Seahawks' Sam Darnold problem is far more concerning than Rams' with Matthew Stafford

The Seattle Seahawks officially have a Sam Darnold problem. And for all Los Angeles Rams fans' concern over Matthew Stafford's own up-and-down start, their division rival's quarterback dilemma is far more concerning. 

Late in a 14-14 tie on Thursday night against the Denver Broncos, Darnold threw picks on consecutive possessions. One dashed Seattle's hopes for a potential game-winning score in regulation. 

The other, on the first drive of overtime, proved fatal. The Broncos took over in Seahawks territory and won it on a field goal. In four full games, Darnold has now thrown seven interceptions to seven TDs; throwing out Week 1 versus New England, when Darnold left injured after two pass attempts, the Seahawks are 1-3 in his starts. 

His struggles represent a more fundamental crisis than Stafford's early inconsistency for the Rams.

Sam Darnold is costing Seattle games (and it's not so surprising)

Let's be clear: Stafford has thrown some god-awful balls this season, including his NFL-record 33rd pick-six against those same Broncos. 

Here's the difference: Stafford's six-pick start through four games felt like an anomaly after he threw eight all last season. He rebounded with a three-touchdown, no-turnover outing in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills. 

Even as Stafford struggled through his first four games, he remained the fourth-quarter assassin fans know and love, overcoming his own mistakes to give his team a shot. 

Darnold's tendency to put the ball in harm's way is a known issue; this is the same quarterback who led the league in giveaways last season, who even since his renaissance with the Vikings has been accused of "seeing ghosts" on the field. What else could explain some of his baffling throws? 

Both interceptions against Denver were, to put it lightly, horrific. Both times, you could already see the interception happening as the ball made its doomed flight into a pair of opposing hands. 

Rams fans know that Stafford makes the occasional W-T-F decision. The crucial difference is that Stafford is still the guy you want leading your offense down the field, down by seven, with 90 seconds on the clock and no timeouts. 

Stafford elevates the Rams in go-time, even when he's going bad

That's exactly what he did last week against the Bills. Despite a poor overall performance, he did it against the Eagles in Week 4, leading a pair of touchdown drives in the final half-quarter. He did it in Denver, not once, but nearly twice. 

When it counts most, Stafford is surgical. 

When it counted most, Darnold sunk the Seahawks' ship in Denver. 

The kicker is that, while Sean McVay continues to prefer the pass, the Rams have a strong run game led by Kyren Williams, who's having a career year. Seattle is still struggling to overcome Kenneth Walker III's departure in free agency. 

The Seahawks probably don't want to throw it as much as they have. The problem is that a rushing offense averaging under four yards per carry, that has fumbled six times and lost five, doesn't offer much balance. 

Seattle can't feel great about continuing to put their hopes on Darnold's arm late. No matter what kind of game Stafford is having, once the clock strikes midnight there's not a quarterback you'd have on a gotta-have-it drive.

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