Morning Coffee: Will Darnold’s ghosts haunt Seahawks in showdown with Rams?

Hindsight is 20/20.

In this business, losing your focus for even a moment can trip you up and cost you an edge.

That might help explain my FanDuel Best Bet for Monday.

I ended up running with De’Von Achane 80+ rushing yards instead of the Pittsburgh Steelers -3.

It was a must-win spot for the Steelers at home with a chance to extend their Monday Night Football win streak to 23 in a row.

Instead of enjoying Pittsburgh’s win, I was left cheering on Achane in the fourth quarter.

It didn’t work out for me.

Aaron Rodgers completed 85 per cent of his passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns, and no turnovers as Pittsburgh beat the Miami Dolphins 28-15.

The Steelers won their 23^rd consecutive Monday Night Football game – 11 games longer than the second-closest MNF win streak all-time.

With the win, Pittsburgh climbed one game up on the rival Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC North with three games remaining.

The Steelers will visit the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns in back-to-back weeks before returning home for a rematch with Baltimore in their regular season finale.

The Ravens will host the New England Patriots this Saturday night and then take back-to-back trips to face the Green Bay Packers and then Pittsburgh on the road.

With a win last night, the Steelers odds to win the AFC North shifted from -110 to -145 as the favourite.

Baltimore is a close second choice at +110 to win it.

FanDuel made the Ravens a 2.5-point home favourite against the visiting Patriots in Week 16.

Pittsburgh is a 6.5-point underdog at Detroit.

While there’s still a lot left to be decided in terms of seeding, the NFL playoff picture is beginning to take shape heading into the final three weeks of the season.

First up, Week 16 kicks off with a first-place showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football.

Which team deserves the edge in that NFC West showdown?

Let’s take a closer look at that match-up and lock in an early FanDuel Best Bet for Week 16 in this Morning Coffee for Tuesday December 16^th, 2025.

Will Darnold’s Ghosts Haunt Seahawks in Showdown with Rams?

Exactly one year ago, Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings were coming off a 30-12 win over the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football to improve to 12-2.

Detroit had an identical record after a 48-42 shootout loss to MVP Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in Week 15.

The Vikings and Lions both controlled their paths to first place in the best division in football.

Minnesota would beat the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers in Week 16 and 17 to improve to 14-2.

Detroit would beat the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers in Week 16 and 17 to improve to 14-2.

The stage was set for a Week 18 clash between the Lions and Vikings with first place in the NFC North on the line.

In that winner-take-all showdown, Darnold went 18-of-41 for 166 yards and was sacked twice as Detroit cruised to a 31-9 victory.

The following week, Darnold was sacked nine times in a 27-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Wild Card.

A lot has changed since then.

Still, I can’t help but notice the parallels from last year.

Darnold plays for a different team in a different division, but he might be feeling like the ghosts of 2024 have followed him to the Seattle Seahawks.

Last season it was Darnold’s Vikings competing with the Lions and Packers for the best record in the NFC.

This season it’s Darnold’s Seahawks competing with the Rams and the San Francisco 49ers for the No. 1 seed.

Apparently, they call him “Seattle Sam” now.

While Minnesota and Detroit are on pace to miss the playoffs, Seattle is tied with Los Angeles for the NFC’s best record at 11-3.

San Francisco is right behind them at 10-4.

How can it be that for the second year in a row, Darnold finds himself in the thick of a title race in the best division in football entering Week 16?

The Rams are the Super Bowl favourite at +350.

LA is also the NFC West favourite at -170 at FanDuel.

The Seahawks are the second choice to win the Super Bowl at +350 as well as the second choice to win the NFC West title at +220.

Despite their success, the Niners are still considered a long shot at +2200 to win the Super Bowl and +700 to win the NFC West entering the final stretch.

This time around, Darnold won’t have to wait until Week 18 for the highly anticipated first place showdown.

Seattle will host LA on Thursday Night Football this week.

FanDuel made the Rams a 1.5-point road favourite.

I’m going to lock in Los Angeles to win outright at -110.

The Rams and Seahawks are tied for the NFC’s best record at 11-3.

They’re also tied for the NFL’s best ATS record at 10-4.

Los Angeles has already won and covered as a 3.5-point underdog against Seattle back in Week 11 to improve to 10-3 ATS in their last 13 head-to-head meetings.

Darnold threw a career-high four picks in that loss.

The Rams are also 10-3 ATS as a favourite this season.

LA is also 14-6-1 ATS on short rest under Sean McVay.

The Seahawks are 1-6 ATS as a home underdog under Mike Macdonald.

The Rams could be without Davante Adams, Nickel Lake, Jaylen McCollough, and Braden Fiske on a short week.

Seattle could also be without a key piece in tackle Charles Cross, while defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is also dealing with a quadricep injury.

Ultimately, this play is taking Stafford and McVay over Darnold and MacDonald in a big game on a short week.

For Darnold, this season has been a new chapter with a new team.

The narrative has been that the Vikings made a mistake by letting him walk.

Is another narrative change on the horizon?

I’ll fade Darnold and go Rams -110 on the moneyline as a FanDuel Best Bet for Week 16 in the NFL.

Have a great day, everyone!