There is no love between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. The two teams have been rivals in the NFC West and the fan bases do not like each other very much.
Just like the fans, the teams bring a little extra to the field when they play. This season, there will be a new quarterback matchup between the two squads.
Sam Darnold is the new quarterback for the Seahawks. After starting last season and putting up big numbers with the Minnesota Vikings, Darnold will look to take Seattle back to being a serious contender in the NFC. Brock Purdy, on the other hand, will be looking to turn the 49ers around after a tough 2024 season.
Of course, Darnold played the 2023 season with San Francisco. He was the backup behind Purdy and the two developed a friendship.
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Ahead of the upcoming campaign, Darnold spoke out about Purdy. He did not hold back from crediting the young 49ers quarterback with helping turn his career around.
"Brock helped me a ton," Darnold said. "With certain things of how to prepare and even just watching him play. Just how he processes on the field and all those certain things."
He continued on, revealing more of the lessons that he learned from his time in San Francisco.
"I think that's the biggest thing that I learned going there was just to trust the progressions and if something is not there, trust it, and move on to the next one and the next one," he said. "If that's not there, then be able to make a play potentially, but understand where my outs are. If I'm hot, understand where my hot is. If I need to hang in the pocket, understand where I can potentially throw the ball away if there's pressure. They taught me so much about playing good football, and I'm forever thankful for my time there."
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All of the lessons that he learned with the 49ers paid off during the 2024 season with the Vikings. Darnold played in all 17 regular season games, completing 66.2 percent of his pass attempts for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
Behind those impressive numbers, Darnold led Minnesota to a 14-3 record. Unfortunately, the Vikings lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Rams.
Landing with the Seahawks on a three-year, $100.5 million contract, Darnold will now have a chance to prove that he wasn't just a product of Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell's system. He will also be competing directly with his old team and close friend in the same division.