DENVER — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold didn’t wait for a question when he met the media after Thursday night’s loss. It’s not like he didn’t know what was coming.
“No way to sugarcoat it, that one sucked,” said Darnold, who threw two late interceptions in a 17-14 loss to the Denver Broncos, including a crucial one in overtime. “Can’t turn the ball over, obviously that’s at the forefront of my mind.”
He was just as blunt with his teammates afterward. He took responsibility for the interceptions. He was asked afterward why he felt the need to address the team.
“I just think it’s BS for me to keep turning the ball over,” Darnold said. “It’s not fair to our defense, it’s not fair to our special teams group, not fair really to the entire team. I’ve got to be better that way.”
Last season, Darnold redefined his career by helping Seattle win a Super Bowl. But he didn’t kick his turnover habit, at least in the regular season. He had 14 interceptions and a league-high 11 fumbles, losing six. Magically, he didn’t turn the ball over at all during last postseason. But this season he has seven interceptions despite playing only four full games. It was costly on Thursday night. The Seahawks defense held the Broncos to 38 yards in the second half and overtime. Their special teams made plays including a long punt return late in regulation that set up a game-tying field goal. Darnold’s turnovers weren’t the only reason Seattle lost, and the other Seahawks pointed that out repeatedly. But the Seahawks are 3-3, with three losses in close games, and a big reason is Darnold is making too many big mistakes.
“We have to take care of the ball,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “Sam knows that, he told the team that. Gotta take care of the ball.”
Sam Darnold ‘got greedy’ on interception in OT
Darnold’s first interception seemed like it would end the game. He was pressured and hurried a pass that was picked off by Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine at Denver’s 31-yard line with Seattle trailing 14-11 and 1:25 left in regulation.
But the Seahawks defense came through, forcing a quick three-and-out. Seattle drove in the final minute and tied it to send it to overtime. The Seahawks got the ball first and Darnold tried to force a pass into Cover 2, but it was played well by cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian and picked off at Seattle’s 43-yard line. The Broncos gained eight yards, kicked a field goal and escaped with the win. He said he should have hit Cooper Kupp underneath for what he thought would have been a first down.
“Just got greedy,” Darnold said.
While Darnold took responsibility for the turnovers, others pointed out that there are several issues within the offense. Macdonald said multiple times that “our quarterback got hit too much today.” Denver registered 17 quarterback hits and had five sacks. The lack of a run game has been an issue most of the season for a Seahawks team that let Kenneth Walker III leave in free agency, though Seattle did have a reasonable 113 rushing yards on Thursday night. There’s an over-reliance on Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the passing game.
It all puts a lot of pressure on Darnold, and that’s not good for a quarterback who has had turnover issues his entire career.
“A lot is going to be put on Sam for the result at the end of the day, but we’re all out there with him and we all have a responsibility,” receiver Cooper Kupp said. “We all play a role in protecting the football. He’s going to own that, because that’s who he is, but we’re not going a good enough job offensively to allow him to play in rhythm, we’re not doing a good enough job allowing him get into a flow, turning small plays into big plays, not doing a good enough job in the run game, not doing a good enough job protecting him. There’s a lot of things that need to improve.”
Seahawks already match last season’s loss total
This season’s Seahawks will be constantly compared to last season’s title team. It’s happens to every reigning champion, especially if they struggle a bit. Last season was a tremendous season from a dominant champion that lost only three games. They’ve lost three games already this season.
It’s hard to duplicate any season as dominant as the one the 2025 Seahawks had. Losing Walker, and also running back Zach Charbonnet who hasn’t played yet after tearing his ACL in the playoffs, has obviously affected the offense. Everything on offense looks more difficult. On Thursday night, Seattle had just three points until their first touchdown with 5:41 to go in the fourth quarter.
“I’m not going to compare last year and this year. This is the 2026 Seahawks,” Darnold said. “There’s a lot of things we need to get better at and I’ll leave it at that.”
The Seahawks are 3-3 and while the frustration is evident, they also talked about how they battled on Thursday night to take the game to overtime, and how they’ve been close in all three losses. The three losses have come by a combined eight points.
“I feel like we’re doing well, we’re showing what type of team we are at times, but we’re not doing enough to close out these games that we should be,” Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams said.
Macdonald talked about Seattle’s advantage of playing complementary football through all three phases, and part of that is not just the quarterback’s play but running the ball and protecting him better. But it also has to include Darnold not turning it over at a startling pace.
“It wasn’t a performance that was good enough to win the game. By our team. But the quarterback leads the team,” Macdonald said. “I bet Sam would be the first one to tell you that.”