2. If it comes down to it late in the game, which clutch quarterback comes through?
A big reason why the Seahawks were able to come back and win last week’s game in overtime was the play of quarterback Sam Darnold down the stretch. After two interceptions earlier in the game, Darnold played his best football in the fourth quarter and overtime, culminating in the game-winning drive on which he made some of his best throws of the game, if not the season. And that was hardly the first time that Darnold has risen to the occasion in big moments. He also led a drive to get the Seahawks in position for the winning field goal against the Colts a week earlier, and earlier this season he led winning drives in overtime against the Cardinals and in the fourth quarter of a win. Darnold also nearly opened his Seahawks career with a game-winning drive against the 49ers, but fumbled when his own lineman was driven into his arm on a pass attempt in the red zone, and in a Week 11 loss to the Rams, he drove the Seahawks from their own 1-yard line into fringe field goal range in the final minutes, though the game-winning 61-yard attempt missed.
“He stays even,” receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said of his quarterback. “He’s even keeled and it’s just a no quit mentality. Keep punching no matter what’s thrown at you and that approach has, like I said, gone to the whole team, so it’s been great.”
The Panthers, meanwhile, are contending for a division title in no small part due to the late-game heroics of their quarterback, Bryce Young. The former No. 1 overall pick is tied for the league lead with six game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime, and is a big reason why the Panthers are 7-1 in their last eight games decided by a one-score margin.
The Seahawks defense has been good at closing out games over the past month, and know that if it comes down to it, they’ll have to be on top of their game if the ball is in Young’s hand with the game on the line.
“What we call the fourth quarter and the situation that you’re talking about is the Death Zone,” said defensive end Leonard Williams. “That’s something that we refer to it as on this team and that’s a place where we like to thrive as a team. We know that (Young) is a good quarterback in the fourth quarter and we’re going to consider the fourth quarter the Death Zone. So, as a defense, we’re going to want to step to the occasion, step to the plate, and we’re going to want to thrive in that situation.”
