Winners and Losers from another Seahawks home loss to 49ers: Sam Darnold is struggling

It turns out they can’t all end 41-6.

The Seattle Seahawks have now lost five consecutive regular season home games to the San Francisco 49ers, this one the most bizarre and perhaps most damaging. A 32-29 loss that was well deserved given the continued turnover issues and lackluster execution. Seattle is now in a spot that it was not at any point last season: multiple games out of first place without a tiebreaker. The season doesn’t end in October and there’s still a ton of football left, but on current form and remaining schedules it’s hard to argue the Seahawks are poised for an NFC West repeat.

Let’s get to Winners and Losers.

Seattle Seahawks Winners

Byron Murphy II is playing at an All-Pro level

The third-year defensive tackle blows up runs, sacks the quarterback (twice, in fact, when it comes to Brock Purdy), and continues to play at an elite level. For my money, he was the best defensive player on the field for Seattle, and he’s going to be paid handsomely as early as next year.

Nehemiah Pritchett is balling

A special teams walloping of Jacob Cowing to force a turnover, followed by a great interception off of Purdy for his second turnover involvement. Pritchett has been one of the great stories for the Seahawks in 2026, taking full advantage of Riq Woolen’s departure and his insertion into the first-team defensive rotation.

Ernest Jones IV anchors the defense

There’s not a lot to complain about as far as the Seahawks’ defensive showing (well, except the run defense toward the end and one particular player’s coverage struggles). Jones was so good he even got Dre Greenlaw tossed for that silly headbutt on the sidelines. Ernest picked up another sack, was tight in coverage (part of why George Kittle had a quiet day), and led the team in tackles. When Ernest racks up tackles you know it’s not an empty calories performance.

Jason Myers shines and keeps Seattle in the game

Five-for-five on field goals, most of which were not chippies. Myers also didn’t miss any extra points, so after a very iffy performance against the Chargers he stepped up and did his job. This is more of the Myers we expect to see on a weekly basis.

Seattle Seahawks Losers

It’s time to worry about Sam Darnold

That was bad. Darnold is seeing ghosts again and it’s a little worrying. He threw two more dreadful interceptions and took some puzzling sacks, such that the few positive plays he made were outweighed by game-damaging negatives. I am not in “Bench Sam Darnold” mode and it’s wild we’re doing this with Drew Lock for a second different era of starting QB, but this version of Darnold is not worth a long-term investment.

I question if he came back too early from injury, because he’s not ripping passes with confidence consistently and he is not taking too many really deep downfield shots. Something is off, because this is the worst he’s looked as a Seahawks quarterback.

It’s a wrap for George Holani

George Holani has fumbled three times before he’s even mustered up a single 10+ yard run. John Schneider praised him for his deputizing for Zach Charbonnet last playoffs but that shouldn’t have been intended for him to get this much run in the offense. I’ve seen enough. Holani isn’t even providing great pass pro, which is one of his strengths.

Robert Henry Jr, I hope you learned enough of the playbook because it’s time to get some carries on Thursday. He’s an RB3 who is getting RB2 duties and there’s a chasm that is untenable.

Emanuel Wilson’s ball security isn’t any better than Jadarian Price’s

That’s two fumbles in as many weeks for Wilson, who scored a touchdown but left a ton of yards on the field by, well, just not being fast. He runs hard but he gets ankle-tackled a ton and has no burst. It’s the fumbling that bugs me because this is the dropoff from having K9 and Zach Charbonnet together with their airtight ball security. There is little to no payoff of an explosive play when Emanuel Wilson turns the ball over.

Josh Jobe never had a chance against Mike Evans

Much like the Seahawks weren’t going to re-sign Ken Walker, they weren’t going to re-sign Riq Woolen. I get annoyed when people say Riq was CB3 when the snap count reflected a split between Jobe and Woolen as CB2a/2b. Well, Woolen is gone and Jobe is getting treated like a proper CB2, which means no splitting time with anyone else and taking on tougher assignments.

Mike Evans is going to Canton. Josh Jobe is probably not. Mike Evans is very tall and physical and uses his body as well as anyone out there. Josh Jobe is a small cornerback. This was a mismatch from the jump and the 49ers exploited to near perfection.

