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# Rapid Reaction: Seahawks Outlast Steelers 31-17 in Battle of Football Follies
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/rapid-reaction-seattle-seahawks-outlast-steelers-battle-football-follies/
- Published: 2025-09-14T21:25:55.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:58:17.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Seahawks, Ken Walker III, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, Sam Darnold, George Holani, Jarran Reed, Byron Murphy II

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Rebounding from a rough first two quarters featuring two turnovers and a missed field goal with a dominant second half, Sam Darnold led two scoring drives and George Holani scored a rare touchdown in kick coverage to fuel a 31-17 comeback victory for the Seattle Seahawks over the Pittsburgh Steelers in their road opener.

Overcoming a pair of first half interceptions, Darnold completed 22 out of 35 passes for 295 yards and tossed touchdowns to rookie receiver Tory Horton and tight end AJ Barner, while Ken Walker III erupted after a sluggish opener with 105 rushing yards and a touchdown to pace Seattle’s offense. Newcomer Derion Kendrick and Coby Bryant each picked off Aaron Rodgers as the Seahawks held the Steelers to 265 yards and just 4.5 yards per play along with five third down conversions on 15 attempts to key another outstanding defensive effort for coach Mike Macdonald’s squad.

Enjoying the win column for the first time in 2025, here are five takeaways from the Seahawks wild come from behind victory over the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium:

**1\. Bizarre special teams mishap gives unexpected cushion.**

Even NFL players sometimes have to be reminded that it’s a wise thing to know all of the rules, and fortunately for the Seahawks, Steelers rookie running back Kaleb Johnson paid dearly for not knowing the details on recently changed kickoff rules. After Jason Myers gave Seattle a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter, the place kicker lofted the ensuing kickoff into the landing zone - or between the goal line and opposing 20-yard line - and Johnson allowed it to hop, bouncing over his head as a live ball and neglecting to go recover it in the end zone for what would have been a touchback.

While Johnson apparently wasn’t up to code on the rules, Seahawks running back and special teams ace George Holani absolutely was. The former Boise State star sprinted for the loose ball like a shark sensing blood in the water, diving to cover up the ball in the end zone before sliding out of bounds for a touchdown that stunned the sellout crowd before giving way to disappointed boo birds. The confusing turn of events pushed Seattle in front by double digits for the first time all afternoon and proved too much for a Pittsburgh offense that had largely struggled most of the afternoon to overcome down the stretch.

**2\. Opening scripts for each half couldn’t have been much better for Klint Kubiak.**

Rolling into Sunday’s contest, the Seahawks remained mired in a not-so-fabulous streak of 22 consecutive games without scoring a touchdown on their opening offensive drive that dated back to the end of the 2023 season. But thanks to Darnold and Horton, that streak is no more. After two third down conversions on completions by Darnold sandwiched around a 13-yard run by Walker, the veteran quarterback absorbed a big hit on a play action pass and lofted a strike to his new rookie weapon on a corner route for a 21-yard touchdown to open the scoring and cap off a dynamic eight-play, 65-yard drive.

Trailing by seven at the half, Seattle again came through in its first drive of the third quarter as a response to a dismal second quarter performance. Darnold hooked up with Kupp on 3rd and 4 for a drive-extending 17-yard gain over the middle and immediately hit the savvy receiver again for a 16-yard pickup on the next snap to advance into the red zone. After a pair of five-yard runs by Walker, Darnold threw his second touchdown of the game, slipping a fastball in to Barner from seven yards out to tie the game and begin orchestrating the comeback efforts with an impressive nine-play, 80-yard drive.

**3\. As for a large chunk of the other 50 minutes or so, well… at least there was K9.**

Excluding their five minute long touchdown drives to open each respective half, the Seahawks hurt themselves as much as the Steelers’ defense, particularly in the first half when they turned what should have been a comfortable lead in the first half into a one-score deficit due to laughable turnovers and miscues. After a perfect first drive, Darnold uncorked a badly underthrown first down play action throw in Kupp’s direction to kick off the second possession, allowing cornerback Jalen Ramsey to undercut the pass and pick it off, leading to a Chris Boswell field goal. On the very next series, after driving into Steelers’ territory, Myers clanked a 36-yard field goal off the left upright, coming up empty on a chip shot.

Adding to the comedy of errors, Darnold threw his second pick of the game on a 4th and 1 conversion attempt on the next series, as the Steelers quickly snuffed out a bootleg to the left and Cam Heyward tipped the ball up in the air. Linebacker Nick Herbig ran underneath the deflection and returned it 41 yards to the Seattle 21-yard line, setting up a short touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to DK Metcalf that gave Pittsburgh a halftime lead. They also went three-and-out on their second possession in the third quarter, but luckily, Walker’s exploits saved the day with a cunning 19-yard touchdown on third and long that put the dagger in the home team, securing his first 100-yard outing of the season in style.

**4\. Without Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori, the Seahawks looked just fine in the secondary.**

Down their top two slot defenders with Witherspoon not able to go after working out pre-game, nobody knew who would be playing the role in nickel and dime sets on Sunday, only to be revealed when veteran Derion Kendrick took snaps with the first-team defense just 30 minutes before kickoff. Formerly a rival for the Rams, Kendrick had just nine snaps as a slot defender to his name in the regular season and had only been with the team for three weeks, casting questions about his readiness. But he silenced those doubts by turning in an outstanding performance, albeit while not avoiding joking ridicule from Kupp for missing a gift-wrapped interception in the second quarter.

Aside from that drop, which happened on a third down that still resulted in an incompletion and a forced punt, Kendrick played sticky coverage from the slot when called upon, rotating with safety D’Anthony Bell as a big nickel option. Only a couple plays after Jaylen Warren ripped off a 65-yard run down midway through the third quarter down to the Seahawks’ five-yard line while breaking a bunch of tackles in the process, he made up for his botched pick opportunity earlier by managing to haul in a deflection in the end zone off the hands of receiver Calvin Austin, sending Pittsburgh to the sideline empty handed. Rodgers barely completed 50 percent of his pass attempts, while no wideouts had more than 22 receiving yards, a testament to the secondary’s continued strong play despite injuries.

**5\. A dominant defensive effort once again was fueled by a disruptive defensive line.**

Though the Seahawks went into the locker room trailing, they were down on the scoreboard after holding the Steelers to under 70 total yards and limiting Rodgers to five completions on 12 attempts. Two of those incompletions came on throwaway screens where the grizzled veteran found himself under quick duress, choosing to launch the ball into the ground rather than risk taking a sack to fight another down. He also took two sacks with Jarran Reed and the duo of Leonard Williams/Byron Murphy II each getting to him, icing drives with those stops to force a punt and thwart a possession that was voluntarily ended by Pittsburgh to go to the locker room.

Once the second half arrived, while the 21-year pro deftly maneuvered in and out of the pocket a few times, including before the 65-yard completion to Warren, the onslaught on Rodgers continued. He frequently found himself under immediate pressure, leading to a number of rushed incompletions, while taking a second sack from Murphy in the fourth quarter with the outcome of the game no longer in doubt. Overall, he was hit eight times, with Murphy leading the charge smacking him three times and Williams getting to him twice, with several other impactful pressures not showing up directly in the box score contributing to the quarterback’s rough day with two picks and a 58.0 passer rating.