With the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the line, the San Francisco 49ers will take on the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night. The Niners need Seattle's quarterback, Sam Darnold, to be his vintage self when it comes to his usual performance in big games in his career.
While Darnold has proven he can be a solid NFL quarterback with the right pieces around him and in the right system, thus far in his career, he has struggled when the pressure is on and the lights are brightest.
Most notably, last season with the Minnesota Vikings, Darnold had two of his worst performances when it mattered the most. With the NFC North on the line in Week 18 last season, Darnold completed just 18 of 41 passes against the Detroit Lions as the Vikings were routed.
Then, in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, he completed 25 of 40 pass attempts for 245 yards and threw one touchdown and one interception as the Los Angeles Rams handily beat the Vikings.
It was those two rough games that may have prompted Minnesota to move on from Darnold, which ended up being a blessing for the Hawks, who brought Darnold in to be the starter and have had a great season.
Still, even though Seattle is 13-3 on the season, it hasn't gotten great performances from the former first-round pick in big games this season. In two games against the Rams, Darnold has thrown six interceptions although Seattle was able to win the second matchup against LA.
On the season, Darnold has thrown for 3,850 passing yards and has 25 touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions. Those are not exceptional numbers, but Seattle's run game has come on as of late and the defense has helped prop him up.
It will be interesting to see the former USC product go against the Niners again, considering his one year as Brock Purdy's backup helped him recuperate his career. Learning from Purdy and understanding head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense clearly helped him grow as a quarterback.
The Niners have struggled on defense, thanks to key injuries, but they still have players who can get the best of Darnold. They are likely going to need to force a turnover or two in the contest in what could end up being another high-scoring affair for San Francisco.
Darnold's poor reputation in big games has been well earned, and the Niners are hoping that narrative will not change on Saturday night.