Seahawks 2025 season with Sam Darnold as their starting quarterback , you will find him playing behind a much improved offensive line and armed with a much improved offensive arsenal at every position.
In instances where the offense has been challenged, as will happen with every offense, Sam Darnold has consistently conducted himself as a capable professional quarterback, maintaining a calm cool composure, masterfully commanding and reassuring his teammates, who plainly respect and have great confidence in their leader and in Sam’s leadership.
The scores speak for themselves, having won 3 of their first four games. Their only loss being to the SanFrancisco 49ers, where they narrowly lost by a final score of 17-13.
Their games verses the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints, were near total annihilations.
Their greatest nemesis over the years, the Arizona Cardinals, proved to be admirable foes, orchestrating an impressive comeback in the second half of this game, having left the field at the end of the second half with the Seahawks leading 17 to 3 and then battling back to tie the score 20-20 with only seconds left to play. I will intervene at this point and make note that officiating, intentionally or unintentionally was responsible for the Cardinals offense being provided with game changing positions on the field. In addition to these untimely events the Seahawks were denied a challenge on a fumble and turnover call involving Kobe Bryant, when a replay clearly shows Koby in possession of the football laying flat on his back, after which a Cardinal player plowed into him while he was laying there, knocking the football from his relaxed grasp and claiming recovery of the intercepted football. In spite of this clear, undeniable visual evidence, New York declared the football was fumbled, awarding the Cardinals the football which then ultimately resulted in their 3 point field goal.
In the second half, JSN was called for an offensive holding penalty after a play where Sam Darnold completed a pass in the end zone to AJ Barner. In that instance JSN was pushed and pinned to the ground by his shoulder. That resulted in a no TD call and a loss of down as well, being 4th down the Seahawks kicked a field goal and came away with 3 points to extend their lead to then 20-9.
In another instance JSN was tackled after receiving a pass and taken to the ground, the Cardinals player that tackled JSN, grabbed hold of his right leg while JSN was laying face down, the Cardinals player wrenched and pulled JSN’s leg partially lifting him from the ground. He clearly intended to try and cause injury. When JSN responded by exchanging a few choice words and tossing the football in the direction of the Cardinal player, the Referee who had witnessed the entire event from only a few feet away called an unnecessary roughness penalty on JSN resulting in a 15 yard penalty and a warning of ejection of JSN should another penalty occur. The Seahawks were clearly not the NFL’s favorites to win this one, but in spite of that they emerged victorious with a last second field goal by our trustee kicker. At no time did Sam Darnold turn into a Pumpkin. Conclusion: case closed, Sam Darnold is in route to becoming a NFL Rockstar! Deal with it haters.