" 𝔹𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕢𝕦𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 "

The Seattle Seahawks (2-1), for whatever reason, cannot solve Marcus Mariota regardless of which team he’s playing for. Mariota is now 3-0 lifetime as a starter against Seattle, with his other wins coming as a member of the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta

Falcons.

In the most disappointing loss arguably of the entire Mike Macdonald era, three turnovers led to 21 Washington Commanders points, and Dan Quinn was able to get the better of his former team in a 33-31 upset victory. Sam Darnold threw four touchdown

passes in his return to action, but also had a costly pick-six that put the Seahawks down nine late in the fourth quarter.

Seattle’s winning streak is over at 12, and the champs have some issues to figure out as far as the run game and the low red zone. The defense actually held Washington to only 258 yards and four yards per play, but even elite defenses (especially without

two starting safeties) will struggle when the average starting field position is repeatedly favorable for the other team.

The Seahawks started on offense and gained a first down through Jadarian Price, but that’s all. Sam Darnold was nearly picked on his first pass but completed his second to Rashid Shaheed for 10 yards. Michael Dickson had his first touchback of the

season on a 4th-and-4 punt. Washington punted it right back after a 3-and-out.

Jadarian Price lost a fumble last week and lost one on the first play of Seattle’s second series. Can’t have that happening whether it’s a rainy day or not. The Commanders recovered just outside the red zone. Three plays later, Rachaad White made a good

catch past a diving Drake Thomas for the game’s first touchdown. 7-0 Commanders.

The Seahawks struggles continued on offense with a three-and-out, but the league’s best defense was having some major troubles. A 3rd and 11 was converted to Terry McLaurin on a rare coverage bust. Mariota audibled to a Bill Croskey-Merritt handoff,

and the second-year back took it 48 yards for the score. An illegal formation, however, nullified the TD. Dyami Brown had a 23-yard catch on the ensuing play, only for that to be nullified by expedited review when his second foot was found to be out of

bounds. Seattle got the ball back and finally got to work. Who do you think they went to? Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who caught three passes for 32 yards and drew a pass interference penalty. Seattle’s 90-yard touchdown drive was capped off by a JSN TD at

the 1-yard line. Hat tips to A.J. Barner and Brady Russell for their own explosive plays in the pass game. 7-7.

JSN takes it to the end zone @jaxon_smith1

After the two teams traded punts, the Commanders retook the lead off of yet another short field. Uchenna Nwosu nearly picked off Mariota when he dropped into coverage, and that dropped pick proved costly. Jaylin Lane took a screen pass 21 yards for

the first explosive pass allowed by Seattle all season. Treylon Burks beat A.J. Finley for the go-ahead touchdown. 14-7 Commanders.

Sam Darnold was dealing to Cooper Kupp, A.J. Barner, and Tory Horton for big gains. The Seahawks once again had a goal-to-go situation and again struggled to finish off the job. Three straight passes at the two-yard line all fell incomplete for a turnover

on downs. Washington actually had a -1 yard drive while backed up and had to punt it back to Seattle. Darnold couldn’t do a whole lot (in large part due to the excellent play by Amik Robertson), but there was enough for Myers to hit a 57-yard field goal.

14-10 Commanders.

A touchback gave the Commanders the ball at their 35, and Mariota hit an open Terry McLaurin for 18 yards. Another short throw put Washington in field goal range, and rookie Drew Stevens matched Myers with his own 57-yarder to end the half. 17-10

Commanders.

Marcus Mariota could’ve hit a huge play to rookie Antonio Williams deep down the field. Ernest Jones IV was in coverage and stayed in phase with Williams, who got his hands on the ball but dropped it. Big stop and a three-and-out by the Commanders

offense to start the half.

Disaster struck on Seattle’s opening drive, as Sam Darnold’s pass hit the helmet of Tim Settle and settled (heh heh, get it?) into the arms of the outstanding rookie Sonny Styles.

TOUCHDOWN! @CooperKupp 

Another costly turnover led to another Commanders touchdown. Terry McLaurin beat Josh Jobe on a typically brilliant McLaurin catch. 24-10 Commanders.

