The Seattle Seahawks' Week 1 loss was not Sam Darnold's fault. Did he fumble on the team's final drive, basically ending the game? Yes, but only because he unexpectedly had a right tackle pushed in his face. The fumble shouldn't be blamed on Darnold.
Neither was the team only scoring 13 points. Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak called a conservative game, and the only wide receiver able to get open was Jaxon Smith-Njigba. All of that does not portend better things this season.
Kubiak might be more creative as a play-caller, but Darnold still might only have JSN to toss a pass to. None of the other receivers proved they could do much. In other words, Sam Darnold might do the job asked of him, but not have the weapons needed to score many points.
Seattle Seahawks legend defends quarterback Sam Darnold from an unfair label
But the ending of Week 1 hopefully won't be repeated. 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa is a great player because he is an elite player. Darnold didn't necessarily do anything wrong.
Oddly, though, Kay Adams of the Up & Adams podcast asked Seattle Seahawks legend Richard Sherman, who was a guest on a recent episode, if maybe one reason the Minnesota Vikings let Darnold leave in free agency was because of the belief Darnold isn't good at the end of games, and whether the quarterback can win important ones.
Sherman was having none of that implication, however.
The future Hall of Famer said, "You can say that about 90 percent of the quarterbacks in the National Football League. There's only four of them with rings, so then you could say the rest of them couldn't win the big one...If that's the barometer of judging quarterbacks, then none of them, you can't mention any of them."
To be fair to Sam Darnold, he did lead the Vikings, the team he last played with before signing as a free agent with the Seahawks this past offseason, on five game-winning drives and three fourth quarter comebacks in 2024.
Was he great in the final two games of last season? No. But the losses were not all Darnold's fault, just as the end of Week 1 this season was not. He does have to show he can elevate the Seahawks to be better than their individual parts, most likely, but it's too early in the season to think the quarterback will not be able to do that.