SANTA CLARA — Brady, Manning, Rodgers, Favre.
And Darnold.
No first names necessary in the case of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre.
As for Sam Darnold, who is the fifth quarterback in NFL history to have 13 or more wins in back-to-back seasons — and the first two do it with different teams — he has yet to thrive when stakes are the highest.
Darnold helped rebuild his career with the 49ers in 2023 as a seldom-used but $4.5 million backup to Brock Purdy, signing a one-year contract worth $10 million as a free agent with the Minnesota Vikings and going 14-3. Then it was on to Seattle, where he cashed in on a three-year deal worth a maximum of $100.5 million.
As the replacement for Geno Smith, Darnold and the Seahawks (13-3) visit the 49ers (12-4) Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium (5 p.m., ABC) with the No. 1 seed and home field advantage through the playoffs on the line.
Yet there’s a reticence to anointing Darnold as one of the elite quarterbacks that goes beyond his NFL-high 20 turnovers this season, six on lost fumbles. In a similar situation a year ago — a road game with the top seed on the line against a division rival — the Vikings were pounded 31-9 by the Detroit Lions. Then outclassed 27-9 in the wild card round by the Los Angeles Rams.
While Purdy is 4-2 in the playoffs and played admirably in a Super Bowl LVIII overtime loss to Kansas City, Darnold is awaiting his first big NFL moment in January. He completed 53.1 percent of his passes in Week 18 and the playoffs with a lowly 66.4 passer rating.
Despite all the wins with Seattle, Darnold has to prove himself all over again.
“I think the biggest thing is mentally, just understanding the gravity of the game and all that stuff,” Darnold told reporters in Seattle Thursday. “I think the biggest thing is treating it as another game. People make it out to be bigger, it’s prime time, all that stuff. But once you get out there between the lines, between the whistles, it’s football and that’s the best part of this game.”
After bad experiences with the New York Jets as the No. 3 overall pick out of USC, and then the Carolina Panthers, Darnold reset his career as Purdy’s backup under Shanahan. Then to the Vikings under Kevin O’Connell, and finally with Seattle and Mike Macdonald — all three provided him with a strong supporting cast and played to his strengths.
Mac Jones took note of how Darnold rebuilt his career with the 49ers and arrived under similar circumstances after playing in New England and Jacksonville. He was thrust into action for eight starts when Purdy had turf toe. Darnold, however, only started the season finale when the 49ers had wrapped up the season. The 49ers led 20-7 at halftime while resting key players and lost 21-20.
But Shanahan believes that if Purdy had gone down in 2023, Darnold would have responded much as Jones did this season, going 5-3 as a starter. Both players, Shanahan said, came in willing to learn, were inquisitive in nature and understood their role behind Purdy.
Brock Purdy (13) and Sam Darnold (14) talk strategy at a 49ers' practice in 2023. Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group“Similar to Mac, he’d been through a lot an any time you go through a number of systems and number of teams, you can get watered down a little bit in what people are asking you to do,” Shanahan said. “He came in with an open mind doing stuff he hadn’t done. He didn’t mind looking bad at first when he learned it. I think it was good for him to sit back for a year and turn it into his own style.”
Darnold and Purdy bonded much as Jones and Purdy did, mostly because they have similar ideas in terms of preparation.
“For him to do it with Minnesota and Seattle, two different teams, it just goes to show you how great of a player he is,” Purdy said. “He’s a great guy in the locker room. You can’t be a quarterback and fake it. Guys can sniff that out.”
Klay Kubiak, whose brother Klint was also a 49ers assistant in 2023 when Darnold was Purdy’s backup, isn’t surprised either.
“Sam’s gotten a chance to go and compete on really good teams,” Klay Kubiak said. “He’s proven he can lead, that he can win. You put a good foundation around him and he’s a heck of a player. We saw it when he was here. We knew the talent.”
Darnold has passed for 3,850 yards with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions to go along with the lost fumbles. He acknowledged that the Seahawks need to start faster and that the turnover total is a problem. Seattle has 28 turnovers, the second-highest figure in the league.
“Turnovers are unacceptable no matter how they come,” Darnold said. “With tipped balls, you would like to say, ‘That’s out of my control.’ But did I need to be in that positive for that to tip the ball? You think about how you could be better ever single play. The best part about this team is we’ve got a ton of guys that look in the mirror first and foremost and say ‘How can I be better for the team?'”
In Week 1 in a 17-13 loss to the 49ers, Darnold was 16 of 23 for 150 yards, no interceptions and no touchdowns, losing a fumble late in the game on a strip sack by Nick Bosa.
Robert Saleh, the 49ers defensive coordinator, sees a lot of growth between now and Sept. 7 as Darnold has become comfortable with Klint Kubiak. Seattle had just 230 yards of total offense in Week 1.
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Even without Bosa and Fred Warner on the 49ers’ defense, Darnold believes both teams have developed an identity since the opener.
“There’s things that happened to them, things that happened to us,” Darnold said. “I feel like both teams have evolved into their best selves.”
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