THE HERD - Hour 1 - Thoughts on the Seahawks win over the Rams, Sam Darnold is underrated

Let’s get this party rolling. It’s a great Friday, Blazin’ Five coming up, and I’ve got a couple of eye‑openers on Sam Darnold. He just stacked a rare back‑to‑back twelve‑win seasons with different teams and is thirty wins in his last thirty‑nine starts. The Rams controlled three quarters, he threw a couple of ugly ones, but he kept swinging and flipped it late with poise and a short memory. He even hit three two‑point tries in crunch time and overtime, something we haven’t seen before on a winning side.

The Rams are terrific in a lot of areas, but their special teams and the back end have been leaky and it bit them again. When the pass rush doesn’t land, they’re vulnerable, and late in games Stafford can’t steal first downs with his legs the way Allen or Mahomes can. He was still dazzling for most of the night, but the fourth quarter three‑and‑outs opened the door.

You come in here against an elite defense, control the game for long stretches, and put up thirty‑plus, you feel good. We left points in the red zone and a couple drives on the field, but I was proud of the group.

That punt return changed everything. Rashid Shaheed wasn’t lighting it up early in Seattle, but that was the deadline swing you hope for. And it’s not shocking given the Rams came in with the fewest made field goals; special teams has been a theme.

You could see McVay trying to protect that weakness by leaning into fourth‑down aggression. It’s smart analytics when your offense is stacked, but it also screams, we don’t trust the kicking game.

Quick temperature check: after that collapse from up sixteen late, who do you trust more heading into the postseason, Rams or Seahawks? And why did Seattle keep leaving Puka singled up? That was a clinic, and I felt it in fantasy.

High end, I still lean Rams—coach, quarterback, line, pass catchers, and a slight nod up front on defense. But Seattle doesn’t have the special‑teams hole, and their secondary is loaded, which makes the Stafford‑to‑Puka fireworks even wilder.

About that bizarre two‑point mess—nothing made sense until the overhead showed it was backward. The whistle came early before Charbonnet grabbed it in the end zone. McVay wanted answers and clarity.

I’ve never been part of anything like that sequence. From kickoff ready to suddenly a fumble with a clear recovery and points on the board—we didn’t get a clean, timely explanation. Wild finish.

That’s why replay exists, and Charbonnet staying on it mattered. But let’s be fair—the Rams had four punts in the fourth and gave up a return touchdown on the road. You usually don’t survive that. The league will tune the rulebook this spring like it always does.

NFC West chessboard now: Seattle’s sitting in the one seed, but keep an eye on San Francisco. If they handle the Colts and Bears, it sets up a Week 18 shot at the top line against Seattle.

It’s insane what the Niners are doing given who they’ve lost, and it’s a testament to coaching. If they snag the one, the Rams could slide, yet they’d still be terrifying on a neutral field. That division is a gauntlet.

Quick hoops detour: Luka dropped a monster triple‑double while the Lakers’ defense took the night off in Utah. No Austin Reaves, and he still took over the fourth.

Utah’s defense is a turnstile, but Luka’s still the best offensive player alive. Slimmer Luka’s getting to the rim again, and the shot‑making is absurd—think Carmelo’s scoring bag with more control and playmaking.

Back to Stafford—he might be the last great pure pocket thrower. Everyone knows where he’ll be a second after the snap, and he still piles up jaw‑dropping arm angles and deep‑ball touch. He’s not creating on the ground, but the arm talent is as good as it gets.

College playoff board tonight, here’s my path. I’ve got Oregon cruising past James Madison, Oklahoma edging Alabama at home with defense and a steadier run game, Ole Miss taking out Tulane, and Miami springing one on Texas A&M. Then I’m calling Texas Tech to shock Oregon, Indiana over Oklahoma, Georgia past Ole Miss, and Ohio State over Miami. Semis: Indiana gets Texas Tech, Ohio State gets Georgia. Title game is a Big Ten rematch, and I’ll lean Buckeyes to adjust the second time around. The trickiest call is Oklahoma‑Alabama, a rock fight that comes down to a kick.

There’s a clear top tier, then Oregon, and after that it’s chaos. I took Miami and grabbed points with JMU, but winning at Oregon is a moonshot. I’m watching Texas Tech, and I’m not certain Indiana hasn’t already hit its peak.

Big picture, NIL has shifted power. The Big Ten schools have deeper donor pools and corporate money, and Saban’s been warning about that. If Michigan poaches a big name like Kalen DeBoer, Alabama will still land on its feet—great AD, portal timing, and patience help. And one more thing: front offices matter. Seattle’s swing for Shaheed flipped a game, Jacobi Myers has reshaped another team’s season, and the sharp GMs separate themselves at the margins.