Sam Darnold played one of his finest games as a pro in the Seattle Seahawks' 38-14 demolition of the Washington Commanders on Sunday night. Receivers Tory Horton and Cody White entered the game with three combined career touchdown receptions and left the game with three more. Seattle rolled up an impressive 8.7 yards per play.
Obviously, Seattle’s offense was clicking. Perhaps some of the enthusiasm is muted by the fact that this Commanders’ defense is in the midst of a nightmarish combination of injury and underperformance. They had lost three straight games and surrendered more than 400 yards in the last two.
The Commanders’ pass defense has been particularly bad. Even so, what Sam Darnold and company did on Sunday was very impressive. And it was especially encouraging for one oft-beleaguered Seahawk.
Seattle Seahawks right guard Anthony Bradford raises his game against the Commanders
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Washington is playing without its three top defensive ends. Its two All-Pro linebackers are seriously underperforming this season. And its secondary has been a train wreck for the past month.
But the one place they were still playing at a high level was on the interior of the defensive line. Daron Payne, Javon Kinlaw, and Eddie Goldman had been stopping the run and applying good pressure all year long.
That just happened to match up against the developing interior of the Seahawks' offensive line, where Jalen Sundell and Grey Zabel are first-year starters, and [right guard Anthony Bradford](https://12thmanrising.com/seattle-seahawks-perfect-anthony-bradford-replacement-just-fell-mike-macdonald-lap) seems to constantly be on the hot seat.
But Bradford stepped up quite well on Sunday night. He turned in his best performance of the year, especially as a pass blocker. That part of his game has come under scrutiny in recent weeks.
The third-year player from LSU was often matched up against Payne, Washington’s best lineman. And Bradford won almost every single battle. He fared equally well against Kinlaw and Goldman when they were his opposite numbers.
On Seattle’s second play, Bradford executed a perfect cut on Goldman, helping provide Sam Darnold with both time and space to throw. On subsequent plays, he easily held off both Payne and Johnny Newton in pass protection. That extended all the way through the Seahawks' first touchdown.
Indeed, his only miscue in that opening drive was a failure to pick up a stunting Von Miller. But Darnold had established such a beautiful rhythm that the ball was out of his hands before the Commanders’ edge was anywhere near the QB.
That was how things went all night. Darnold rarely had to hold onto the ball for very long, and his line, including Bradford, constantly kept him clean in the pocket.
On running plays, where Bradford is typically stronger, he had a decent game as well. He rarely pulled, but the few times he had to move, he did so pretty well. He did battle much of the night with Washington’s massive interior linemen and won many of the battles. At worst, he fought them to a standstill. He was never clearly beaten.
One of his best blocks wasn’t even a block. Leading Zach Charbonnet on a simple dive right, Bradford fired off the line, looking for linebacker Bobby Wagner. Whether the former Seahawks’ great saw Bradford coming his way and tried to sidestep him, or whether he simply misread the play. Wagner ran straight into the wrong hole. Charbonnet – and Bradford – were not touched on the play until both were more than five yards downfield.
Three plays later, he stonewalled Payne on Horton’s second touchdown reception.
Payne ended with three tackles and no sacks. For the game, the Commanders registered zero sacks and just two tackles-for-loss.
This bodes well for the future. The Hawks have upcoming games against the blitz-happy Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons. They have a couple of crucial games against a very good Los Angeles Rams D-line. They [will need Anthony Bradford](https://12thmanrising.com/seattle-seahawks-perfect-anthony-bradford-upgrade-nfl-trade-deadline) and the rest of the line to play their best.
The game against Washington may not have provided the sternest of tests, but Daron Payne is a quality player, and Anthony Bradford, whose starting job seems to be constantly on the line, passed it with room to spare.