darnold

SANTA CLARA — Sam Darnold did not really know what to say.

So as the Seattle Seahawks quarterback stood on stage at Levi’s Stadium after becoming a Super Bowl champion, he made a few comments thanking teammates and fans before ultimately boiling it down to this:

“Just a job well done,” he said.

The words were simple. Concise. And captured the essence of a player who traveled a road filled with disappointments and setbacks but always believed in himself.

On Sunday, Darnold was far from spectacular. But the former San Clemente High and USC star played error-free, tossed a touchdown pass and let running back Kenneth Walker III, kicker Jason Myers and a dominating defense do the rest in a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.

It was the Seahawks second Super Bowl title, their first since 2014.

That Seahawks team featured the legendary “Legion of Boom” defense.

This year’s defense dubbed itself the “Dark Side.” All-Pros do not abound. Individual personalities lean more toward quietly confident rather than brash.

And on Sunday, it lit up the stadium by harassing Patriots quarterback Drake Maye into three turnovers and sacking him six times.

Linebacker Derick Hall forced a third-quarter fumble that turned the momentum. Safety Julian Love ended any real chance of a comeback with a fourth-quarter interception. And, after cornerback Devon Witherspoon hit Maye’s arm on a blitz, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu returned an interception for a touchdown.

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye throws an interception as he is hit by Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s 29-13 win in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

“They lived up to the ‘Dark Side’ today,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said as he held the Vince Lombardi Trophy on the winner’s stage. “It’s going to go down in the history books.”

Myers made history by kicking a Super Bowl-record five field goals. Walker rushed for 135 yards and was voted the game’s most valuable player, the first running back to win the award since Terrell Davis in 1998.

But the story of the Seahawks’ season revolved around Darnold.

The third pick in the 2018 draft endured tough times with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before he spent a season as the backup for the San Francisco 49ers. In 2024, he led the Minnesota Vikings to 14 victories but the team did not re-sign him.

The Seahawks welcomed him with open arms, and he became the first former USC quarterback to start a Super Bowl.

Is this what the Seahawks envisioned when they signed Darnold to a three-year deal with $55 million in guarantees?

Seahawks coach Mike MacDonald holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy on stage in front of Sam Darnold and Kenneth Walker III following a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

“Yeah, absolutely,” general manager John Schneider said in a celebratory locker room filled with cigar smoke and champagne. “The person, the leader — he’s the ultimate competitor.”

On Sunday, Darnold was not nearly as sharp as he was in a pivotal Week 16 overtime victory over the Rams, and the NFC championship game against the Rams.

But early in the fourth quarter, he connected with tight end AJ Barner for a touchdown that gave the Seahawks a 19-0 lead. He completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards. He did not have a pass intercepted. He did not fumble.

“I feel like I could have been a lot better,” he said. “Feel like we could have scored more points, to be quite frank. But again, we got the job done.”

A job well done by Darnold all season, teammates said.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throws a pass during the second half against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

“That’s the heartbeat,” linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. “Truly the heartbeat of our team.”

Receiver Cooper Kupp marveled at Darnold’s “redemption story.”

“I don’t know if there’s a quarterback in NFL history that’s done what he’s done,” Kupp said after catching six passes for 61 yards.

Kupp and Jones can speak with authority about redemption.

Last March, the Rams released Kupp, the 2021 NFL offensive player of the year and most valuable player of Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. He signed with his home state Seahawks and instantly became a veteran leader.

Now he’s a two-time Super Bowl champion.

“Sounds pretty good,” Kupp said, grinning. “That’s unbelievable, man.

“The story that’s been written, my story, I don’t know if I could have written a better ending to this year. Some really tough times this year, and to be in this place, be able to go through this year with these guys, it’s one of the most fun years I’ve had.”

Jones started for the Rams in Super Bowl LVI as a rookie but rather than extending him after his third year, the team traded him to Tennessee before last season. The Titans later traded him to the Seahawks, who gave him a three-year extension last spring.

“It’s amazing, man,” Jones said of being a two-time champion. “Those California Super Bowls — I like those.”

After Darnold’s touchdown pass, it appeared the Seahawks were on their way to the first shutout in Super Bowl history. But Maye came back and fired a touchdown pass to Mack Hollins, pulling the Patriots to within 12 points.

Patriots fans perhaps envisioned a repeat of Super Bowl LI in 2017, when Tom Brady led the Patriots back from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons.

But the Seahawks made sure that was not going to happen.

Love picked off a Maye pass, and Myers kicked his final field goal to increase the lead to 22-7. Late in the fourth quarter, Witherspoon hit Maye, and Nwosu grabbed the ball in the air and returned it 45 yards for a 29-7 lead.

The Seahawks were on their way to finishing the season with their 10th consecutive victory.

Maye, runner-up to Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford for the NFL most valuable player award, completed 27 of 43 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

“They had applied some pressure where they got us a few times,” Maye said, “and we’ve got to be better with the football and make better decisions and I’ve got to make better throws when the game goes like that.”

When it was over, Darnold was holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy on stage.

