Sam Darnold could be ‘seeing ghosts’ again if Rams stick to usual game plan

For Sam Darnold, the ghosts never really leave. They just wait.

And for the Seahawks quarterback, they have always waited for the Rams.

The harsh reality heading into the NFC Championship game Sunday: If the Rams are going to punch their ticket to this Super Bowl, their defense doesn’t need to reinvent itself. It just needs to keep doing exactly what it’s done to Darnold for the past two years — make him uncomfortable; make him hesitate; and make him wonder, even for a moment, whether what he’s seeing is real.

Darnold will never be able to outrun the phrase “I’m seeing ghosts.” He first said it back in 2019 when he was with the Jets, mic’d up, getting obliterated by the Patriots. His words were honest, but it was catastrophic branding.

To his credit, since uttering those words, Darnold has rebuilt himself — first with the 14-win Vikings in 2024 and now with the Seahawks. Over the past two seasons, he’s been productive, resilient and at times impressive. This is not the jittery kid with the Jets anymore.

Jared Verse (8) and Kobie Turner (91) sack Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold in the second half of the Seahawks’ 38-37 OT win over the Rams on Dec. 18, 2025. Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Except when he plays the Rams.

In Darnold’s past four meetings against Los Angeles — dating back to his time with the Vikings, including a wild-card playoff game and two regular-season matchups with the Rams — the numbers are brutal and unmistakable: seven interceptions, 16 sacks, countless hits and an offense that repeatedly short-circuited under pressure.

The Rams don’t just beat Darnold. They unravel him.

In Week 11, Darnold threw four interceptions, tying his career high set during that infamous 2019 “seeing ghosts” game. Seattle outgained the Rams 414 yards to 249 and still lost.

“They do a lot of really good things defensively,” Darnold said this week about the Rams. “[Rams defensive coordinator Chris] Shula does a good job of coaching those guys up on what to do and the players make it come to life. They use disguises and pressures. They’re a really good defense.”

Shula doesn’t blitz for chaos. He blitzes for clarity for his defense and confusion for the quarterback. Against Darnold, Shula has leaned on coverage disguises, late rotations and a disciplined pass rush that doesn’t overextend.

“I think pass rush is a huge thing when it comes to affecting the quarterback,” Shula said. “The DBs are going out and making plays. That’s really all it is.”

That’s never really “all it is,” though. It’s coordination, timing and a defensive line that understands its mission isn’t just to sack the quarterback — it’s to haunt him.

Just ask 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse.

“Sam’s an amazing quarterback. So it’s up to us on the edge or the D-line to get through there and get a good hit on him,” Verse said. “He knows that we’re coming. He knows that he’s going to feel us and that makes any quarterback cautious no matter who you are.”

Rams safety Kam Curl, whose interception in overtime of the divisional round against the Bears saved the season, was even more blunt with his assessment.

“Our secondary, we know what type of quarterback he is,” Curl said. “It’s always going to be in the back of his head.”

Sam Darnold throws a pass under pressure from Tyler Davis during the fourth quarter of the Seahawks’ OT win over the Rams on on Dec. 18, 2025 in Seattle. Getty Images

That’s the battle that won’t show up on the stat sheet or the broadcast come Sunday. Darnold knows what’s coming.

“It’s going to be my third time playing these guys. They’re a really good team. A really good defense,” Darnold said. “For me, it comes down to protecting the football. Being smart and getting the ball out of my hands. The teams that take care of the football are the teams that usually end up in the win column.”

All true. All logical. But none of that matters if the Rams get him off schedule early as they have in each of the past four meetings.

Of those four, the 2024 NFC wild-card game was the blueprint: nine sacks, 25 pressures, one interception and one scoop-and-score touchdown by Verse. No heavy blitzing was required. The Rams challenged Darnold to process faster than he was comfortable doing. He couldn’t.

Rams head coach Sean McVay understands this chess match better than anyone.

“It’s really just the familiarity,” McVay said. “Understanding what type of execution and competitive stamina it’s going to take.”

In Week 16, Darnold helped lead a late rally that saw the Seahawks prevail in overtime, 38-37. That matters. Even more importantly, the mental confidence Darnold gained from that victory matters.

But don’t rewrite the tape: He struggled for most of that game, and the comeback required a special teams showcase and the strangest 2-point conversion in NFL history. Those things don’t usually repeat in championship settings.

“Yes,” said a smiling Verse when asked if the Rams wanted to play the Seahawks again after what happened in Week 16. “And the Super Bowl is next if we win.”

That’s the blunt truth. And the path to get there runs straight through Darnold’s mind.

If he really did exorcise those ghosts back in December, and he plays clean, decisive, fearless football, then Seattle might be headed to Santa Clara, Calif. But if he hesitates, if he drifts, if he starts patting the ball while Verse and company collapse the pocket around him, then it’s déjà vu all over again.

Because ghost stories usually end the same way. And the Rams defense is very good at telling them.