Seahawks are live as an NFC playoff contender with Sam Darnold dealing again

The Seattle Seahawks moved to 3-1 on the season after their last-second win over the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. It's a victory that should open the eyes over every other team in the NFC competing for a playoff spot.

In the win, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold completed 18-of-26 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown. He managed to avoid mistakes and was locked in down the stretch, leading Seattle to a 23-20 victory.

The Seahawks got plenty of flack when they signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract. Ultimately, he'll need to prove he is worth that price over the full course of the season. But at least through four games, Seattle's gamble has paid off.

Sam Darnold four-game review 

Through his first four games in Seattle, Darnold is completing 70 percent of his passes for 905 yards and two touchdowns. He has had an extra game than every other quarterback, except Kyler Murray, but Darnold is still leading the NFL in passing yards.

The quarterback has really found his stride over his last two games. Seattle dropped his debut to the San Francisco 49ers, 17-13 with Darnold throwing for 150 scoreless yards. In Week 2, he threw both of his interceptions, although he also threw for a season-high 295 yards in a 31-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints allowed Darnold to fully recalibrate. He led the Seahawks to a 44-13 victory by throwing for 218 yards and two touchdowns. Coupled with his Week 4 performance, it's clear Darnold is starting to get more acclimated in the offense.

While his numbers may look strong now, Darnold doesn't need to be Superman for the Seahawks to win games. If he can limit the mistakes and move the changes when needed, the team's defense is strong enough to help carry them.

Still, if Darnold is throwing for numerous touchdown passes and 200+ yards every week, the Seahawks will become an even tougher team to beat. How he fares against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5 will be extremely telling of the quarterback's long-term legitimacy.

Seahawks lock in 

Beyond the passing yards, perhaps Darnold's most impressive trait from the Week 4 win was how he controlled the team in chaos. The Cardinals had battled back from down 20-6 to tie the game with 28 seconds remaining. However, Arizona then didn't send the ball far enough on the kickoff, resulting in a penalty and Seattle getting the ball at their own four-yard line.

Darnold found Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a crucial 22-yard pass as time winded down. After a four-yard run, Jason Meyers kicked home a 52-yard game-winning field goal. What's important to note there is that he missed a 53-yarder with 3:21 remaining that would've put his team up 10.

The Cardinals had all the momentum, going on back-to-back touchdown drives. Furthermore, the game was being played in Arizona, meaning the stadium was jumping. But Darnold was able to find his composure. Given great starting field position, he did what any strong quarterback would do. That's the type of big play Seattle is paying him for.

Through their first four weeks of play, the Seahawks haven't allowed more than 20 points in a game. That gives Darnold quite the cushion to work with. If they continue firing on all cylinders, and if Darnold can continue orchestrating the offense to perfection, Seattle is going to be a tough out every time they hit the field.

3 takeaways from Lightning’s preseason win over Hurricanes

No roster spots are won in the third game of the preseason, but a contender for one of the final forward positions certainly emerged in the Lightning’s 6-5 win over the Hurricanes Friday night at Benchmark International Arena.

Newcomer Wojciech Stachowiak had a three-point night, including two goals, to make a strong impression in just his second career NHL preseason game.

The Lightning signing Stachowiak to a one-year, two-way, entry-level contract in May was mostly overlooked. But bringing in the 26-year-old, who spent the past five seasons playing in Germany’s top pro league, could end up being another example of the franchise finding the right place for a player at the right time.

“You can see he’s played pro, but there’s another one, a sneaky-good signing,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “We’re early in the preseason, but he’s really taken steps to make himself noticed, and that’s what you want to do. And granted, he’s a little more experienced, a little older and stuff like that, but he’s going to help our organization, there’s no doubt.”

Here are three takeaways from the Lightning’s win over the Hurricanes.

Stachowiak adapting quickly

Numbers aside, what’s been most impressive about Stachowiak’s play the past two games is how seamlessly he’s adjusted to a much different game than the one he played in Europe. Rinks in North America are smaller, forcing players coming from abroad to make quicker decisions and to get used to different spacing.

Stachowiak set up the first of Zemgus Girgensons’ two first-period goals by taking the puck off the wall after Maxim Groshev made a nice play to pinch at the blue line, then finding Oliver Bjorkstrand in front of the net.

Then, on the power play, Stachowiak trailed on the rush along the right wing, took a pass from Ethan Gauthier and put back his own rebound to give the Lightning a 3-1 lead late in the second period. He again made it a two-goal game in the third by positioning himself in the slot and redirecting a J.J. Moser shot.

“I’ve been here a couple of weeks already,” Stachowiak said, “so I gotta adjust at some point.”

Bjorkstrand in the bumper spot

The Lightning clearly wanted to get their first-team power play some reps Friday, since all five players were in the lineup. But when Victor Hedman left the game after the first period and didn’t return, it put a wrench in those plans.

Hedman sat out the last two periods as a precauation, said Cooper, who didn’t appear concerned about the injury lingering. It meant the Lightning had to play 40-some minutes with five defensemen, and it was Moser (who logged 26:13 of ice time) who took over for Hedman as the defenseman on the top power play.

Through the first week of camp, the Lightning have experimented with Bjorkstrand in the bumper position, with Brayden Point swinging out to the left circle. Friday, Bjorkstrand scored a power-play goal from the bumper spot in the third period.

The key is spreading out the opposing penalty kill, and some quick passing close to the net between Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel on the right side opened enough space in the middle for Bjorkstrand to get off his quick right-handed shot. Guentzel fed Bjorkstrand from down low, and he beat goaltender Amir Miftakhov.

More offense from Girgensons

Girgensons’ numbers last season didn’t show it, but he was a major contributor in his first season with the Lightning. Only, his struggles to score drew more attention. Girgensons scored just two goals, and it took 45 games for him to net his first. It wasn’t that he didn’t have opportunities — he ranked seventh on the team in 5-on-5 scoring chances — but he was unlucky, consistently pinging the puck off the pipes.

He scored the Lightning’s first two goals Friday, showing what he is capable of offensively, charging the net and taking a feed from Bjorkstrand for his first goal. On his second, Girgensons stormed into the offensive zone, took a pass from Hedman and followed up his own blocked shot from the right circle, tapping in the rebound from the near post.

“It always feels nice to score a goal,” Girgensons said with a smile.

Girgensons does so many little things in the trenches and is a penalty-killing asset, but getting his offense going at 5-on-5 would do wonders for a bottom six that could use more scoring, especially with Nick Paul out for the first month.

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