The positive part is that the Seattle Seahawks are 5-2 entering the bye week and tied atop the NFC West with the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. The negative is that Seattle might just be a couple of late-game mistakes from being unbeaten. That trend might continue.
To be sure, Seattle's 27-19 victory against the Houston Texans in Week 7 was anything but beautiful. The team turned it over four times, and that is playing losing football. More specifically, quarterback Sam Darnold, otherwise having a very good season, breaks down a bit in the second half of games.
He fumbled in the third quarter in his own end zone after holding on to the ball a tick too long. In such circumstances, Darnold is veteran enough to know a good Texans pass rush is going to catch up with him rather quickly, and he has to get rid of the ball. He compounded that problem.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold's late-game mistakes must be corrected
While being sacked by Will Anderson Jr., the quarterback seemingly was trying to switch the ball to his left hand in order to...well, who knows? It almost seemed as if he was going to try to throw it. Instead, he fumbled the ball turning a safety into a touchdown for the Texans and Anderson fell on the ball.
In the fourth quarter when the Seahawks could have just been trying to eat clock, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak called another pass play and the quarterback attempted to fit a ball over the middle to toght end AJ Barner. Barner was well-covered, and the pass was easily intercepted.
Again, Darnold is having a great season overall. Had Seattle not traded Geno Smith this offseason and then signed Darnold, the team wouldn't be as good as 5-2. The issue is that the division is maybe the best in the NFL, so 5-2 is only good enough for a three-way tie for first place.
Through seven games, Sam Darnold has thrown four interceptions and also fumbled three times, two of which have been recovered by opponents. A number of his turnovers have come at the worst times in games. He fumbled in the red zone on the Seattle Seahawks' final offensive play of Week 1 and tossed an interception near the end of Week 5. Both of those were losses.
Seattle didn't lose in Week 7, of course, but the offense seemed bent on keeping the Houston Texans in a game they shouldn't have been in. Sam Darnold's mistakes made it easier for Houston to do that. The late-game errors need to be cleaned up.