There was an extended moment on Thursday Night Football when the Seattle Seahawks looked like the defending Super Bowl champs. A good, healthy fourth quarter of game clock. Plus the first 2:49 of overtime. Outside of that? Not so much.
I’m not ready to write this team’s obituary yet. But the formula they’ve followed in 2026 is one for defeat, not victory. It’s the formula of an incomplete team, with some shiny pieces such as the best offensive player alive and two of most exciting young defenders in the league. Led by a defensive genius.
However. Lose the turnover battle, give away points and possessions, count on your superhuman defense to cover for all your mistakes: this is the very model of a modern losing football team. It’s psychically hard to believe the team on the left lost this game.
Those are numbers for a three-score romp, not an overtime heartbreaker. Unless you know the whole story. Giveaways included. Then it all makes sense. Lose the turnover battle by three and all your pretty stats are fool’s gold.
And still, for literally the majority of the game, the Seahawks defense was nigh impenetrable and put the offense in position to go get the game. You can’t stop an NFL offense better than this.
A) Give up 14 points in the second quarter, no other quarters;
B) Then hold them to 24 total yards the rest of regulation, ending their drives thusly:
- Punt
- End of Half
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- End of Half
Through all this, the Seahawks defense is playing like a 6-0 team intent on repeating. The offense is playing like an 0-6 team intent on repeating the same mistakes week after week. It would all be quite a bit more tedious had they not just won a title in the calendar year we currently inhabit. (Although one could say, the offense’s Keystone Cops routine is even more tedious because they’re smack dab in the middle of a championship window and you don’t get those every decade. Wait. The Seahawks do get those. Nevertheless!)
Focus, John. Be a JSN, not a running back.
Clarifying, this third loss is on the offense entirely, although special teams made a special appearance. For all the coolness that Rashid Shaheed’s final punt return exuded, the game landed in OT in large part because Jason Myers doinked a 47-yarder. Then, in the extra period, the Broncos might not have been in field goal range to begin with without a mishandled kickoff and holding flag on the return.
The sobbest part of the Seahawks’ sob story, besides its repetitiveness, is it wouldn’t take a completely clean game from Seattle to flip these losses into victories. Pick six in Washington was the margin of defeat. End zone fumble against the 49ers, same. Then two scoring chances were snuffed out with late interceptions in Denver.
Seattle’s opponents know they can sit back, be patient, take zero risks and wait for party favors. That’s their best hope, and it works half the time.
So when Darnold gift wrapped the victory for Denver by putting extra air under this pass —
— it was another reminder that football is about all three phases.
I joined the game in progress so we’ll save some Predators and Prey for the second half. Quick recap anyone, so we can forgive* and forget?
*your forgiveness may vary
Q1: Seahawks 3, Broncos 0
The score’s a bit deceptive, what with Denver ending the first quarter in the middle of a 16-play, 74-yard drive. It’s technically accurate though. Seattle punted, then pinned the hosts deep in their own end, turned the stop into favorable field position, earned exactly one first down, and sent Jason Myers out for a successful 55-yarder. 3-0 and everything looked very defensive-minded. As viewers expected from the first-and third-best scoring defenses from last year.
The play of the game, until Sam’s overtime boo-boo, comes from an offense, however, and Denver’s at that, on fourth down from the Seattle 45. The Broncos have three yards to gain in that very particular part of the field where kicking makes little sense and the math says go for it.
The interior linemen form a phalanx focused on Byron Murphy, who is pushed back, creating oodles of space for Tyler Badie to roam. He easily converts. A drive that would’ve been scoreless ends in seven points.
These are the moments few will mention after another giveaway-infested performance by the offense. But Sean Payton took a chance and it paid off.
Q2: Broncos 14, Seahawks 3
The Broncos would finish that drive in the end zone, force a punt, and march right back down again with the aid of a soft facemask call on third down (second drive extended past its expiration date), Denver’s longest run of the day (16 for J.K. Dobbins), questionable DPI in the end zone on Devon Witherspoon, and a gimmicky Wildcat touchdown.
Denver was turning one positive play into seven points each time. But here’s the thing. They would gain all of 24 yards between their second score and the end of regulation. It was over for them after that, the Seahawks defense made sure. All the Seattle offense had to do was slam the door shut with three scoring drives or so, and not give the Broncos any extra chances. Well.
Instead, Rashid Shaheed fumbled, the Broncos defense stymied Jaxon Smith-Njigba long enough to keep points off the board, Shaheed came thiiiiiiiiiiiis close to hauling in a field-flipper, and the half ended 14-3.
Q3: Broncos 14, Seahawks 3 (still)
Predator: Nick Bonitto and friends
Prey: Seattle pass protectors
How: In the third quarter and the start of the fourth, not one, not two but three third-down sacks ended dangerous Seahawks drives. Sack 1 forced the key Myers miss, Sack 2 came at midfield, and Sack 3 took Seattle out of field goal range altogether. It was a poor night for the OL in pass pro, as we will cover later.
Action: There was a lot of defense played in the third.
Seattle’s deep passing game finally saw a sliver of daylight with a huge Shaheed 42-yarder. Only a sliver: that reception represented half the yardage gained in the period by both teams combined. And the only play over 20 yards to that point.