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, left, and running back Kenneth Walker III celebrate on stage after a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

“I was like, ‘This thing’s a lot lighter than I thought it was,’” he said. “But it was great just to be able to hold that trophy and finally enjoy it.”

Darnold will enjoy something else: He will now forever be known as Super Bowl-champion Sam Darnold.

“It’s special, man,” he said. “I’m not going to lie — it’s a dream come true. It really is.

“Just going to continue to lean in to that, and soak it all in.”

Late in the mess that was the Rams’ final game of the season, Sean McVay was seen frustratingly burying his face in his play card.

That couldn’t hide the truth.

The Rams’ 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in the NFC championship game must be draped on the deflated shoulders of the Rams’ resident genius.

As blasphemous as it sounds when referencing one of the greatest coaches in Los Angeles sports history, this one was on McVay.

A day after his 40th birthday, McVay coached like he was no longer the child prodigy, but instead an aging leader who leaves himself open to second-guessing.

McVay has rarely deserved criticism in his nine successful seasons here. But in the wake of an afternoon at Seattle’s deafening Lumen Field that should have propelled the Rams to the Super Bowl, this is one of those times.

A confusing final possession of the first half. Another special teams miscue. A bad decision to pass up a field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter.

It all added up to negatively impact a game the Rams could have won, and should have won.

“I love this team and I wasn’t ready to stop working with them,” McVay said. “This was a special year, it’s hard to fathom that it’s over.”

It shouldn’t be over. The Rams gained 479 yards against the league’s top-rated defense. They only committed four penalties. The offense didn’t have a turnover. Matthew Stafford was brilliant, 374 yards, three touchdowns, countless big throws.

The Rams were great, but during the biggest moments, they got goofy, and basically handed the Super Bowl invitation to the Seahawks on a grass-stained platter.

What was McVay thinking?

Rams coach Sean McVay watches from the sideline during the fourth quarter of a 31-27 loss to the Seahawks in the NFC championship game Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Begin with the Rams’ possession at the end of the first half, after they scored a touchdown to take a 13-10 lead and their running game was rolling and they had a chance to capitalize on their momentum.

But instead of continuing to pound the ball and at least run down the clock, they threw twice in three plays, both incompletions, and had to punt after just 39 seconds, thus giving the ball back to the Seahawks with 54 seconds remaining in the half. Sure enough, the Seahawks then went 74 yards in 34 seconds, highlighted by a 42-yard pass from reborn Sam Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba against Kam Curl and ending with a 14-yard touchdown pass to an uncovered Smith-Njigba to give them a 17-13 halftime lead.

The strategy by McVay was so flawed, it was actually criticized by Tom Brady on Fox, and Brady rarely criticizes anybody.

“The finality of all of it, I didn’t really expect this,” McVay said. “We had our chances … a couple of critical errors that ended up costing us. … I’m pretty numb.”

The next mistake occurred at the start of the second half with — surprise, surprise — more special teams struggles. This time it was Xavier Smith muffing a punt and Dareke Young recovering on the Rams’ 17-yard line. On the next play, Darnold hit former UCLA star Jake Bobo for a touchdown pass ahead of Quentin Lake to give the Seahawks a 24-13 lead.

“It was costly,” McVay said. “That was a tough one.”

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Gary Klein breaks down what went wrong for the Rams in their 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC championship game at Lumen Field.

Special teams have haunted McVay for a couple of years. They were so bad earlier this season that he dumped the coordinator. It didn’t matter. They still stink. Coaches always talk about the three phases of the game. McVay clearly doesn’t have a handle on this third phase.

Even with all this, the Rams were driving in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead or at least make a dent in a four-point deficit when another decision went bad.

The Rams had rolled 84 yards in 14 plays and were facing fourth and four at the Seattle six-yard line. There was 4:59 left in the game. That was plenty of time to kick the field goal, take the points, then lean on the defense to stop mistake-prone Darnold long enough to drive back downfield for the winning field goal.

But, no. McVay decided to go for it, and Stafford ended up throwing a pass to a blanketed Terrance Ferguson, the ball fell incomplete, and the Seahawks held the ball until the last 25 seconds.

Take the points! C’mon man, take the points!

If the Rams were within a field goal of winning, the pressure on the Seahawks would have been enormously heightened and the momentum of the ensuing drive would have felt entirely different and even if the Rams still only got the ball back with 25 seconds left and no timeouts … that’s long enough for a field-goal drive.

Rams coach Sean McVay, right, shakes hands with Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald after the Rams’ 31-27 loss in the NFC championship game Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Granted, winning this game was a tough task. The Rams were trying to become only the sixth team to win three consecutive road playoff games. But they seemed up to the challenge and seemed destined to win … until they didn’t.

“A lot of resolve, a lot of resilience from our group, we just came up short,” McVay said.

The Rams will be back. Stafford has given no indication that he’s retiring, Puka Nacua isn’t going anywhere, the heart of the young defense returns and, of course, McVay is back.

One assumes his numbness will eventually disappear. One trusts it will be replaced by some of that resolve and resilience.