Familiarity reigns supreme in Brian Flores vs. Sam Darnold matchup

How much has Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold improved since his breakout season with the Vikings last year?

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores plans to find out during Sunday’s game at Lumen Field in Seattle.

“There’s some things that we could say may have bothered him a year ago, but maybe they don’t this year,” Flores said Tuesday. “Based on having seen it several times, getting more reps at it, getting more familiarity with a front or a coverage. So, a year later it’s hard to know. But you try it out and see if that still bothers him. ... If it doesn’t bother him, you move on to something else. If it does, you keep running it.”

Flores said he built a friendship with Darnold during the 2024 season, when the 2018 first-round draft pick threw for a career-high 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns with 12 interceptions while leading the ninth-ranked scoring offense on a 14-3 team.

Since the Vikings opted against franchise tagging Darnold or signing him to a multiyear extension this past offseason, he has continued thriving with the 8-3 Seahawks.

Darnold, who signed a three-year deal worth $100.5 million with Seattle, remains one of the NFL’s most prolific deep-ball throwers with a league-leading 910 yards on passes thrown at least 20 yards downfield, per Pro Football Focus. He’s fueling the league’s leading receiver, Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who has 1,313 receiving yards in 11 games.

Darnold, 28, also recently suffered the type of catastrophic game — throwing four picks in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 16 — he had at times in Minnesota.

“Sam’s one of my favorites,” Flores said. “He’d grown tremendously when he was here, for sure, just from a leadership standpoint. ... He did a lot of great things when he was here, and clearly those things are continuing to show up for him out there in Seattle.”

“We had a great rapport, friendship,” Flores added. “I’m happy for him, but we’ll blitz him this week.”

Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels said he needs to “keep things very simple” for his kick, punt and coverage teams that — for three straight weeks — have seen young players make critical, game-altering mistakes.

A key turnover in Sunday’s loss at Green Bay came when a punt hit returner Myles Price as the rookie tried to block a Packers player and let the ball roll into the end zone. Instead, the ball rolled into Price.

“Bad bounce of the ball,“ Daniels said, ”but Myles has to really protect himself along with protecting his teammates and just get out of the way.”

Those mistakes undercut an otherwise strong special teams year behind kicker Will Reichard, who made a 59-yard field goal at Lambeau Field, and punter Ryan Wright‘s 44.9-yard net average that ranks fifth in the NFL.

“We’re doing so many good things, and you have this colossal, critical error,” Daniels said. “If we do what we’re coached to do, we’re not feeling the need to have to press and keep things very simple. And that’s where I feel I have to do a better job as a coach is really keep things very simple for these guys.”

Daniels said he needs to “treat these rookies like rookies” as the mounting mistakes have tested his optimistic resolve.

“Stay positive for the most part,” Daniels said. “But obviously, the Chicago loss — I never felt that way before after a game, and I lost a Super Bowl before. So you take a hard look at yourself, figure out how you can be better. With that, just keep pouring into these guys with unbelievable positivity.”

Running back Aaron Jones is 13 yards shy of becoming the 122nd player in NFL history to reach 10,000 yards from scrimmage. Jones, a team captain in Green Bay and Minnesota, brings a “culture aspect that’s hard to put a value on,” said offensive coordinator Wes Phillips.