The Seattle Seahawks weathered the storm to secure a huge win for their morale. Losing Sam Darnold five plays into the season was a gut punch, but Mike Macdonald's team regrouped and ultimately got the job done.
Drew Lock and new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury both got more comfortable as the game went on. And with the help of their stellar defense, the defending champions scored 13 unanswered points to secure a 13-10 win over the New England Patriots.
Clearly, this didn't go as planned, but the record shows 1-0. And while Lock deserves plenty of credit for holding down the fort in Darnold's absence, Jaxon Smith-Njigba's post-game comments show the mindset and mental fortitude that can help this team go back-to-back.
The Seattle Seahawks are tougher than people give them credit for
“It’s tough losing (No.) 14 (Darnold). He’s the head of the snake. But we have each other’s backs,” Smith-Njigba said. “We fully trust in Drew Lock to come in and do his thing. He’s done it time and time again. We just have to have each other’s backs, like I’m saying. I’m super proud of everybody.”
It's one thing to say that before the game, but the Seahawks showed what Smith-Njigba said in the actual game. Losing Darnold could've been too big a blow to recover from, not only for obvious reasons but also because of how much of an impact that could've had on the team's mindset.
But this team doesn't get rattled, they just get to business.
Just like their head coach, they let what they put on tape do the talking. And if someone can't go, then it's up to the next guy to pick up the slack and show that even their backups would probably start elsewhere.
It was the case with Nehemiah Pritchett, who followed his strong camp with an amazing performance after entering the offseason as a roster-bubble guy. It was also the case with Julian Love and Rodney Thomas II, stepping up in a game when the team didn't have Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada. It was even true of Josh Jobe, who followed a negative start to the game with a game-sealing interception.
For better or worse, teams need a short memory and ice in their veins to succeed in this line of business. The Seahawks proved just that in a night that could've ended in disaster; no one would've blamed them or pointed the finger if they had lost that game.
The Seahawks had every reason to waive the white flag and move on to the next one, but sometimes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
It'll take much more than this to break these guys' stride. They now have the confidence of a squad that's been there, done that, and knows no deficit is too big to overcome; they have a champion's swagger.
This was just the first test of what will most likely be a challenging campaign for the defending champions, but the standard is pretty clear. Hopefully, Darnold and Emmanwori will be back in no time, but even if that's not the case, they won't go down without a big fight.
Add us as a preferred source on Google