"He's a great leader," said running back Kenneth Walker III, who had 86 yards on 10 carries. "That one play doesn't define who he is. He played a great game. We wouldn't have been in that position if Sam didn't make that play to Tory. He could have gotten sacked, but he spun out of it and made a play. He made plays all day, so I feel like people shouldn't just harp on him making that interception."
On that touchdown to Horton, the Seahawks elected to go for it on fourth-and-2 rather than kick a go-ahead field goal, and Darnold rewarded the decision by evading pressure, rolling to his left, and finding a wide open Horton for the rookie's third touchdown reception, and fourth overall touchdown, this season.
"He's got some magic up his sleeves," Horton said. "He's always on top of his game, and just the way he maneuvers in the pocket, that's something that's very underrated. You've always got to stay alive, and that's stuff we rep in practice, and he and I made eye contact, and we knew we had a play."
"We know he's a great competitor, a great player. We know he makes a lot of great plays, and one play doesn't define his game. We know he's an outstanding quarterback. He goes out there and leaves his heart on the field. You can tell with his game, he's always on point, he's sharp. Shoot, he's a great quarterback."
While the ending of the game will be the focus, players on the Seahawks offense also lamented the way the game started. For most of the first half, the Seahawks were shut out, coming up empty on each of their first four possessions, not so much because Tampa Bay's defense was shutting them down, but because penalties, as well as a fumble when Jalen Milroe tried to pitch the ball to Walker, kept the Seahawks from finishing drives. Seattle's fifth drive of the game, and last of the half, ended with a touchdown, as did their next four, but it wasn't quite enough with the Buccaneers offense and quarterback Baker Mayfield also having a big game.
"That was an incredibly impressive performance by (Darnold)," said receiver Cooper Kupp, who had six catches for 59 yards. "There were so many guys that stepped up and made big plays. It's crushing for it to end there. Even in that situation, Sam is making the right decision, he's trying to dig the ball, and it hits off someone and stays up. It's unfortunate. Shoot, we had so many opportunities out there today. Caught a lot of breaks. It seemed like in the first half we couldn't catch a break, and in the second half we were catching all of the breaks until the end there. A lot to clean up. Shoot, we have to be better offensively. There's a lot left out there that we got to be better at. I'm looking forward to watching the tape."