Super Bowl LX gives Sam Darnold a chance to exorcise those Meadowlands ghosts, once and for all

New England Patriots

It shouldn’t matter much that the Patriots have tormented Darnold whenever they’ve had the chance. He is 0-4 against them.

By Chad Finn

January 28, 2026 | 9:07 AM

4 minutes to read

Brace yourself, Patriots fans, as the hype percolates for Super Bowl LX. The two most repeated storylines over the next week-plus are going to be about the promise of redemption for the Seahawks, and particularly for their quarterback.

Any redemption for the Seattle franchise is really a quest for revenge. Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception in Super Bowl XLIX seized victory for the Patriots in the face of seemingly impending defeat.

Given the stakes, the game circumstances, and that it launched the second phase of the dynasty, it is the most impactful defensive play in the history of the NFL.

Perhaps there’s a photo of it hanging prominently in your home or favorite establishment? Perhaps you’re looking at it right now?

The Seahawks always will have to live with that ghost to some degree, even if 39-year-old Marshawn Lynch comes out of his happy retirement to score the go-ahead touchdown in Santa Clara, Calif. come Feb. 8. But some of the haunting would surely fade if the Seahawks muster a victory over the Patriots, evening the head-to-head championship score at one Lombardi Trophy apiece.

The other Seattle storyline, the other bid for redemption, well, you surely recall that this one comes with its own apparitions.

Six seasons ago, in his second year as the New York Jets’ latest, eventually doomed hope at finding a franchise quarterback, Sam Darnold threw four interceptions and lost a fumble in a 33-0 loss to the Patriots.

None of the turnovers qualified as Darnold’s biggest mistake of the night. During the second quarter, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” cameras caught him looking stupefied on the sideline. A microphone caught something worse: a candid comment about how flummoxed Bill Belichick’s defense had left him.

“I’m seeing ghosts,” he said.

The comment has followed Darnold throughout his career, as the No. 3 pick ricocheted from the impatient and inept Jets, to the Panthers for two seasons, then a year as a sideline observer with the Niners before landing with the Vikings in 2024 and submitting a sensational and stunning 4,319-yard, 35-yard touchdown season for a 14-3 team.

But it ended badly, with poor performances in the regular-season finale against the Lions and a 27-9 wild-card round loss to the Rams in which he was sacked nine times. The Vikings decided to commit to young J.J. McCarthy at quarterback, and so Darnold signed with the Seahawks in March.

In his first season in Seattle, Darnold proved his regular-season production in Minnesota had been no fluke, throwing for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns for another 14-3 team. Unlike last year, he was at his best in his team’s biggest game. In the Seahawks’ 31-27 victory over the rival Rams in the NFC Championship, Darnold outperformed MVP candidate (fine, front-runner) Matthew Stafford, completing 25 of 36 throws for 346 yards and three touchdowns.

Taking down the Rams — against whom Darnold had struggled in the first of the teams’ two regular-season matchups, throwing four interceptions in a 21-19 loss — count as a ghost exorcised for the 28-year-old quarterback.

When it was over, the showdown with the Patriots set, he was asked about those spirits that were unleashed on him seven years ago.

“I almost forgot about it, so thanks,” he said dryly. “No, you’re joking. You’re good. I think for me, there was a lot that I didn’t know back then. So you know, I’m just going to continue to learn and grow in this great game. You know there’s a lot of stuff I can get better from today, even.”

The Seahawks got a spectacular game from Darnold — who loves to fire the ball downfield as much as Patriots quarterback Drake Maye does, if not more — just when they needed one.

But certain questions will linger, until they are answered one way or the other: Can he come through against his old tormentor, on the biggest stage, as the favorite? Or will the magnitude of the moment lead to bad old habits returning in collaboration with those ghosts?

It shouldn’t matter much that the Patriots have tormented Darnold whenever they’ve had the chance. He is 0-4 against them, with one touchdown and nine interceptions. But three of those losses came with the Jets, and the other with the Panthers. He’s a far better player in an infinitely better place.

And yet … he can get careless, still. He turned the ball over 20 times this season, with 14 interceptions — the third-most in the NFL — and six lost fumbles (out of an NFL-worst 11). For a quarterback in his eighth season, its odd that he can fall into a younger quarterback’s bad habits under pressure, sometimes holding the ball too long, other times throwing it too soon. The Patriots defense will try to bait Darnold into mistakes. The outcome may be determined by how often he takes it.

For a long time, Darnold was a cautionary tale. About putting too much on a young quarterback too early. About how important it is to land in the right circumstances. About how a promising QB prospect should never, ever play for the Jets.

Now? He’s already been redeemed, at least in the sense that he’s proven that he is fully capable of thriving on a talented, competently-run team.

But Darnold’s greatest redemption will come if he can avoid mistakes when the team that tormented him the most tries to make him melt down, one more time.

Maybe the ghosts will be watching, hovering, haunting. Maybe they have been vanquished for good. Only Darnold will decide.

Chad Finn

Sports columnist

Chad Finn is a sports columnist for Boston.com. He has been voted Favorite Sports Writer in Boston in the annual Channel Media Market and Research Poll for the past four years. He also writes a weekly sports media column for the Globe and contributes to Globe Magazine.