The invincible Seattle Seahawks, literal champions of the world, found the losing column. A fate which was unavoidable, probably, given the sport they play and the league they play in. What would’ve been nice to avoid is losing the same way they’re accustomed to winning.
On a wet afternoon more suited for a Pacific Northwest fall weekend, the team used to delivering sound beatings with a specific duplicatable formula got upended by another team using the same formula. Take care of the ball, pounce on errors, run when you need it, hunt explosives without being risky, and come up clutch in high-leverage moments. You can win so many games that way! Well. You don’t have to tell the Washington Commanders twice. They snagged three takeaways. They pounced on too many errors. They eschewed risk but got enough explosives to move the ball. They ran when they really needed it. And when the leverage was highest, their execution and planning were at their best. Or at least better than Seattle’s, which is all that counts.
About the only things Washington didn’t do right for this game were use legal offensive formations consistently, and draft Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2024. With each passing day, the legend of JSN, demigod, grows.
Back to the sad trombone. While the Seahawks lost a game they were heavily favored to win, they didn’t lose because of those dang late third-down mess-ups. Or just because of the (extremely) questionable flag on AJ Finley. Or because of Jadarian Price’s fumble, which is inexcusable and alarming. Even, and this may be hard for the Drew Lock-pologists to accept, Seattle didn’t lose just because of Sam’s turrbl throw that went for six the wrong way.
The Seahawks didn’t even lose because they let Kenneth Walker go in free agency but dang, it sure would be nice to have that dude toting the rock 20 times a game; no, the Seahawks lost chiefly because of three turnovers in general, and not one in isolation. Washington scored 21 points off the guests’ thoughtful housewarming gifts and that’s that, with the that as inescapable a that as you’ll ever find in football. Show some ball security, run it slightly better and instead of talking about a narrow defeat, people are wondering low long the defending Super Bowl champs might run the table. Be less careless, and you’re flying home with the kind of comfortable victory the 2025 team trained us to enjoy and expect.
In one way, the semi-surprise loss confirms our best thoughts about the Seahawks: they’re really hard for anyone to outscore unless X, Y and Z all happen in the same artificial 60-minute period. In another way, screw that, moral victory is just an elaborate way to spell the word “defeat.”
Still, it is fall, and as fall reminds us, everything dies. 16-2 on the road isn’t sustainable. Having a non-explosive run game and still winning has a very short shelf life. Losing the turnover battle by three and still prevailing won’t ever last. Like, don’t give them a red zone fumble, a pick six and a helmet-carom interception.
And, yet. Somehow, someway. And. Yet. Despite cooking with all the toxic ingredients necessary for an embarrassing setback, the Seahawks defense was one stop away from sending the ball back to their offensive teammates at the end, with plenty of time, down two, on a day Jason Myers had already connected from 57 yards out. They were gonna claim redemption.
They didn’t. Rachaad White scampered to the outside when the defense sold out for a run to the left or up the middle. Leonard Williams, he of the otherwise enormous game, discarded his blocker only to see White kick it east-west and outrace Drake Thomas to the yellow line. Three plays later, Marcus Mariota hopped in a time machine and came out an Oregon Duck again, faking the handoff and running the freakin’ quarterback option for the clinching first down.
To the Commanders’ credit , they took the Seahawks’ best punch — two late TDs, including six points in 66 seconds, and came out the other end winners.
To the Seahawks’ credit, sort of, they tied one hand behind their backs by running as ineffectively as you can, and it almost didn’t matter. The champs very nearly went unpunished after:
* Managing just 44 total rushing yards
* Going 17-33-0 after Price’s opening-play burst. Less than two yards per carry.
* Fumbling in their own red zone
* Converting only two first downs on the ground with running backs.
It’s okay to recognize they miss Walker, they would’ve won in Week 3 with him, and still shouldn’t have paid him what the Chiefs did. It’s okay despite K9’s production in KC. (Look it up at your own risk.) But the Seahawks missed him, undeniably, for the second time in three games.
**Predator**: DeMarcus Lawrence on Washington’s fourth drive
**Prey**: either side of the O-line, names don’t matter, irrelevant
**How**: Tank simply did not allow the Commanders to block him. Any age or motivation concerns around the 34-year-old should probably be shelved. Sandwiched around their disallowed touchdown, Lawrence provided a pressure that set up 3rd and forever, only to see Josh Jobe get flagged for DPI. His second one forced an incompletion.
