NFL: Seahawks give game to Commanders with sloppy play

9/27/2026

(Landover, Maryland) The 2-0 Seattle Seahawks were on the road for a second straight week, this time all they way to the east coast. This is just one of two games they would have to play at that dreaded 10am start time on the west coast. The Hawks will play again on the east coast later this season at Carolina.

Washington came in the game with an 0-2 record and without their starting QB Jayden Daniels. Washington was looking for their first win of the season against the dfending Super Bowl Champs.

1st Half

Under rainy conditions, the game kicked-off with Seattle on offense. Starting QB Sam Darnold was back in the line-up but took a few drives to get back in rhythm. The big play was after a trade of punts on 1st down rookie running back Jadarian Price fumbled the ball on the Seattle 20. 

Washington didn’t waste much time with a short 4 play drive finishing with a 6-yard TD pass from Marcus Mariota to Rachaad White. Drew stevens hit the PAT and it was 7-0 with 9:08 to play in the first.

On Seattle’s 4th possession Darnell began to start hitting his targets as they would march 90 yards on 9 plays. A 32-yard screen to AJ Barner and then a 20-yard strike to Brady Russell to the 1 set up a short pitch and catch from Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 6, Jason Myers hit the PAT and it was all even at 7-7 with 13:27 to go in the half.

Washington was not intimidated and answered with a 60-yard drive 2 possession later capped off with a 13-yard TD pass from Mariota to Treylon Burkes and the Commanders went up 14-7 weith 6:47 to play in the half.

Seattle began their next drive on their own 20 and hit Cooper Kupp a couple of times on this drive to keep it alive and ended up with a 1st and goal on the Commander 5. After a hand-off to Emanuel Wilson for 3 yards, the Hawks then attempted 3 straight pass plays on 2nd, 3rd and 4th and goal from the 2 and could not connect missing twice to Barner and once to JSN.

With less than 2 minutes to play Washington opened the door to Seattle trying to stop them and get the ball back when they tried to pass on 1st down out of their own end zone and it was incomplete. After stuffing two runs the Hawks did get the ball back on the Commander 41. After a false start Seattle got back some of the yardage but was forced to kick a field goal whicvh Myers drilled from 57-yards to cut the lead to 14-10.

But, Seattle left time on the clock as well and Washington began on their own 35. Mariota found Terry McLaurin for 18 and would set-up a 57-yard field goal attempt that Stevens nailed to take those 3 points back as time expired ending the 1st half with the Commanders up 17-10.

2nd Half

The 2nd half looked like it was going to be different when the defense quickly shut down the Commanders with a 3 and out getting the ball back to Darnold and company on their own 18. After a pass and run of 7-yards each it was 1st and 10 on the Commander 32 when Darnold dropped back to pass and fired a shot aimed at JSN but the ball bounced off the helmet of a defensive tackle and popped up in the air only to be intercepted by Sonny Styles on the Seattle 43.

It took the Commanders 3 plays to strike when Mariota hit McLaurin on a back shoulder pass for 6 and Washington stretched their lead to two touchdowns up 24-10 with 10:43 to go in the 3rd.

Seattle re-grouped quickly taking over on their own 40 going on an 8 play 60 yard drive scoring on a 13-yard pass to tightend Eric Saubert who had the ball punched out of his hands just before he crossed the goal line but Saubert recovered it in the end zone for the score.

The next 3 possessions were all punts and Seattle got it back in the 4th quarter starting on their own 20. On this drive the Hawks pulled out a little trickery with a double pass from Darnold to Smith-Njigba who then found George Holani for a nice 14-yard pick-up. 2 plays later, Darnold would throw a dart to JSN from 11-yards out to tie the game at 24 with 11:53 to play in the game.

The Commanders answered with a 12-play drive that ended in a 36-yard field goal from Stevens to go up by 3.

On the following Seattle drive the biggest play of the game in a game with big plays was the Washington defense. On a 2nd and 15 from the Commander 49 Darnolkd came under pressure and tried to hit a safety valve over the middle but did not see linebacker Kain Medrano playing centerfield and he stepped up and picked the ball then returned it 50-yards for the touchdown.

The ensuing celebration drew a 15-yard penalty and Stevens missed the PAT but Washington was up 33-24 with 3:57 to play.

Seattle took over on their own 32 and Darnold was dialed in with JSN as they completed 3 straight passes of 18, 11 and 15 yards. Darnold then hit Tory Horton for 17 and then found Cooper Kupp in the end zone for a quick response to the pick 6. With 2:51 still on the clock the Seahawks were down just 2, 33-31 and had all 3 time-outs.

Seattle had not one but 2 chances to force the Commanders to punt the ball back to them for a chance to get down the field to attempt a game winning field goal. Washington took the ball on their own 33 and ran the ball for a yard, then an incompletion which took the clock to the 2:00 warning. On 3rd and 9, White got around the right side of the offense and sprinted 19 yards for a huge 1st down.

Seattle took a time out and then stuffed the run attempt for no gain, gave up 3 yards on 2nd and 10 to force a 3rd and 7 when they called their last time out. Mariota then faked the hand-off and kept it on an end around and picked up 9 yards for the 1st down to win the game. Mariota kneed it it as Seattle could not stop the clock and the Hawks suffered their first loss since last November snapping a 12 game winning streak.

Up and Down Offense and Defense

Sam Darnold had some really good numbers going 31-45 for 379 yards, 4 TD’s. But there were two big interceptions including a pick 6. The offense also failed to score any points with a 2nd a goal situation from the 2-yard line missing on 3 straight passes. 

The defense was a shell of what they looked like in their first two games. In the end they only gave up 258 total yards but a 49-yard touchdown run by Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt was called back because the Commanders didn’t have an eligible receiver on the line of scrimmage. That was on the other side of the field from where Croskey-Merritt ran and had no impact on the play in any way. So add another 50 yards and another illegal formation called back a 30 yard pass completion so easily add 80 yards to the 258 total.

Seattle’s defense gave up big plays in this game which was very uncharacteristic of this squad. The most disheartening would be the two long 3rd downs on Washington’s final possession where they picked up both 1st downs running the ball on 3rd and long.

Who is the most important player on the Seahawks squad?

The answer to this question is normally the Quarterback. But let’s take a hard look at this. Darnold was out for 99% of the regular season action over the opening 2 weeks and the Seahawks came away with wins.

They lose this game with Darnold throwing 4 touchdowns and scoring 31 points. Now only 24 of those points are on the defense with the pick 6 included. But Seattle’s defense felt slow and appeared confused at times. 

The question is why? There are plenty of veterans on the defensive side but one was missing in Sunday’s game, safety Julien Love. Without Love leading the secondary and being san overall steadying voice and force on the field it felt like something was missing. The Hawks defense certainly played like something was missing so just maybe, Julien Love is the most important player on this team as the QB of the defense. His presence was certainly missed in this game.

What’s Next?

The 1-2 Seahawks will look to bounce back and finally get back to Lumen field next Sunday when the Chargers come to town. Kick-off is 1:25pm. 

Washington got their first win of the season to improve to 1-2 and will face the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday in England. Kick-off is 6;30am Pacific time.

Post Game Press Conference

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