The tides are shifting in the NFC West. The Arizona Cardinals are moving from the bottom of the division to playoff contention, and their rivals are making the path clear.
The Seattle Seahawks, who ruled over the division for much of the 2010s, seem to be backsliding heading into this season. It’s starting with a poor showing from their new quarterback in team OTAs.
Sam Darnold is struggling in OTAs, per reporter
The Seattle Seahawks have made a series of questionable moves this offseason, much to the delight of Arizona Cardinals fans. Most notably, they traded away star quarterback Geno Smith in exchange for a third-round pick. They replaced Smith with Sam Darnold.
Darnold has struggled to perform at a high level for most of his career. After failed stints with the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, and San Francisco 49ers, he landed in a perfect situation with the Minnesota Vikings. There, he outperformed expectations and led the Vikings to a 14-win season.
Darnold was suddenly vaulted from the bottom tier of NFL quarterbacks to become the most coveted free agent at the position. The Seattle Seahawks jumped on the opportunity, signing Darnold to a three-year, $100 million contract.
It’s starting to look like the first six years of Sam Darnold’s career were more telling than the seventh.
Brian Nemhauser, a Seahawks reporter, is already seeing warning signs from Darnold at minicamp and OTAs.
Speaking on the HawksZone Rundown podcast, Nemhauser said, “The things that have stuck out to me more have been some judgment stuff still, like where he’s choosing to deliver the ball, when he’s choosing to deliver it. He’s thrown a handful of interceptions; he should have thrown a number more... At this point I think it’s fair to at least have a little bit of concern that, okay, he does not have a Justin Jefferson on this team who can beat any player in any coverage, and he doesn’t have a Kevin O’Connell who knows how to scheme everything perfectly to get those guys open.”
Outside of the perfect situation that brought him so much success in Minnesota, it seems like Sam Darnold is struggling. That’s music to the ears of Arizona Cardinals fans. In a division race as tight as this one, the Cardinals will take any edge they can get over their rivals. When the Cardinals meet the Seahawks in prime time in Week 4, Sam Darnold’s struggles might just be enough to give Arizona the victory.