The Carolina Panthers have announced that quarterback Sam Darnold will start against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. This comes after Darnold accounted for fully one quarter of the Panthers wins this season despite only playing in one out of their 12 games.
Last week, Darnold put together one of the more complete quarterback performances of the season. He completed 11 of 19 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Denver Broncos. Those numbers are both impressively efficient against a stout Broncos defense and also telling of just how slow this season has been. If that’s what qualifies as “one of the more complete performances” then the bar was probably already on the floor.
Long time Panthers fans will recall that Darnold’s first outing in 2021 also inspired some optimism for his season. Three games later and those same optimists were generally calling for his head. With only five games left in the season anyway, a three game stretch of even average quarterback play could have an enormous impact on the Panthers season.