Halftime Observations: Seahawks Come Out Humming Post-Bye, Lead 31-7 in Washington

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Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tory Horton (15) between plays- against the Washington Commanders during the first quarter at Northwest Stadium. Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images [/caption]

LANDOVER, Md. - Coming out recharged following the bye week, Sam Darnold completed all 16 of his passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns to help the Seattle Seahawks race out to a commanding 31-7 halftime lead over the Washington Commanders.

Here are three quick first half takeaways from the massacre at Northwest Stadium:

1. Rested Sam Darnold and Tory Horton turn Northwest Stadium into scorched Earth.

For those wondering if a week off might cool Darnold off, the veteran quarterback wasted no time putting such concerns to rest. Even on a series where Robbie Ouzts got flagged for an illegal cut block that drove Seattle back to 1st and 25, it didn’t matter, as he quickly erased that yardage with a trio of completions, eventually capping off the possession with a bootleg touchdown to Horton to open the scoring. Moments later, he hit the rookie on 3rd and 8 on a 35-yard corner route, connecting with the speedy rookie in stride to push the lead to 14.

After the Seahawks recovered a fumble on a kickoff on the very next play, Darnold went right for the jugular, lofting a perfect deep ball right over the shoulder of safety Tyler Owens to rookie Elijah Arroyo for a 26-yard touchdown as the rout was on. Still without an incompletion late in the second quarter, one play after magically sidestepping a defender on third down to hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 22-yard completion, he found a wide open Cody White on a deep drag route and the receiver did the rest, breaking a tackle before racing 60 yards to pay dirt to extend the lead to 28. At that point, he had a remarkable stat line completing 13 out of 13 passes for 229 yards, four scores, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating.

2. Self scouting comes through for Klint Kubiak attacking Washington’s weaknesses with run game.

While Darnold came out slinging fire inside and outside the pocket, Kubiak deserves a ton of credit for creating openings in coverage by how he schemed Seattle’s run game in the opening couple drives. Properly taking notice of how well Kansas City ran the ball off the edge and to the perimeter on Monday Night Football against the same Washington defense, the play caller dialed up a toss play and jet sweep to Ken Walker and Smith-Nijgba on two of the first three plays, picking up 18 total yards. Walker later added another 12-yard scamper on a wide zone to the left, continuing to stretch the Commanders’ defense with great success.

Running for nearly five yards per carry in the first half with Walker, Zach Charbonnet, and Smith-Njigba all contributing, the Seahawks opened up the play action passing game for Darnold, who maximized on stacked boxes from the opponent trying to slow down an effective rushing attack. Receivers seemed to be running open all over the field, including the backs themselves with Walker snagging a key 14-yard catch on the opening series to move the chains on third down and set up Horton’s first touchdown.

3. Turnovers on defense and special teams transform into a boatload of points in a second quarter avalanche.

Leading into Sunday’s game, the Seahawks had found success intercepting opposing quarterbacks, but they stood out as the only team without a single forced fumble through Week 8. Fortunately for coach Mike Macdonald, that drought is no longer intact and the picks keep coming too. In the aftermath of Darnold’s first touchdown pass, a blitzing Devon Witherspoon hit Jayden Daniels as he threw on third down, leading to a wobbly throw coming out of the quarterback’s hand. Showing off receiver skills along the sideline, safety Ty Okada managed to get both feet down inbounds with some toe drag swag for his first interception of the season.

Up 14 with Horton’s second touchdown, Seattle received unlikely special teams contributions to force another turnover. Massive nose tackle Brandon Pili reached his hand out to punch the football loose from rookie Jaylin Lane and undrafted outside linebacker Connor O’Toole recovered deep in Commanders territory, setting up Darnold’s touchdown to Arroyo. In less than a minute, those two turnovers directly turned into 14 points, accelerating the blowout in a whirlwind of a second quarter.