"RENTON, Wash. -- Sam Darnold got sacked, then got up gingerly. His head coach got nervous. It was late in the first quarter of Seattle's divisional round matchup against the San Francisco 49ers last Saturday at Lumen Field, and it might have been the only tense moment the Seahawks experienced in a 41-6 win that got them into Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams ( 8:30 p.m. ET, Fox). Darnold was playing through an oblique injury he had suffered two days earlier. The Seahawks and their Pro Bowl quarterback were confident that he'd play despite his questionable designation. But no one could be sure how he'd fare while dealing with the first oblique injury of his career -- or what would happen if he took a bad hit."
"Almost 11 minutes into the game, Darnold rolled to his right on a bootleg, then broke into a sprint as a 49ers defender gave chase. When safety Malik Mustapha dropped him from behind, he hit the ground hard, and he appeared to be feeling it as he jogged back to the huddle. On the next play, Darnold delivered a strike to Cooper Kupp for a 21-yard gain, putting enough zip on the ball to drive it almost 37 yards in the air, and enough touch to layer it over an underneath zone defender. "That was awesome," coach Mike Macdonald said of the throw. "At that point, I think I exhaled a little bit.""
"Darnold would go on to play a mistake-free game, completing 12 of 17 attempts for 124 yards and a touchdown before he was pulled with over nine minutes left in the game. The first playoff victory of his career came two weeks after a 13-3 win over the 49ers in Week 18, which gave the Seahawks a first-round bye as NFC West champions and the conference's No. 1 seed."
Sam Darnold suffered an oblique injury two days before the divisional round but remained in the game despite a questionable designation. He took a hard hit early, prompting concern from the coaching staff, yet he responded with accurate passing and situational toughness. Darnold completed 12 of 17 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown and connected on a 21-yard strike to Cooper Kupp after the hit. The victory marked the first playoff win of his career and followed a Week 18 road win that secured the Seahawks a first-round bye and the NFC's No. 1 seed. The Seahawks advance to face the Rams in the NFC Championship.
Read at ESPN.com
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