Has Time Come for Seahawks to Sound the Alarm as Sam Darnold's Struggles Continue?
This isn't the Seahawks first rodeo when it comes to dealing with the consequences of Sam Darnold turning over the football in bunches. Can Seattle count on him to rebound like he did last year after a rough start?
RENTON, Wash. - In the aftermath of a disappointing, mistake-marred 32-29 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, everyone on the Seattle Seahawks' offense finds themselves under fire, and rightfully so.
Though they still managed to nearly hit 30 points on the scoreboard, much of that damage came off of turnovers created on defense and special teams, including a muffed punt and interception forced by cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett leading to short field and touchdowns by running back Emanuel Wilson and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Away from those two drives and a Jason Myers field goal off of a fumble by 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel, however, the team only mustered four field goals the entire rest of the game.
On Seattle's other 12 offensive drives, the team advanced the ball more than 50 yards just a single time, six times failing to pick up a single first down or eclipse 10 net yards. Scattered in that ineptitude, running backs Emanuel Wilson and George Holani each lost fumbles inside the 11-yard line, with the latter's lack of ball security resulting in a touchdown recovery in the end zone for defensive tackle Gracen Halton less than 30 seconds before halftime.
Both Wilson and Holani, who fumbled a second time and fortunately recovered, have been easy targets for a Seahawks' running back group that continues to struggle holding onto the football. But nobody has been under greater scrutiny since the final whistle on Sunday than quarterback Sam Darnold, whose two interceptions against the 49ers pushed his total to five in the past three games, a telltale sign of the issues he has endured since returning from a glute injury.
This included a game-opening pick uncorked by Darnold to cornerback Renardo Green, who read Jaxon Smith-Njigba's out route like a book, at the Seahawks 18-yard line, leading to a Mike Evans two-yard touchdown catch before the 10-minute mark in the first quarter to make it 7-0 49ers. It marked the second straight week he had been intercepted on Seattle's opening possession, far from an ideal trend.
As he always has done after tough losses, and even sometimes after wins that happened in spite of his play, Darnold took the sword afterward, blaming himself for the two bad throws that resulted in turnovers.
"There's a couple of decisions that I would like back," Darnold told reporters afterward. "I think just putting the ball in a better place to Elijah [Arroyo], the second one that I threw, just being able to kind of throw that over the top and let him go get it. I think the other one is just poor decision. Just got to continue to trust myself, trust my feet, trust what I'm seeing, which I'm doing. But, yeah, just got to be better taking care of the football."