Q4: Broncos 14, Seahawks 14
Predator: I got two for you on an otherwise bleak night. It’s gotta be JSN with that magnificent 6-83 line in the fourth quarter alone, including a fourth down conversion where he got blasted and the final seven-yarder to simplify Myers’ final kick. It’s also gotta be George Holani, who has not been the recipient of much respect in this space. He earned it on the Seahawks’ lone touchdown drive.
Prey: JSN does not concern himself with the opinions or identity of the prey. Holani bounced off five dudes. When the Seahawks are making these plays on offense instead of coughing it up, they’re unbeatable. Much to ponder.
How: These are real carries. By real men.
Back to back plays even.
Action: Holani’s exploits — and first score of the year! — were sandwiched between two three-and-outs from the otherworldly defense we are privileged to follow. Shaheed provided the cherry on top, a two-point feat (feet?) of concentration that helped make up for his earlier fumble.
It almost did matter, too.
So when Darnold threw his first interception of the night, inside the two-minute warning, Mike Macdonald’s non-Carrollian preservation of timeouts suddenly mattered. The defense stuffed two runs, Bo Nix threw right at Uchenna Nwosu on third down, allowing the Seahawks to field a punt with over a minute remaining, which Shaheed clutchily and casually brought back to the 46. And that’s when the actual value of Darnold materialized.
I suspect there are some criticisms of the Seattle QB out there in the ether today, and he makes it easy on his detractors. He tried to lose the game once, he did lose it the second time, he’s been overall mediocre since his return, but in between the lowlights he showed us why you CAN win it all with him at the helm. Even if it never happens again, they did it once and could return to the same glory with this guy. Exhibit one:
Darnold absorbed the nastiest hit of a night full of hits, with the interception still doing laps in his head, took the snap, scrambled right, and on the run, uncorked a Jacob Misiorowski-esque 105 mph fastball to Shaheed to move the sticks and reach the edge of field goal range.
There are not a lot of QBs in the world with that mettle. What came after still happened, and he still wants his final throw of the night back, as do we.
One Kupp explosive, one spike, one JSN out pattern later and Myers is on to tie the game, which he does, leaving us longing for what might have been if he’d made the other one too.
Overtime: Broncos 17, Seahawks 14
Predator: Ja’Quan McMillian, for obvious reasons
Prey: Darnold. McMillian, like a big cat in the savannah, was just waiting for Gazelle Darnold to offer a throw to the redline with juuuuuust enough air time. The Seattle QB obliged. Ballgame unless the Broncos get penalized or miss the kick. Neither transpired.
Action: That’s actually the whole story of overtime. Starting deep in your own territory is fine as long as you:
- move the chains a little and let your defense go to work, again;
- find an explosive to get into FG range or better;
- don’t turn it over. No matter what, don’t turn it over.
Y’all know they turned it over. Which is extra disappointing, because I don’t think the Broncos would’ve moved the ball at all. Neither did Sean Payton, probably, which could be why he deferred to the team with a giveaway problem. Kupp called heads and lost the toss. Where’s Geno Smith when you need him?
Midnight Preyers
Darnold has 7 TD and 7 INT. That’s not good enough. Debate Drew Lock all you want, I won’t, I find it tiresome, except to say Darnold’s not good enough presently. At this moment he is not playing professional quarterback well enough to consistently guide his otherwise talented team to a win.
This type of performance is what many fans feared would doom the 2025 team. That didn’t happen. It’s kinda happening right now. It stops now, too, or the season can be flushed like the giant turd it threatens to become.
I don’t like how much punishment JSN is taking. He’s slower to pop up, he’s nursing an ankle, the quick slants expose him to hard hits he’s so good at avoiding, and you can’t compete without him, he’s that essential. Rest up this long week, king.
I thought Tyrice Knight was an extremely capable/borderline great replacement for Drake Thomas. The Broncos averaged 2.6 yards per carry and he made an important slowdown on Denver’s first down run inside the two minute warning. He needed some game time to acclimate himself and then was nowhere near a liability. He’s something of a forgotten man on this roster and maybe shouldn’t be.
It’s easy to forget about him too, but Witherspoon has still got it. He never lost it. How dare you insinuate such things?
Pay him again.
The Seahawks OL ended 2025 on a high note in terms of pass protection and picked up this season exactly where they left off. Which is to say, excellent. But they were borderline unwatchable against the Niners and Broncos. Five more sacks and 17 (yes, seventeen) QB hits in Denver. It’s not a typo. They hit Darnold 17 times and pressured him 19 times.
Making things even more, Darnold was 6-of-19 on those throws under pressure. Both interceptions came with a dude bearing down on him. He’s been bad, and his line has been bad for him. There’s no reason they’d be better for Lock, or any reason the backup would perform much better under similar pressure. (Dammit I said I wouldn’t wade into this debate. Look what you made me do!)
It no longer matters that the Seahawks are the better team each week, because they’re doing the worst thing you can do in football. Every week now. Giving the ball away at the worst time possible IS who they are, it IS what they do, and if the thing you do is very bad, the results will be very bad, which makes you a bad team.
Ten days off. Bad year to draw the Chiefs and a former player with something to prove against you. But if the Hawks excise carelessness from their routine and exercise even just basic ball security, they can win literally any game on the schedule. With a third of the season gone, now’s a good time.