Who are opponents supposed to double-team across that D-line? There’s a reason Big Cat has three sacks, Byron Murphy looks like a Pro Bowler at minimum, Derick Hall keeps running free in those monster wheels he calls thighs, and Uchenna Nwosu is having a career revival.
So, early on, with Darnold back after less than two full games missed, fans were likely looking for signs he’d be okay. After a handoff that would prove to be the zenith of Seattle’s rushing attack — 11 yards, all at once, in this economy? — the Hawks starter was forced into a scramble that tested his lateral movement. Check. A Price rushing fail got us to third down, where Sam zipped a third-down torpedo to Shaheed. Check. No conversion, but two checks. _Alles glute, meine Freunde._
When the Commanders followed suit by going three-and-out on their opening drive, the usual optimism about our road Seahawks surfaced. For exactly one play.
On a very benign-looking tackle from Amik Robertson, Price put the ball on the ground for the second time in three appearances. Given a short field, the hosts leaned on three successful run plays from Jacory Croskey-Merritt — nine on first down, easy conversion, and six more bunnies right after — to knock on the door. One knock was sufficient to open the scoring, as Mariota threaded the needle to White in the end zone, inches past the outstretched hand of a diving Drake Thomas.
Tellingly, Mike Macdonald called on Emanuel Wilson and George Holani for his offense’s next drive, which went nowhere. Arguments accepted, but Price is probably one more giveaway from losing his role as feature back altogether. And it’ll hard to blame anyone but the rookie.
Following the drive where Lawrence asserted his will and the Commanders shot themselves in the foot with two pre-snap penalties, a lightbulb went off on the Seattle sideline. It was the JSN lightbulb, which burns brighter than even the oncoming LED headlights of any new car. (Elect me. My entire platform is banning them.)
This newfound knowledge that football’s most dominant offensive player wears a Seattle uniform changed everything. JSN for 11 right out of the gate. Another explosive two plays later, good for 20, with Emanuel Wilson in for Price. With all eyes on you-know-who, AJ Barner took a screen upfield for 32 yards, Brady Russell rumbled for 20 toward the pylon and suddenly the Seahawks were a foot and a boot from tying the game. It took them four tries, aided by a very obvious end zone DPI, but they got there, via who else but the guy?
**Prey**: The backup safeties
**How**: I’m not certain that Julian Love steps in or moves EJ or Drake in time pre-snap to deny this pass. I think he does, though.
That is exactly the kind of completion Drake Maye and Jacoby Brissett were not getting away with in Weeks 1 and 2. Draw your own conclusions, so long as they match mine.
Back to the action. Yes, Washington scored as many points in two quarters as both previous Seahawks opponents had managed in eight. It didn’t look like they would when their fourth possession fizzled, but Seattle punted immediately back. Starting at their own 40 because Mike Dickson is allowed one shank a month, the Commanders rapidly reached Seahawks territory. On the edge of field goal range, Mariota dropped back, made his reads, and hit his receiver in the hands, and if his receiver (Uchenna Nwosu) had better hands, or wasn’t a defensive lineman, that’s a catch. It wasn’t. Given new life, the hosts pulled off a clever tunnel screen to Jaylin Lane for 21 yards then continued to pick on the secondary in the clip above.
Depth can do plenty and be ready at a moment’s notice but it can’t do everything every time.
It would be nice to say the Hawks answered with a 12-play, 79-yard, five-minute drive culminating in six points, but the actual 12-play, 78-yard, five-minute drive stalled at the one with incompletions to A.J. Barner and Elijah Arroyo in the end zone. Darnold was under heavy pressure on the last two plays; a running back who can get that final yard is the roster’s glaringest missing piece. Those two things are connected. Get well faster, Zach Charbonnet.
With nothing to show for their progress, the Seahawks needed a quick stop. Incomplete, short run and Derick Hall swallowing up Mariota on the one yard line: mission complete. Unfortunately, they had to settle for a Jason Myers 57-yard attempt. And since games swing on a single yard, an unthrown flag, a missed assignment, or a kick, it sure seemed like the resulting successful field goal in risky conditions at a risky time from a risky distance would matter in the end. It didn’t.
