The have designed an offense your grandpa would be proud of and it's catalyzed a new-look . During this Will Smith Jersey mini hot streak -- Carolina has won four of six to scratch and claw its way into NFC South contention -- Steve Wilks' team has outgained its opponents 1,017-621 on the ground, and Darnold hasn't thrown more than 25 pa ses in his four starts dating back to Thanksgiving weekend.Collectively, Darnold is 54 for 88 (61.4%) for 759 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.While his completion rate is nothing special, Darnold's been efficient accumulating yardage on his drop backs (8.62 yards per attempt) and, vitally, he's taken awesome care of the football. He's legitimately showing growth as a quarterback more than 50 starts into his NFL career. Development this deep into a pro career is rare for any pa ser.And this stretch of efficient play from Darnold began with the first play of his starting audition against the stingy defense in Week 12. After showing a two-deep safety look prior to the snap, when the ball was in Darnold's hands, Denver creatively rolled into single high and allowed All-Pro to roam the intermediate level. And he covered this deep over run by by the book.Notice how Darnold pulled the pin to throw the ball to Moore acro s the field, but decided to Eddie Mathews Jersey reload when he saw Simmons sinking to the deep over. A split-second later, when Simmons bit on the underneath route, Darnold went back to Moore, who was now wide open: by on That play altogether, particularly the smart decision-making -- was a clear sign of Darnold's maturing as a pa ser. Remember, turnovers were a huge -- but mostly overlooked -- problem during his time as a prospect and early in his NFL career. Later in that win over the Broncos, Darnold demonstrated more poise than I've seen from him in a long time before flashing the arm talent he's always po se sed.After executing a play-action fake in the red zone, Darnold snapped his head around and saw a backside defender converging. Younger Darnold would've been a deer in headlights in this scenario, likely making a hurried, off-balance throw to avoid taking a hit that would not have had the requisite accuracy for the pa s to be completed. But the opposite occurred: by on The Darnold here is unrecognizable. He quickly proce sed the defender in front of Sean Newcomb Jersey him and calmly set his feet, which allowed him to drop a dime to Moore in the back corner of the end zone. Exquisite quarterbacking. That's one of the best 5-yard pa sing touchdowns you'll see all season. I'm serious.Let's now go to last week's convincing win over the streaking . Darnold had 11 pa sing first downs in the victory, and from an advanced quarterbacking perspective, none were prettier than this one in the second quarter.Just before the snap, Darnold identified clear single-high safety alignment from the Lions defense. As he began his drop, his head was Bobby Cox Jersey positioned down the right hash in the direction of a vertical stem run by tight end . That second or two froze the safety in the middle of the field. Darnold then quickly moved his attention left to a . go route down the left sideline. Marshall won off the line and Darnold gave the big, physical wideout a chance to make a play on the football. He did with a 36-yard gain. Gorgeous. by on Certainly, the Lions defense features one of the more susceptible secondaries in football. But it was a unit that had been playing more effective football of late, having severely frustrated both and the offense in December.No, Darnold has not set the NFL on fire during this stint as Carolina's starter. But in a low-volume role he's done his job outstandingly. Since Week 12, Darnold has a big-time throw rate of 6.5%, which is 12th in the NFL among qualified quarterbacks. More importantly than that, Darnold's turnover-worthy play rate is just 0.9% over the last four games. Josh Donaldson Jersey With challenging his inner 2009 , the defense peaking at the right time -- allowed since Week 12 discounting garbage time -- Darnold has found himself in a game-manager position, and he's comfortably carrying out the duties of that role while demonstrating maturation in the nuances of playing quarterback at a high level.Ahead of their colo sal Week 17 showdown with and the , Darnold and the Panthers are trending upward.