We’ve all sat with this one for a bit. Is Sam Darnold not the answer? Did he get rushed back from injury? Would the Seahawks be better off with Andrew Lock as the trigger man?
One thing is clear: Seven interceptions in four games is… not good. Pulling the struggling quarterback can feel like the quickest and easiest lever to pull.
The Seattle Seahawks, of course, will have a long wait until they can wash the sour taste of recent putrid performances on offense out of their collective mouths. The run
of losses to the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos in the last two games featured plenty of frustrating mistakes to pave the road to an unspectacular 3-3 record. How do the 2026 Seahawks continue to run it forward?
Brock Purdy hadn’t been sacked before facing the ‘Hawks, then got taken down three times by the “Dark Side.” That stop unit held SF to 4/12 on 3rd downs and tainted his pristine trajectory to hand him his 2nd INT of the season (first since the opening week). Bo Nix was held under 110 passing yards. It’s the offense that failed in their mission to be complimentary.
Does Seattle need to bench their championship quarterback? Let’s start by not turning the ball over.
I want to preface all of this and say that backup halfback, George Holani was questionable to play in Santa Clara. With that in mind, he deserves some appropriate credit, as a warrior for this team. He also deserves credit for being a strong pass protector… at times.
Having said that, the man put the ball on the ground twice against the Niners, contributing to a sloppy performance by the Hawks. If you did not know, NFL coaches are serious about fumbles. That hyperlink is the Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady talking about reducing the load of player who led the league in rushing TD’s in 2024 and rushing yards in 2025.
The thing is, Holani averages over seven touches per game. Before TNF, Shaheed was averaging a little over two touches per. I know you don’t want to have tells when a specific back is in the game… but perhaps time for less?
That’s what I thought before the Broncos game. Rashid Shaheed got $34M guaranteed on his contract extension this past offseason. I wanted to see the Hawks use short passes as an extension of the run game, if need be, just to get his involvement in line with his contract priority.
Then that man fumbled twice.
Who’s next to get added to the mix? Here are Tory Horton’s last 8 catches: first down, touchdown, 6 yards, touchdown, first down, first down, first down, touchdown. He was not targeted in Week 6 against the Niners. Tory, come on down!!
Interceptions are a little more convoluted of a blame game than fumbles. Cooper Kupp addressed the throw to Horton: “certainly within the grounds of what that play was. Got to make a play.” The same Cooper who is no longer a dynamic threat on the field.
Is it possible that the 2026 Seattle Seahawks are simply in need of another high-level playmaker to join JSN in the priority list for defenses to worry about? Kenneth Walker III was that last season, but I’m not sure he’s the only. Is the pantry now raided? Does Seattle need to draft a wideout in the first round in the upcoming offseason? Let’s hit pause on that for now.
Is it the offensive line? I mean, Abe Lucas’ performance was groan-worthy at times. When discussing the five sacks that Darnold took and how it reflects on the offensive line, Mike Macdonald explained, saying, “I mean, you can say it’s on the offensive line–it’s on our offense. You know, it’s both. It’s how efficient we can run the ball; how efficient we can move the ball other ways. The quarterback is getting hit way too much, so everybody sees that.”
There are multiple angles here. Role players may be touching the ball a little more than originally planned, but also there is the question of scheme. As Field Gulls’ own Mookie Alexander mentions, “At the moment, the Seahawks do not have the type of offense that can control a game through the run. They are a much better passing team on early downs yet adopt a run-first mentality.”
Mike Macdoanld on why the ball is being put in jeopardy so often: “In short, it’s really a function of ‘who’s applying pressure to who?’ So, if we’re playing the way we want to play, we should be applying pressure to defenses. Then, all of a sudden –it’s funny how that works–ball isn’t as in jeopardy as much.”
It’s unfortunate that the running back that the ‘Hawks took in Round 1 of the NFL draft joins another early round back on the injury ledger, in Zach Charbonnet. Those two, along with up-and-comers like Jacardia Wright and (the no longer on the roster) Kenny McIntosh all being unavailable is sad. Does that mean that we should hit the panic button?
Darnold does need to get into flow state. And yes: Sam should be expected to be able to get it done… even in the absence of a run game. Even if conditions are not perfect, we should expect him to be able to figure it out. He’s a Super Bowl-winning signal caller, but if he keeps throwing two INT’s per game, Seattle brass may have to pull him at some point. That point is not now.
Coach Mike addressed the controversy around Sam Darnold, saying that, “I know we’re harping on the turnovers… but he’s been able to escape some really nasty pressure situations and find ways to move the ball down the field, that not a lot of people can do. That’s definitely in his skillset and we encourage him to continue to do that, within your progressions and things like that.”
Seattle prides itself on cultivating environments for passers to succeed in. That environment seems crippled at the moment.
Macdonald plainly stated that, “we got to be able to execute our run game and hold on to the football… straight up.” All of the coaches on staff will be tasked with exploring ways to improve this slumping offense.
Those of you who think Brian Fleury and, to some extent, Sam Darnold are under some level of pressure are kidding yourselves. There is a standard. It will be interesting to see what Fleury chooses to change, if anything, headed into a possible humiliation ritual against Ken Walker.
Now, acknowledging that things need to change, we can also understand that making a QB change is a very big deal. It’s one that has ripple effects on the direction of the franchise for years to come.
We can blame the run game, we can blame injuries, we can blame Shaheed, we can blame Tory Horton, we can blame the offensive line, and yes… we can blame Sam Darnold. Hell, you can blame Hard Knocks if you want to. This is not the end of the season as we know it.
The Seahawks have totaled 10 turnovers in their 3 losses… and still only lost those by a collective sum of 8 points overall. Maybe the sky isn’t truly falling quite yet. Let’s just wait and see what things look like when Jadarian Price, Zach Charbonnet and Anthony Bradford make their returns to the lineup.
Yes, THAT Anthony Bradford.