It especially didn’t matter because the Commanders still had a minute to work with and the capability to produce explosives far more easily than the overmatched Patriots and Cardinals. Myers obliged with a regrettable touchback, McLaurin found 18 on a corner route, the Washington offense managed eight more precious yards on two plays, and sent a 57-yarder of their own through the uprights as the half ended.
McLaurin is a top receiver and is going to eventually torch whichever corner you put in front of him. The larger problem was Darnold throwing another helmet-based interception, just so everyone would remember that one dumb Buccaneers game from last season. Or, maybe that’s not a problem? The Seahawks have won the Super Bowl in every season Darnold has thrown a costly pick off an opponent’s helmet! Tradition!
The actual larger problem lay elsewhere, however. We’d still just started the third quarter and the Commanders were driving for the ninth time already. I know Macdonald is a defensive genius, maybe THE defensive genius, but give an experienced NFL quarterback enough times to solve your contraption and he will, eventually. He’s getting paid too. Either that, or his failures will matter less because he got so many bites at the apple.
You tell me the Seahawks are gonna force seven punts in the first three quarters and I like their chances a lot. Problem, though, all the extra drives meant Washington entered the fourth quarter already sitting on 24 points, despite the seven punts.
And the extra drives come from not being able to run the ball. Here are the lengths of Seattle’s non-scoring drives on Sunday: 2:32, 0:06, 1:39, 0:58, 5:07, 0:21, 1:22, 0:49, 0:37. The Seahawks had seven worthless possessions last less than 100 seconds. Their opponent took away the running game and made them try and win through the air. It worked perfectly. Just not for the Hawks, boo.
Eric Saubert’s first touchdown in blue and green should not be overlooked, especially since it cut the lead in half, and he stole all the fumble luck from his teammates.
Shoot, makes me miss Earl Thomas, who would have not only forced the fumble but also used the Force to bounce it elsewhere, anywhere but the malfeasant hands of the oncoming offenSith Lord.
**How**: I don’t suspect this will become a pattern, but Quinn outcoached MM in the final 2:51. First, on the play clock. The broadcast showed Quinn huddling with a ref to find out if they’d have to snap the ball before the two-minute warning, given the half-second differential. Macdonald elected to not call time and force Quinn’s hand. Quinn called the bluff and won.
Next, Washington’s coaching staff coaxed or tricked Seattle’s into overcommitting to one side on third and nine, which the Commanders neatly converted to the other. As said, Leo was in there to disrupt, but White had a clear path once he sidestepped Big Cat.
Finally, Quinn saw Mariota’s potential to ice the game himself with his legs and caught Macdonald’s defense seemingly unaware of the possibility. Or the Seahawks were prepared and didn’t execute well enough to stop a quarterback option. Either way, this speaks to Quinn outfoxing his counterpart with the game in the balance.
Before those deflating moments, though, there was the comeback. I can’t quite express how the general population felt, because frankly so many of you are weirdos, but when the Seahawks tied the game at 24 as the quarter began, it seemed like the game was in hand, meaning the exact right time to officially found the Church of Jaxon and begin recruitment. Five reasons.
A) the TD pass was to JSN, who’d been flagged for two false starts and dropped a first-down catch minutes earlier, so he had a wee bit of atoning to do.
B) He’d also completed a 14-yard double pass to George Holani earlier in the drive.
And then the defense went out there for the 12th time and held them to three despite everything going wrong. I say everything, because Finley didn’t deserve this flag —
— and Washington converted a fourth down through the air, and you saw Devon Witherspoon miss an open field tackle. But everything going wrong isn’t a fair assessment either: Jones halted the bleeding by biting Mariota’s ankles off in the flat when another first down looked certain.
So down 27-24, the offense took the field again with another 26-yard chunk play to JSN right out of the gate. On 2nd and 15, already past midfield, disaster.
It’s the biggest play of the game, the biggest mistake, and the biggest reason the Seahawks are 2-1 instead of 3-0. Might as well just pack it in and… score in 66 seconds to make it a two-point game again? Without even reaching second down, let alone third? Kupp’s extravagantly wide open scoring grab made it 33-31, and if the last 2:51 go any differently, you’re reading a different story with a celebratory drink or snack in hand.
