Drew Lock is officially under center for the Seahawks for the second straight game against the Arizona Cardinals, and it feels like this isn’t just about Sam Darnold’s glute injury anymore. After the brutal beating we took from the new NFC favorites, the Chicago Bears, on Monday night, every single question about this team is back on the table. How are we less than nine months removed from a Super Bowl win, and looking this lost?
Is This The End of Sam Darnold’s Reign in Seattle?
Let’s be real, the questions are piling up. Is Brian Fleury the right guy to run this offense? Why can’t we run the football at all? Why is Jaxon Smith-Njigba the only wide receiver who seems to get open? And what in the world happened to our defense, letting Ben Johnson’s Bears push them around so easily? We’re asking if we should make more trades, or if we’re already too far behind Chicago and San Francisco in the division. But for me, it all comes back to two massive questions: Was Sam Darnold soft benched? And does Drew Lock ever give this job back?
Last season, 2025, was a rollercoaster for Sam. He led the league in turnovers, yeah, but he also ran one of the best offenses in football. We all remember that crazy fourth-quarter comeback against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 16 that got us the division title and the top seed. Then he played the best football of his life against the 49ers and absolutely outdueled MVP Matt Stafford on the way to a Super Bowl Championship. Those memories, that fairytale ending, they’re special. We’ll cherish them, and we’ll cherish Sam for them.
The Harsh Reality of 2026 Sam Darnold
But we also have to face the cold, hard truth: 2026 Sam is not the same quarterback. He suffered some kind of serious glute injury on the fifth play of the season, and while we’ve seen flashes of his immense talent, it’s been drowned out by even more turnovers, a total collapse in his pocket awareness, and that gunslinger swagger he brought to Minnesota and Seattle? It’s gone. He looks closer to Jets Sam Darnold than the guy we watched these past two seasons. He’s clearly not healthy, but you have to wonder if his confidence, both in himself and in Brian Fluery and the offensive line, is completely shot. Is it the injuries, the personnel changes, or not having Klint Kubiak around? Whatever it is, this version of Sam is hesitant, he doesn’t believe in himself, and that’s a killer.
This puts John Schneider and Mike Macdonald in a brutal spot. They could fire Fluery and try to rebuild the perfect environment Sam had last year. Or, and this is the one that would send shockwaves through the NFL, they could bench him. Benching Sam, our Super Bowl winning QB, would bring all sorts of negative attention and drama to Lumen Field, a team that absolutely does not need it right now. But is that what we’re seeing play out with Lock getting the start?
What happens next is everything. Lock’s performance against the Cardinals isn’t just about one divisional win. It’s about the future of this team, this season, and whether that Super Bowl magic we felt last year can ever truly come back. The 12s are watching, Emerald City. We need answers.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Field Gulls.
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