The Seattle Seahawks got the win. At the end of the day, that is what matters the most, but the fashion in which the win was achieved is what Sam Darnold spoke about after Seattle blew out the Arizona Cardinals 44-22 on Sunday afternoon.
Showing up in usual form, the Seahawks' defense ruled the day with perhaps their best showing this season yet, and that's a high compliment given their complete shutdown of the Washington Commanders last week. What they did to the Cardinals — what DeMarcus Lawrence did to the Cardinals — was in the proper form of who Seattle's defense has been all year.
So, while the defense deserves all the praise and credit they earned, it wasn't all good things on Sunday, which is where Darnold and the offense come into the frame. For the second game in three, the offense sputtered, as did Darnold. The win was gained, but turnovers going the wrong way played a role, and Darnold knows it must be cleaned up.
Seattle Seahawks' Sam Darnold remains positive despite three-turnover glitch
Three offensive turnovers are never good, especially when they happen near your own goal line. The first was a bad exchange between Darnold and his newly inserted center, resulting in a fumble. Whether it was the center's fault or Darnold's, they offered the Cardinals their best chance to get into the game, and they eventually made good on it.
The Seahawks thought they dodged a bullet to end the first half because Seattle's defense came up strong on the drive before that fumble when Arizona had a chance to ring in their first touchdown on a 4th down, but were stalled just before the goal line.
Seattle's fumble would be followed later by a second Darnold fumble, where he had the ball stripped from him while trying to execute a throw. Darnold was also intercepted once, though he can't be entirely blamed. That turnover, also near their own goal line, was the result of a throw that bounced off tight end AJ Barner's helmet and was caught by a Cardinals defender.
There was some bad luck involved in these turnovers. Still, as Bill Parcells once stated, "what cannot be accepted in a loss cannot be accepted in a win." Seattle won, but the turnovers could have sabotaged the entire game if not for the defense covering the offense's tails.
It wasn't just the turnovers Darnold was involved in; his overall play wasn't exactly up to his standard. He threw for just 178 yards, but the real surprise is that he threw the ball only 12 times, completing 10 of them. His completion rating (83.3) and passer rating (111.8) resembled his season-long standard, but the passing yards production fell entirely flat.
Darnold's shaky performance, coupled with the turnovers, resulted in a poor offensive performance. Thankfully, Seattle's running game offered a rare solid performance to counter Darnold's off day. After the game, Darnold spoke with reporters, took responsibility for the turnovers, but remained positive and confident about the win.
"It’s a great team win. I thought, offensively, we were really efficient in the first half; second half, we got the run game going a little bit," Darnold said. "The third quarter was a little sloppy with the turnovers — we’ve got to clean that up, obviously. But to be able to end the game on our terms in a four-minute situation, running the football out, that’s how you want to end every single game."
Darnold also credited his defense for stepping up and holding their ground once again, and even admitted he feels "lucky" to play with a team that has a great defense. Darnold will need his defense to show up against the Los Angeles Rams next week, who continue to light up the score sheet.
This is a game Darnold and the offense cannot afford to trip up in, nor can they play loose with the football and turn it over.