In an exciting match at State Farm Stadium, the Seahawks achieved a 23-20 victory against the Arizona Cardinals, thanks in large part to the composure of their new quarterback. After allowing the Cardinals to score 17 consecutive points, tying the score in the final quarter, the Seahawks prevailed, demonstrating the value of their strategy.
Darnold: The Key Factor
With 23 seconds remaining on the clock and facing a second and ten from their own 40-yard line, Sam Darnold connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 22-yard gain down the left sideline. This play set the stage for Jason Myers to kick the game-winning field goal from 52 yards out, as time expired.Darnold and Smith-Njigba had already brought the Seahawks close to victory on the previous play, with a 36-yard connection down the right sideline. However, Myers missed a 53-yard field goal attempt, allowing Arizona to tie the game. The Seahawks quarterback, Sam Darnold, has shown exceptional performance since his arrival. With 18 of 26 passes completed for 242 yards and a touchdown on Thursday night, Darnold has five touchdowns and two interceptions, leading Seattle to a 3-1 season start.Sam threw a perfect pass, honestly. A pass towards the shoulder. The cornerback was on me, so he placed it perfectly, and it was an easy catch.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
One of Darnold’s most impressive facets is his ability to escape pressure and create important plays while running, as he demonstrated against Arizona. In the second quarter, he found rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo for a 32-yard gain. On the next play, he ran 24 yards after seeing an open space.Sam is playing wonderfully right now. He is a very calm person. But he is a man with a mission. He is very determined that we be a great team and a great offense, and he is doing a great job leading us.
Mike Macdonald, Coach
The Seahawks’ halftime lead could have been bigger, but Coby Bryant missed an interception and Julian Love dropped an easy one. Also, a taunting penalty on Kenneth Walker III took Seattle out of field goal range. The Seahawks were dominating the game until Arizona reacted, scoring touchdowns on consecutive possessions in the final quarter, forcing a heroic performance at the end of the game. The Seahawks had a similar opportunity in their first game of the season, but the game ended when Nick Bosa sacked Darnold and recovered the fumble.I’m very happy that he caught that ball because I think he had 20 yards of green grass ahead.
Sam Darnold
Smith-Njigba was second in the NFL with 323 receiving yards in the first three games, the best start to a season in club history. He had no receptions on Thursday night until the end of the third quarter, before going into action in the fourth. He finished with 79 yards on four receptions.He feels comfortable in those moments. He showed it even in the game against San Francisco. Obviously, we didn’t get the job done when we played them in the first game, but he showed his ability to make big plays not only in the final two minutes, but throughout the game. We have that relationship where we can trust each other with different routes and feeling the advantage and all those things.
Sam Darnold
Macdonald stated that the team did not doubt that Myers would score the winning field goal, despite his miss on the previous play.Jax, man, one of the best receivers in the league. People have to respect his name. He’s the real deal.
Julian Love
I played golf with him this offseason, and that’s his mentality in golf too. He’ll hit a bad shot and hit it again on the next one. He has that mentality. He gets pretty frustrated when he doesn’t make them, but then he comes back and it’s almost automatic when you know he’s going to go in and knock down the next one.
Sam DarnoldDarnold’s Pro Bowl season with the Minnesota Vikings ended at State Farm Stadium.
