> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Rapid Reaction: Sam Darnold, Seahawks Go Nuclear in Historic 38-14 Blowout Win Over Commanders
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/rapid-reaction-sam-darnold-seattle-seahawks-nuclear-blowout-washington/
- Published: 2025-11-03T03:28:38.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:57:25.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Game Day, Seahawks, Sam Darnold, Tory Horton, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ty Okada, Elijah Arroyo, Connor O'Toole

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2513"\]

![  Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) throws the ball against the Washington Commanders during the first half at Northwest Stadium Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/usatsi_27490015-format-original.jpg)

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) throws the ball against the Washington Commanders during the first half at Northwest Stadium Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images \[/caption\]

LANDOVER, Md. - Clicking on all cylinders coming out of their bye week, Sam Darnold threw for 330 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Seattle Seahawks to a dominant 38-14 victory on the road over the Washington Commanders.

Completing each of his first 17 passes, Darnold had a perfect passer rating until throwing an interception in the third quarter, while receiver Tory Horton caught two of his four touchdown passes for the best game of his young career. Defensively, safety Ty Okada recorded his first interception, while outside linebacker Connor O’Toole recovered a fumble on kick coverage with both turnovers leading to touchdowns for Seattle.

Moving to 6-2 on the season in convincing fashion, here are five takeaways from Sunday night’s rout at Northwest Stadium:

**1\. Making history in an all-world performance, Sam Darnold puts the rest of the league on notice as an MVP candidate.**

Putting on his throwback apron and donning a silver and blue chef’s helmet, Darnold came out of the bye throwing fire in and out of the pocket, turning up the gas for good measure to make sure the Commanders were baked to perfection by his right arm. Shrugging off a 15-yard penalty on Robbie Ouzts on the opening drive, he promptly erased a 1st and 25 with three straight completions, later adding a 14-yard hookup to running back Ken Walker III for a second third down conversion before rolling out to find Horton from four yards out to open the scoring. On the next series, he linked up with the rookie wideout again, this time dropping a dime in stride on a 25-yard corner route to push the lead to 14\. Less than a minute later, following a special teams fumble recovery, he went for the jugular on a play action pass, perfectly placing the ball over safety Tyler Owens to tight end Elijah Arroyo for a 26-yard score.

Before the game even reached halftime, Darnold busted out the dynamite and seemingly put the dagger in Washington, rolling out to his right and hitting Cody White in stride as the receiver broke a tackle along the sideline and sprinted 60 yards to pay dirt. At the break, the veteran gunslinger had completed all 16 of his pass attempts for 282 yards and four touchdowns, tying Warren Moon for the single game franchise record on his first pass attempt to open the third quarter with a 17th straight completion. Though an interception over the middle intended for White ended his “perfect” game, he exited with over 300 passing yards and led five touchdown drives on seven possessions, turning in arguably the greatest game by a Seahawks quarterback in 50 seasons.

**2\. Another week, another secondary lit up by Jaxon Smith-Njigba with an assist on the blow torch by Tory Horton.**

It’s not often that an eight-catch, 129-yard performance gets overshadowed, but since Smith-Njigba didn’t catch one of Darnold’s touchdowns and Horton enjoyed his first multi-touchdown game, nobody could be blamed for overlooking his record-setting day. Averaging more than 16 yards a reception, he became the first player in team history to record 100-plus yards in four consecutive games, joining his quarterback carving out a piece of the record books. Three of his catches went for at least 20 yards, including a dazzling 26-yard catch along the sideline late in the first half where he managed to hold onto the ball with strong hands as a defender tried to knock it out, setting up a Jason Myers field goal that extended the lead to 24 points before intermission.

Of Smith-Nijgba’s eight receptions, five of them went for first downs, as he continued to give opponents major fits as a chain moving machine as well as a downfield dynamo. In addition, he pitched in as a contributor in the run game, taking a jet sweep on the opening drive for 11 yards to pick up another first down. Now eight games into what is quickly becoming a season for the ages, the former Ohio State star has 948 yards to his name, closing in on the century mark before being even halfway done with the schedule. With no opponent able to find an answer so far, his chances of pushing for Calvin Johnson’s record become more and more plausible with each passing week.

