Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald successfully oversaw the overhauling of the offense from 2024 to 2025, and it paid off with a Super Bowl appearance.
At the center of it, switching out quarterback Geno Smith for Sam Darnold in free agency proved the difference though few or no one expected what Darnold would bring to the Pacific Northwest. Darnold produced a second consecutive career year and led the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 11 years, and he did it despite being winless in the playoffs before this season.
“When you ask ‘are you surprised’ or ‘were you expecting’ about things, that’s really not how we operate,” Macdonald told reporters on Monday. “You’re really thinking about what are the decisions we have to make right now that are gonna help our team the most.”
Seattle traded Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders although he had a productive 2024 season with 4,320 yards passing for 21 touchdowns. The Seahawks signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million deal after he put up big numbers in Minnesota 4,319 yards passing for 35 touchdowns, but his last two games of the season were absolute duds with sacks and turnovers instead of touchdowns.
Mike Macdonald: ‘Really Happy That It Worked Out’
The timing of the Smith trade and Darnold becoming available in free agency lined up perfectly for the Seahawks.
Minnesota had no intent of signing Darnold to a massive deal in the interest of saving salary cap space and letting No. 10 pick J.J. McCarthy take the reins once healthy. Questions also surrounded Darnold due to his past history of struggles in New York and Carolina in addition to his late-season stumble.
“As those things transpired in the offseason, to many people it seemed like it happened fast and it happened over the course of a couple days,” Macdonald recalled. “For us it was really a series of decisions we had to make. John [Schneider] deserves a ton of credit for navigating us and guiding us through those times.”
“We were really excited that he was available I felt like it was a great match from when that process started and am really happy that it worked out,” Macdonald added.
How Things Played Out For Sam Darnold in Seattle
It didn’t start off perfectly for Darnold in Seattle as he only threw for 150 yards in a season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers .
Darnold then picked up steam with back-to-back games of more than 200 yards and two touchdowns. His biggest game then occurred on Oct. 5 when he completed 82.4% of his passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers .
Darnold did it again on Nov. 2 against the Washington Commanders when he completed 87.% of his passes for 330 yards and four touchdowns. He had more big games down the stretch, but Darnold save his biggest performance for the NFC Championship Game.
He completed 69.4% of his passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns in a shootout victory. Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford had a big outing, but Darnold matched him in the end.
Now, Darnold needs one more big game to complete an improbable career turnaround with a Lombardi Trophy.
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