Mike Tirico said it at the start of the Sunday Night Football broadcast that the Seattle Seahawks don’t get enough attention or credit for where they stand in the NFL hierarchy. But after Sam Darnold’s perfect first half against the Washington Commanders, it might be difficult for the rest of the league to ignore the Seahawks’ emergence any longer.
Darnold went 16-16 for 282 yards and four touchdowns to finish up the best first half of football he’s enjoyed in his eight-year career in the league. Coming into the night, Darnold was fifth in MVP odds on Fanduel at +1300, trailing Matthew Stafford at +500.
But after this performance in primetime, those odds will shift, and the rest of the NFL is going to start taking Darnold much more seriously in the MVP race.
Sam Darnold’s flawless first half for Seattle Seahawks puts MVP race on notice
Darnold leaned on his top wideout to move the ball in that first half, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba wrapping the first half with 119 yards on seven receptions. However, it was three rookies and a career journeyman who caught the touchdowns. Tory Horton picked up two of the scores while Elijah Arroyo and Cody White got their first career touchdowns.
It’s not like Darnold needed his running game in the first half either. Kenneth Walker has just 26 yards on the ground in the first half, while Zach Charbonnet had 11 yards on four carries. Who needs balance when the quarterback is dealing like that?
There’s certainly room for the detractors to lean on some tiring points against Darnold. Though Washington was in the NFC Championship last season, injuries on both sides of the ball have derailed their season, and while they got some help back for this game, at 3-5, it’s not the most impressive win for Seattle this season, especially coming off a BYE Week..
Still, Darnold has been playing at a high level all season. He’s up to 16 passing touchdowns while completing nearly 70% of his throws. He’s leaning on his superstar wide receiver, but keeping everyone involved too, all while having an inconsistent running game and unreliability in his interior offensive line.
Sure, as far as the MVP race goes, catching up to Josh Allen is a tall task, especially after his performance against the Chiefs in Week 9. And, one half of football does not an MVP make. That said, nothing moves the needle in the MVP conversation like shining as brightly as Darnold did on Sunday night.