**3\. Kudos to Klint Kubiak and Seattle’s offensive staff for a masterful game plan scheming Washington’s weaknesses.**

While Darnold eviscerated the Commanders’ secondary from start to finish, Kubiak deserves immense credit in the scouting department for how he schemed up Seattle’s run game in the opening couple drives to set up big plays throwing the ball. Taking notice of how well Kansas City ran the ball off the edge and to the perimeter on Monday Night Football against Washington’s defense, the play caller dialed up a toss play and jet sweep to Walker and Smith-Nijgba on two of the first three plays, picking up 18 total yards to fuel the opening touchdown drive. Walker later added another 12-yard scamper on a wide zone to the left, continuing to stretch the Commanders’ defense with great success in the early going.

Averaging nearly five yards per carry in the first half with Walker, Zach Charbonnet, and Smith-Njigba all pitching in, the Seahawks opened up the play action game for Darnold, who feasted on stacked boxes from the opponent trying to slow down the ground game. Receivers were running wide open all over the field with the array of bootlegs and waggles dialed up by Kubiak, and though the run game wasn’t near as effective after halftime, much of that had to do with the game being a decided blowout and simply trying to eat up as much clock as possible. When the rushing attack was needed early, it was more than effective enough to open up the entire playbook, setting the rout in motion.

**4\. An afterthought given the offensive onslaught, an aggressive ‘Hawks defense mostly held Jayden Daniels in check.**

Considering Darnold, Smith-Njigba, Horton and company put up 31 points on their first five drives, it’s easy to forget how the Seahawks set up the offense for that flurry of points. Right out of the gate, aided by a penalty for an illegal blind side block, Seattle forced a punt after two first downs by Washington, leading to Darnold’s first touchdown. On the ensuing possession, a blitzing Devon Witherspoon got home for a big hit on Daniels, who lofted a dead duck towards the sideline that Ty Okada hauled in as the safety demonstrated some thrilling toe swag drag to finish off a highlight worthy interception. Washington’s first half ended with a touchdown run by Daniels, but the first three possessions resulted in two punts and the interception with a fumbled kick return sandwiched in between.

For the game, the Seahawks totaled four sacks and seven quarterback hits, mostly preventing Daniels from getting out and doing damage as a runner while bottling him up in the pocket with relentless pressure in the second half. Before exiting with a nasty elbow injury in the fourth quarter, he had just 173 passing yards and wasn’t able to get much going through the air either. Six different players got in on the sack party, including Leonard Williams, Demarcus Lawrence, and Drake Thomas. Aided by garbage time stats in the fourth quarter against backups, the Commanders finished with over 150 rushing yards, but starting running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt rushed for just 38 yards on 12 carries as the offense produced seven points with starters on the field.

**5\. Putting a potential damper on an otherwise incredible night, an injury to Ernest Jones remains a concern.**

On a night where the Seahawks had the game in the bag before even going to the locker room, if there was anything negative to come out of Northwest Stadium, Jones’ status after leaving late in the second quarter stands out as the clear winner. The veteran linebacker limped to the sideline after helping make a tackle in the closing moments of the half, promptly going to the blue injury tent before being ruled out coming out of halftime with a knee injury. In his absence, Tyrice Knight entered the lineup and Thomas slid to the MIKE position, receiving the green dot as defensive play caller.

Jones could be seen hopping around in street clothes on the sideline, a potentially good sign that he didn’t suffer a significant injury. It’s possible the Seahawks exercised caution in a game that was no longer in doubt. At the same time, until good news comes from the team directly, the possibility of being without him for any amount of time would be a major buzz kill for the Seahawks on an evening where everything else seemed to go to perfection on the road and would potentially swing general manager John Schneider into action before Tuesday’s trade deadline depending on the severity.