Look. I’m not extremely happy with Darnold for forcing a dump-off to a double-covered Barner and paying the price with six the other way. But he rebounded better than a toddler in a bouncy house.
Furthermore, it was a stroke of unluck, the clock differential at the two-minute warning. Macdonald could’ve handled it better and used the timeout anyway. But who I’m most disappointed in honestly are the league scriptwriters. They know — of all people, they know — that fourth-quarter chicanery is Cheathawks intellectual property. How dare they flip the narrative?
**1\. A win would’ve made this EJ play even more pivotal**. From the angle provided, Mariota has so much green you can hear his eyes start to bug out of his face, Total Recall style. Just one hell of an open-field effort late in the game from your guy who played every snap.
**2\. Marshawn Lynch made Beast Mode a household term.** Maybe you use it after weeding or delivering a Powerpoint presentation at work. JSN has done the former Seahawk one better and gone God Mode. After two false starts and another peculiar drop past the marker today, he did enough to turn the tide and set his team up for victory. Went 5-81-1 in the final period alone. I’m convinced he could play safety\* and break up some weak passes. Why not try, given the personnel shortage?
_\*this is a lie. I’m lying_
**3\. Would you look at that, it’s Tory Horton** hauling in a swanky 20-yard reception during that long nontouchdown drive. And returning the final kick in relief of Shaheed. Man it’s good to see Horton suit up and look effective right away. (He’s going to steal WR3 targets and there’s going to be grumbling about Shaheed’s contract and the decision to keep him over Walker.) Regardless, getting Horton back is an excellent problem to Brian Fleury gets to solve because that’s his job and not mine.
**4\. Why not let Drew Lock start one more game and ease Sam in?** is a question I heard more than once this week and pregame even. My own take is threefold. First, you could see right away that Sam was moving as well as ever. Second, that’s not how MM thinks and it’s not how pro athletes think, generally. We think, oh, caught the flu, hey I’m feeling a little better, but come on, why rush back when that extra day off is right there for the taking.
Pros think differently, like WHEN CAN I GET BACK ON THE FIELD WHEN WHEN WHEN WHEN NOW WHEN NOW, IS NOW GOOD YES IT’S GOOD PUT ME IN. Darnold’s first scramble to get his legs loose didn’t yield yards but it soothed us. The early dart to Shaheed didn’t move the sticks but it reassured all who’ve (wisely) invested their hard-earned feelings in the fortunes of the Seattle Seahawks.
Lock was spectacular against two real defenses. His line kept him safe and he leaned on a rushing attack that dominated. Darnold had no such luxury; Lock loses today’s game by two scores and I say that considering the pick-six. Darnold is two tiers of accuracy better than his backup and we have seasons of data to prove it.
(If the Hawks have to turn to Drew again in 2026, they’ll be fine. But he’s not the starter because he’s not better than Sam.)
Third, finally: Darnold is a high-ceiling QB who can stand toe to toe with all the league’s MVP candidates and even beat them in a shootout. He did that. He’s also going to be a bit of a bonehead and want throws back. One thing is sure: you know you can win it all with him at the helm. Flanked by this defense? Sure, that helps. But when they’re getting shredded, he can reach into the kitchen drawer and be grate as needed. Sorry.\*
_\*this is also a lie. I’m lying again._
**5\. The Finley flag was bullsh-t** but the Shaheed one was also a pretty clean hit. Either one could’ve gone either way. The Kupp DPI no-call was super unfortunate because it came on third down past the sticks, but was bang-bang until you looked at it on replay. Not a great game for the officials but they didn’t fumble on their own 20, throw the pick six or melt down on third down as time ran out.
You hate to take an unnecessary conference loss, against a backup quarterback, but the back of the defense probably cost you seven points, maybe more. Darnold’s presence opens up the whole offense again. The OL can really pass protect and that’s something. JSN has ascended. You’re even getting healthier in general… and you don’t have the 49ers until Week 5. As long as the Hawks don’t donate 21 points off turnovers to the Chargers, they’re probably back in the win column next week ahead of the young season’s most important game to date.
See More:
* [Seattle Seahawks Analysis and Opinion](/seattle-seahawks-game-analysis)