I will fault Coach Macdonald and the staff for not getting Jobe on somebody else, but they seem content to keep Nehemiah Pritchett in the slot even though he’s the one with size and some physicality. Trevon Diggs played but sparingly, and he’s a ball hawk at his best but Evans probably bosses him too.

The offensive line struggles to open holes and protect Sam Darnold

Not that Darnold didn’t make his own pressure at times, but the offensive line was not good. Too many instant pressures on play-action, the Holani fumble for a touchdown came as a result of Jalen Sundell getting blown up in the backfield, and even stalwarts like Charles Cross had some bad moments in pass protection.

And please PLEASE stop the Christian Haynes/Beau Stephens rotation. Nothing is being gained out of that.

Brian Fleury needs to know his personnel and improve situational awareness

Emanuel Wilson should never be getting a toss play to the weaker side of the offensive line while inside his own 10-yard line. That should never happen. It happened and he fumbled. Wilson is not that kind of running back.

Now for the Holani fumble: let’s say the 49ers would’ve used their 3 timeouts to force Seattle to keep playing heading into halftime as opposed to kneeling the ball. Outside zone with Holani (again, to the weaker side of the line) is madness. You’re near your own goal line. Get into 22 personnel if you have to and run the ball up the middle. Run a draw play. Run a quick inside give and let time tick away. There is nothing good that can happen from a long developing run play near your own end zone with this set of backs and blockers.

A lot of the plays Seattle is botching I put on the players more than Fleury, but the first-year OC is not blameless for the ongoing struggles on third down and getting out of bad field position.

Could been a Winner but…

Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s drop takes him out of the Winners column

JSN has had a couple of odd drops this year. This one I put partially on Darnold for a not great ball, but someone of JSN’s caliber can catch that. It would’ve put the Seahawks in field goal range bare minimum. He still led the team with 5 catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, along with a 16-yard run that was just narrowly a backwards pass. Smith-Njigba played through a dinged up right ankle and still continues to be the focal point of Seattle’s offense, but by my count this is three times in four weeks Smith-Njigba has dropped a catch he normally makes.

In many ways, that sums up the Seahawks right now: the best players are not executing properly.

Final Notes

• I think Cooper Kupp was short of the first down, but if they had spotted it at the line to gain then it likely would’ve been upheld. We’ll see the All-22 on Monday, but the nose of the ball crossing the front of the out of bounds line is where the ball must be spotted. Based on that ruling, I believe the spot was fair, as tough as it may be to swallow. It’s the 2019 version of Dre Greenlaw stopping Jacob Hollister short of the end zone.
• Rashid Shaheed almost broke one again. Nearly a kick return touchdown for Shaheed, and he did at least have an explosive play as a receiver. Still not at 100 receiving yards on the season. No, it was not either re-sign Shaheed or re-sign K9. Stop peddling that narrative.
• The 49ers are the best team in the NFL until proven otherwise. We make fun of the substation stuff and note their injuries, but they just got to get healthy at the right time and it’s not like everyone is facing a season-ending injury. This might be your Super Bowl front runner in October and we have to live with that. A whole lot can change (don’t 49ers fans, know that) but they constantly lose key players and find ways to at least be competitive. The Seahawks are still the champions, but they are not better than the 49ers right now. You can play the “but the turnovers!” game but last I checked, the 49ers had a helping hand on that front and had their own giveaways.
• Seattle has to at least take two of the next three games. The Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, and Chicago Bears (with Caleb Williams and Kyle Monangai presumably returning) is a gauntlet. Denver hasn’t even been all that good but the Broncos are a tough team to beat on the road, much less on a short week. If the Seahawks cannot come out of early November with a winning record then I very much question whether or not they have the juice for another deep playoff run. They were 3-2 last year but the offense had some excellent performances and generally didn’t look that disjointed. This year’s 3-2 feels different. They have earned that 3-2 with their mistakes and are probably as fortunate that the Chargers are so beaten up and banged up that even that game wasn’t also a loss. Seattle has to fix this now or else the repeat bid is going to be short-lived. Plain and simple. The defense is largely still great. The offense and special teams are actively holding the team back.