Sam Darnold went 5/5 on what was essentially a must-score drive for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Eric Saubert, for the time being, has a receiving touchdown. This might get overturned into a fumble recovery TD after the ball was ripped away

from him at the goal line. He recovered it so it’s a score either way, but it’s Saubert’s first touchdown since 2024. 24-17 Commanders.

It was another exchange of punts and sloppy penalties through the end of the third quarter. Seattle struggled to gain any traction in the run game. They could sure as hell throw the ball, and Sam Darnold was in a zone. He was escaping pressure in the

pocket and his best play was arguably an incomplete pass, as he avoided a sack and scrambled to find Rashid Shaheed, who was whacked for a roughness penalty. Shaheed didn’t catch the ball on review but the penalty was upheld.

After Smith-Njigba hit a double pass to George Holani on a trick play, Darnold took over the normal quarterback duties. Normal service resumed when it’s Sam to JSN for a tying touchdown!

A kickoff short of the landing zone resulted in another short-ish field for Washington. Terry McLaurin was unable to bring in a catch on third down, but A.J. Finley was tagged for a very harsh personal foul penalty for a helmet shot. McLaurin lowered his

helmet and Finley didn’t initiate any contact. McLaurin would feature on a 4th and 1 conversion on a perfect Mariota pass. Ernest Jones made a critical, possible touchdown-saving tackle on Mariota on the red zone to set up a Drew Stevens field goal. The

rookie converted to make it 27-24 Commanders with 4:34 to go.

Welp. Sam Darnold nearly threw a pick on a double coverage shot to Rashid Shaheed. He threw a pick-six to Kain Medrano, who replaced the injured Leo Chanal in the first half. The celebration penalty led to a longer PAT and a miss, but it’s still 33-24

Commanders.

 “Just [a] bad decision,” Darnold said of the second interception after the game. “Got out there, the [defensive] end did a good job of not letting me escape to the outside, and I had to make a quick decision, and I should’ve dirted it at his

 

feet.”

 “I saw him,” Darnold said of Medrano. “He made a really good play, but yeah, that’s a ball I’ve got to throw away.”

“You’ve got to tip your cap to those guys,” Darnold said of Washington. “They played a really good game defensively. You know, all around, they played a really good game.”

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald didn’t directly address Darnold’s turnovers, but it was clear he was unhappy with his team’s ball security all game.

“It’s kind of like a microcosm for the whole game,” Macdonald said of Darnold’s performance. “I think our guys played hard; I thought we did a lot of good things. Offensively, we thought we threw the ball relatively well, but we’ve got to take care of the

ball as an offense.”

Sep 27, 2026; Landover, Maryland, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) in the second half at Northwest Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Some horrendous defense and dominant play by Jaxon Smith-Njigba meant that the Commanders allowed Seattle free access to the end zone in next to no time. Cooper Kupp was wide open for his first touchdown of the season. 33-31 Commanders

with only 2:51 to go.

A second down incomplete pass gave Seattle a chance to get the ball back quickly and maybe burn one timeout at most. Rachaad White beat Drake Thomas to the edge and got an explosive run for a crucial first down. Mariota converted on a read-option

keeper on the next third down to secure victory. 33-31 Commanders Final.

The Seahawks return home for a stretch of five games at Lumen Field over the next six weeks, starting with the Los Angeles Chargers (0-3) on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 1:25 pm PT on CBS.

Head Coach Mike Macdonald: "We're Going To Go Back To Work And Get Better"

Sam Darnold: "Our Offense Can Be More Efficient And Can Be Better Operationally"

Cooper Kupp: "We Have To Find A Way To Finish"

Ernest Jones IV: "I Know How We're Going To Respond"

Drew Lock wheels and deals

I’m giving Lock the biggest winner tag. He was calm, composed, accurate, and looked like he was in comfortable command of the offense. His stat-line of 19/26 for 235 yards and three wonderful touchdowns to Jaxon Smith-Njigba actually undersold his

performance. JSN and Rashid Shaheed both had drops, otherwise his stats would look even better.

