Darnold and Kubiak Picked Apart the Rams Defense

The Seahawks got past the Rams to advance to the Super Bowl primarily because of the performance of Sam Darnold.

After throwing 6 interceptions in 2 games vs. L.A. this season, Darnold completed 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards, 3 touchdowns, and (most importantly) no turnovers in the NFC Championship Game.

It was probably the best performance of his career given the magnitude of the game.

Darnold put the ball wherever he wanted to, but most impressively, he was great in the face of pressure. Several times, there were bodies around him but he didn’t flinch. He either slid to find a soft spot in the pocket from which to throw…

…or delivered accurate passes knowing he was about to get hit:

He executed offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s game plan flawlessly. And that game plan created all sorts of issues and favorable matchups for Seahawks pass-catchers, as you’ll see on the examples below.

On Seattle’s first drive, they faced a 3rd-and-5. They shifted Cooper Kupp into the backfield and then motioned running back Cam Akers out to the left, effectively creating a 3x2 formation:

The Rams’ approach here was to push the coverage to the 3-receiver side (which was also the side where Jaxon Smith-Njigba was aligned) and to account for Kupp in the middle of the field near the first-down marker.