Seahawks 24, Panthers 30
Q. Sam, what went into -- you know, you guys were on the four yard line; you throw it four times. At any point did you consider running the ball down there?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah. I mean, the one play we had a run called and they brought zero. Diggs was on the edge. He was kind of in and he was going to make the tackle if I didn't throw it, so that was just a simple RPO.
We had talked about it on the sideline, too, if they did bring it that we were going to throw it. That was just my decision to throw it.
Yeah, I thought they did a good job stopping us. I think on one of them, I think the third down, I could have maybe ran it in instead of it trying to force it there to Tommy.
Yeah, I mean, you like to score there, but obviously it put their offense in a tough position being backed up. Yeah, love to be able to score there.
Q. Steve bet on the defense there, if you guys don't come up with it. To see them come up with that big stop afterwards, how much did that help you build momentum?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, it was huge for our defense to go and stop them there, and then we get a short field. You know, that's how the game is supposed to be played, right, you feed off each other's energy and it's all three phases connected.
So I thought we did a really good job of that today.
Q. I don't know if you had the longest rush, but you had a pretty long -- good run. Talk about that.
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, you know, honestly thought it was longer. Felt longer. But I was going sideways for a good amount. When I got past 27, I was like, yeah, I don't know if I'm going to be able to beat this guy to the edge; just ran out of bounds at that point.
But, yeah, I recognized that they were kind of -- they were playing their like Jade -- excuse me, their like two-high defense, but they were matching guys and they were running across the field with Shi on the shallow, so just decided to keep it.
Q. (Regarding Steve Wilks and emotions.) What are you feeling after a win like this?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, it's a big one to come out here on the road, obviously our first road win, but, you know, we talked about it. I mean, it's not surprising to any of us in the locker room. Might be surprising to people outside the locker room or outside, people that are in our organization, but it's not surprising to us.
The way we prepare, the way that we're confident in ourselves and the way that, like I said, that we prepare and the way we play, you know, we've been playing really well the last few weeks. Just some games just haven't been able to put it together. The last two weeks we have been able to do that.
You know, it's been fun to be able to help these guys in the process of doing that. But, you know, any time we're able to run the ball the way we have been and the defense playing the way they are, and obviously, like I said, our special teams doing their deal, so makes it fun to play quarterback.
Q. Sam, can you talk a little bit more about the running game and how it helped you throughout?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, like I said, any time you can run the ball for 200-plus yards in an NFL football game it makes your job as quarterback a lot easier.
Yeah, I mean, I think most of our pass yards came in the first half. The second half we were just able to run the football.
That's kind of our identity right now. If we're able to -- if we have to throw the football we can, but the way that we're running the football, it's special to see.
Q. Shaq said when you guys got back from the bye week you went to practice and you knew what type of team you wanted to be. You're shaking your head, acknowledging that.
SAM DARNOLD: Yep.
Q. What type of team is that?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, I mean, we're a physical defense that flies around, makes plays, creates turnovers. We're an offense that controls the clock and can run the football and use that run game to, you know, create big plays in the passing game with play-action.
Like I said, if we're able to drop back, we can do that. But, yeah, I think we're finding our identity as a team, and it's fun to be a part of.
Q. Just follow up on that. How has Steve created this identity over the last eight weeks?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, I think with him being able to be honest with us and tell us exactly how we're going to play the game and what we want to do and not shy away from that. He said early on, even when we were losing some games, it was, hey, trust the process and trust the game plan.
If we go into a game knowing we want to run the football and early we get down a score or two, we just got to trust it and know that that game plan is going to come to fruition.
So I think Coach Wilks has been doing a really good job messaging that to the team.
Q. You said something changed over the last two wins. Is that what changed, having a clear picture of what the identity of this team, or what would you say?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, you know, I think for us0 it's just continuing to play good football. I don't know if I can put it in any better words than that. I think just all around, all three phases helping each other. Like I said, special teams, Johnny doing this thing on punt, Shi doing his thing as returner putting us in a good position, and when Blackshear gets a chance to return kickoffs, he's putting us in good field position.
And then when we're able to have long drives and milk the clock a little bit and when you get us in four-minute we're a tough team to stop. Our offensive line and our runningbacks, tight ends, receivers all blocking, yeah, it's fun to be a part of, like I said.
Q. So I guess the beard is going to stay another week.
SAM DARNOLD: I guess, yeah. I don't know why it wouldn't, so got to keep it going.
Q. Missing all this time and to win back to back off your first two starts, what does this mean -- personally what has this two-game run meant for you?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, like I said, it's just fun to be a part of. We got a great team, great guys in the locker room.
You know, we just got to keep it going though. We can't -- just because we won two in a row and came out here and had a good road win, we got put our heads down tomorrow and get back to work and prepare.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports