For the first time in 315 days (45 weeks) the Seattle Seahawks
have lost a football game. The Seahawks fell 33-31 on the road in the "other" Washington to the then-winless Commanders. It was a wakeup call that the NFL is an "any given Sunday" kind of league. Despite all their talent, Seattle made far too many mistakes to dig themselves out of a loss to a Commanders team playing without their starting quarterback.As always, we at Seahawks Wire give you our top takeaways. No, this isn't an autopsy, the Seahawks are still very much alive. They suffered an unfortunate loss, and one they will likely wish they had back later in the season. But that remains to be seen. For now, here is what stood out the most in Week 3.
No. 1 - Sam Darnold reminded everyone why he is the starter
Yes, one of the biggest takeaways
from me is a positive one about Sam Darnold. No, I am not excusing the fourth quarter pick-six that dug them deeper into the hole they couldn't climb out of. But I'm also not going to ignore the fact his response was going 5-for-5 for 68 yards and a touchdown in only 66 seconds to make it a 33-31 game. Darnold delivered late to give his defense a chance for one more stop with 2:51 and three timeouts left. What we are not going to do is start a "Sam Darnold vs Drew Lock" dialogue because there isn't anything to say. Darnold is clearly the best option at quarterback for the Seahawks. He completed 31-of-45 passes for 379 yards, four touchdowns against two picks and didn't take a sack. For a guy who could barely walk after injuring his glute, he was rather slippery against the Commanders. On a day when the Seahawks' ground attack was non-existent, Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba kept the ball moving for Seattle's offense. Oh, on that note...
No. 2 - Seahawks rushing attack was stuck in the mud
Last week, the Seahawks bullied the Arizona Cardinals to the tune of 162 team rushing yards and a touchdown. Well, they must have left their ground attack in the desert because it was absolutely nowhere to be found on Sunday. Seattle had a whopping 44 yards as a team against the Washington Commanders and couldn't get anything going. Rookie running back Jadarian Price led the way with 15 yards on five carries, but didn't see much action after losing his second fumble in as many weeks. Primary backup Emanuel Wilson, who had 92 by himself in Week 2, had only 14 on nine carries. Seattle's offense became far too one dimensional late. Forcing Darnold to throw the ball 45 times while the team only rushes 18 times is not a balance that is going to work for the Seahawks. I know I praised Darnold in the last segment, and this doesn't takeaway from that, but this team is built to dominate on the ground. If Seattle can't run, their explosive passing attack isn't going to be as effective and the ball will be in harm's way more often given an increase in passing attempts. It's simple math.
No. 3 - Jaxon Smith-Njigba is inevitable
The reigning Offensive Player of the Year is gunning for his second-straight award. JSN followed up his massive game against the Cardinals by torching the Washington Commanders. Seattle's top star hauled in 10-of-14 passes thrown his way for another 128 yards through the air and two more touchdowns. JSN's meteoric start to 2026 is historic. He now joins the legendary Jerry Rice as the only two players in NFL history to have 120+ receiving yards and at least one touchdown in each of his team's first three games to start a season. Not bad company to keep! It's plain as day JSN is the best receiver in football and the Seahawks are fortunate to have him.
No. 4 - Run defense collapses late
The Seahawks have not allowed a single 100-yard rusher in now 29-straight games, which is a franchise record and the longest active streak in the NFL. But my goodness, this feels as hollow as a stat can get, at least after this game. Seattle held the Commanders' ground attack in check for the overwhelming majority of the game... until it mattered most. After Sam Darnold found Cooper Kupp for a touchdown to bring it within two points, the Dark Side defense had 2:51 and three timeouts to work with to get one more stop for their explosive offense. After a gain for only a yard on first down, the two-minute warning, and an incompletion on third down, the 12th Man was feeling pretty good about forcing a Commanders team that was 1-for-11 on third down up to that point. The 12's probably felt even better when Mariota handed the ball off to running back Rachaad White, because surely he would be stu... oh, what's that? Seattle gave up a 19-yard rush to the outside instead? Yeah, brutal. That forced the Seahawks to burn one of their three remaining time outs. Three plays later, Marcus Mariota took the ball himself on 3rd-and-7 to end the game himself after Seattle burned their remaining two time outs. I'm not sounding any alarm bells, not yet at least, but that was an embarrasing defensive collapse late.
No. 5 - Seattle needs to learn the value in "settling" for a field goal
Yup, I'm going to bang this drum once again. One criticism I have of Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks' offensive decision makers, and NFL coaches as a whole these days is the fact no one seems to see the value in field goals. The NFL is far too driven by "analytics" in this unique circumstance. Seattle had an opportunity to kick a chip-shot field goal at the goal line near the end of the first half, trailing 14-7. Instead of taking the points, the Seahawks went for it on fourth down and failed to convert. I don't want to hear any machismo "if you can't score from one yard out you don't deserve any points" nonsense... that's not how football works! Take the points on the road in bad weather when you're struggling to keep up with the home team. Bank points when you can because... guess what? They add up! Do you think the Seahawks would have liked to have an extra three points when trailing 33-31 late? Because I sure do! I'm not saying this cost them the game. It's entirely possible the Commanders would have marched down the field to kick a game-winner of their own if they were trailing 34-33. But they would have been pressing, actually trying to move the ball for points. You never know what could have happened in that situation! This is a permanent source of deep frustration for me in today's NFL. This is now back-to-back weeks where the Seahawks have gone for it on 4th down at the goal line and been stopped. Seattle got away with it last week against the Cardinals, but it cost them against the Commanders. At this point, it's not aggressive... it's bordering on reckless.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Top Seahawks takeaways in 33-31 loss to Commanders
