When there’s a winner there’s a loser. Sometimes a player can do everything in their power to win a game and still lose, just as often a player’s performance can cost their team the game. These players are favorably called bobbleheads.
Seattle Seahawks: quarterback Sam Darnold
At the end of the 2024 season, a major talking point was how much money Sam Darnold had played himself out of. He had been an incredible quarterback all year long; throughout the regular season, he had 35 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions and threw for over 4,300 yards.
However, in the two most important games of the Vikings’ season, he saw ghosts, and his poor play cost his team both of those games. Sportscaster Joe Buck was already saying “(Darnold) at least cost himself some money,” before the Vikings’ Wild Card loss was officially in the books.
Darnold has had a similar story this year. Going into a week 11 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, he had been a very efficient quarterback, and this was an important game for both teams, as the winner gets control of the NFC West. The ghosts promptly returned for Darnold, as he would throw four interceptions and no touchdowns in a two-point loss.
Seahawks fans can’t help but wonder what those division standings might look like had Sam Darnold only had a competent game.
Las Vegas Raiders: the offensive line
Oftentimes, playing under the bright lights of prime time can inspire a struggling team to perform better than they’ve presented themselves to be up to this point in the season. If that was going to happen for the Raiders, it would have been against this historically bad Cowboys defense.
Instead on Monday, Nov. 17, they made the Dallas Cowboys defense look very competent. The Raiders’ offensive line allowed four sacks of quarterback Geno Smith and pressure just about every time he dropped back to pass.
They were even worse for the run game, as the Raiders only had 27 rushing yards, a majority of which came from Geno Smith, and highly touted first-round pick Ashton Jeanty was held to a measly seven rushing yards on six carries. It was most egregiously the offensive line’s fault when Jeanty was tackled in the end zone for a safety. There were already three Cowboy defenders in the backfield by the time Jeanty got the ball.
Los Angeles Clippers: guard James Harden
It’s unfortunate for James Harden that an NBA game is four quarters long, as on Monday, Nov. 17 Harden’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers was a tale of two halves. To his credit, he did not have a horrible game as far as counting stats go, with 28 points to go with six boards and five assists. Box score watchers might even say he had a good game.
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However, those who watched the game know that isn’t really the case. You see, Harden started the game off hot. In the first half, he had 18 points on excellent efficiency, and a 55.6% field goal percentage.
He would have a major drop off in the second half though, going two for his final 16 shots — a stretch that included eight straight missed three-pointers, a stat that likely gives fans of the Houston Rockets nightmarish flashbacks to his playoff collapse in game seven of the Western Conference Finals, where he missed 10 of the Rockets record 27 missed threes.
In spite of his poor second-half play, Harden had the ball in the final seconds of the game, with a chance to rewrite his story, and he could’ve gone from scapegoat to hero; instead, he missed not one, but two potential game-winning three-pointers as the clock hit zero.
Marley Herndon is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @Dailylobo
