Sam Darnold, who has had his share of second chances, gets a second chance again this week.
Darnold, originally the third overall pick of the draft by the New York Jets in 2018 and has bounced to Carolina, San Francisco and Minnesota, is in almost the exact situation this year with Seattle as he was with the Vikings a year ago.
Seattle faces San Francisco Saturday night with the NFC West title, the NFC’s No. 1 seed and home field advantage throughout the playoffs on the line. The winner gets all of that. The loser becomes a road wild-card team.
That’s what Darnold faced the final week of the 2024 season when his Vikings played the Detroit Lions with the NFC North title, the No. 1 seed and home field on the line.
Darnold completed just 18 of 41 passes as the Lions blew out the Vikings, 31-9. That loss forced the Vikings, despite being 14-3, to drop to the fifth seed where they would face the NFC West champion, Los Angeles Rams.
Wildfires forced the game out of the Los Angeles area to a neutral site in Glendale, Arizona. And again it didn’t work out so well.
Darnold went 25-for-40 with a touchdown and an interception and was sacked nine times in a 27-9 rout by the Rams.
Two big games and a total of nine points in each made Darnold look more like the bust he was in New York than he was the reclamation project that won 14 games with the Vikings.
A New Opportunity in Seattle
In Seattle this year, Darnold has looked decent again for the 13-3 Seahawks, who are the current No. 1 seed. He has completed 67 percent of his passes for 3,850 yards with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions for a QB rating of 99.2.
In a season-opening 17-13 loss to the 49ers he was 16-for-23 for 150 yards.
Saturday night in one of the biggest games of the season Darnold gets another chance. Seattle is a one-and-a-half point favorite.
Other Key Games to Watch
Here is a look at the other important games on the NFL’s final regular season weekend.
Carolina at Tampa Bay, Saturday, 4:25
This is for the NFC South title and the No. 4 seed, sort of anyway.
If Carolina wins the Panthers win the division for the first time since 2015 and the Bucs miss the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
If Tampa Bay wins, the Bucs will have to hope New Orleans beats Atlanta, Sunday. A Falcons win would force a three-way tie for the top spot, all at 8-9, and Carolina would win the tie breaker.
The Panthers just beat the Bucs, 23-20, two weeks ago in Charlotte. Carolina has not swept Tampa since 2017. And before that game two weeks ago the Bucs had won five straight and nine out of 10 in the rivalry.
Tampa Bay is a two-and-a-half point favorite. Atlanta is a three-point favorite.
It’s also the 40th time Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh and Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin will go head to head. Tomlin has a 22-17 edge in the first 39 match-ups. Only Chicago’s Papa Bear, George Halas and Green Bay’s Earl “Curly’’ Lambeau have met more times. Those two legends went at it 49 times.
Pittsburgh won the first game between these two teams in Baltimore, 27-22. The Steelers have swept this series in 2020, 2021 and 2023. Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers has also never lost to the Ravens with a 4-0 mark, although three of those wins were with the Packers.
Others of Note
Denver can clinch the AFC’s No. 1 seed with a win over the Chargers, who plan to rest some starters, including quarterback Justin Herbert. If the Broncos lose, New England can get to No. 1 with a win over Miami. …Jacksonville can win the AFC South with a win over Tennessee. … Chicago can clinch the NFC’s No. 2 seed with a win over Detroit.
Caught in the Draft
Going into the final week of the season this is how the top 10 picks in the 2026 draft look:
