The Seattle Seahawks showed signs of the hangover of that tough Week 11 loss, but put things right as they defeated the Tennessee Titans for their fifth road victory of the season. Unfortunately, Sam Darnold didn't appear to have recovered from that game.
Darnold did not have a good first series. On third and 5 from the Titans' 26-yard line, Darnold threw so far behind Kenneth Walker that he needed to catch an Uber to get back to the ball. It was arguably a worse pass than any of his four picks versus the Rams last week. Listen to everything, Sam, just not your feet.
When you look at the stats, you'd think that Darnold and Titans QB Cam Ward had quite the quarterback duel. Darnold was 16-26 for 244 yards and two touchdowns, while Ward was 28-42 for 256 yards and one score.
Seahawks' Sam Darnold had a terrible game when not targeting the spectacular JSN
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But Ward repeatedly cut loose over the middle, both with his arm and his feet. He also led the Titans in rushing with 37 yards. But for the 12s, the focus and the concern are on Sam Darnold.
Darnold was just 9 for 15 for 126 yards in the first half. That was bad enough, but factor in that 63 of those yards came on a perfect adjustment by All-World [wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba](https://12thmanrising.com/seahawks-jaxon-smith-njigba-continues-make-people-forget-dk-metcalf-week-12). The Seahawks' passing attack was truly sad. Darnold didn't throw any picks, but unless he was throwing to JSN, he was pretty ineffectual. He certainly [didn't earn any new fans](https://12thmanrising.com/sam-darnold-honeymoon-phase-with-seattle-seahawks-done-after-week-11-meltdown).
Darnold hit JSN in stride on the first play of the second half for a 56-yard strike, so things looked a bit better. Seattle added their second touchdown of the day with another strike to Smith-Njigba. To Darnold's credit, both passes were crisp and exactly where they needed to be. But that was about the end of his resurgence.
Overall, Sam did not have a good day. With 6:40 left in the third quarter, he was 8/10 for 167 yards and two touchdowns to JSN for a perfect 158.3 passer rating.. When targeting anyone else, the Seahawks QB was only 6/12 for 69 yards and zero scores. That's a passer rating of just 67.7. Through three quarters, Darnold's passer rating to anyone not from Ohio State was 72.92.
That is not acceptable. Don't forget that this was against the now 1-10 Titans. Their pass defense is decent, but no one will ever mistake their defenders for the Eagles or Rams, two teams that the Seahawks could very likely face in what we hope to be a playoff drive. Darnold needs to get better, and soon.