Whether Lock is a Seahawk in 2027 or not is not something I’m thinking about right now, but in a league where backup quarterbacks, let alone starting quarterbacks, are hard to come by (see: Atlanta Falcons), Lock will have a healthy free agent market

for him in some capacity.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba Week 2 Highlights vs Cardinals | Every Target and Catch

Jaxon Smith-Njigba might be going for OPOY again

What more can you say about JSN? His first catch goes for a career-long 82 yards and a house call. You’d think the Cardinals would try and sell out to stop him instead of waltz free on a busted coverage. Budda Baker, whom I’ve respected for a long time

as an opposition fan, was torched all afternoon by the NFL’s best receiver. It’s JSN’s first three-touchdown performance of his career, and his 155 yards is his fourth-highest total to date. There’s the Super Bowl repeat first and foremost, but what about

another OPOY award? He’s doing this with the backup QB!

The Seattle Seahawks (2-0) started fast but wasted some extra scoring opportunities in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals (1-1). There would be no such issue in the second half, as Jaxon Smith-Njigba shredded the Cardinals defense to the tune

of 9 catches for 155 yards and his first ever 3-touchdown performance. Seattle turned a 7-7 halftime score into a 2 rout, marking their franchise record 12th consecutive win. It’s also their 10th straight victory over the Cardinals, dating back to Russell

Wilson’s final start of his Seahawks career.

Whether it’s Russ, Geno Smith, Sam Darnold, or (in today’s case) Drew Lock, it doesn’t matter who the Seahawks quarterback is. The end result is a W over Arizona, and Lock earned huge praise for an outstanding 19/26, 235-yard, 3 TD, 0 turnover game

in place of the injured Darnold.

The running game had some struggles in the first half, with neither Jadarian Price nor Emanuel Wilson finding much running room. That changed in the second half, as they put up 119 yards on the ground, the bulk of which actually came from Wilson, who

got the bulk of the touches from late third quarter onward when Price left with a chest injury. Seattle finished with 162 yards on the ground, including 92 from Wilson, 52 from Price, and A.J. Barner getting a “Barnyard” push for a garbage time score.

The Seahawks kick coverage unit gave up a big return to Devin Duvernay, who set the Cards up at their own 43. Trey McBride caught the first pass of the game for nine yards, but the Cards would go -1 after that and punt it to Seattle.

After a Jadarian Price carry on the first play, Drew Lock’s first throw was an 82-yard touchdown to the most wide open Jaxon Smith-Njigba has probably ever been in his young NFL career. Somebody blew a coverage in Arizona’s secondary, and it might

have been Budda Baker, who had no chance. What a start! 7-0 Seahawks.

Arizona and Seattle exchanged punts on ensuing possessions, with Leonard Williams lighting up Jacoby Brissett on a third-down sack for his second of the season. The Cardinals got a good drive going with favorable field position, relying on rookie running

back Jeremiyah Love and Trey McBride to get them down the field. A pass interference on Rodney Thomas II extended Arizona’s possession from a field goal attempt to a new set of downs.

Faced with 3rd and goal at the 10, Brissett scrambled inside the 5 and just a few yards short of the goal line. To start the second quarter, Mike LaFleur had a decision to make as far as going for it or kicking a field goal to get points on the board. Trey

McBride was 1-on-1 with Josh Jobe and it wasn’t even a contest. 7-7.

After a couple of positive Lock throws to Rashid Shaheed, Seattle’s Notre Dame rookie Jadarian Price had his first bad moment in the NFL. Zaven Collins ripped the ball out and got the recovery for the game’s first turnover.

Seattle’s defense held firm and forced a punt. The Seahawks again had an encouraging start to a drive, only for an Abe Lucas penalty to drive them to 3rd and 12. Lock escaped pressure and had an open Rashid Shaheed on the crosser, but he had the ball

go through his hands. Michael Dickson’s ensuing punt backed the Cardinals up, then Arizona backed itself up more with a penalty. Seattle forced a three-and-out, got a good return by Shaheed and an iffy late hit penalty to make it a short field.

Lock found JSN for a couple of first-down catches and set up a goal-to-go. A slew of run plays with Price and Emanuel Wilson got to the 1-yard line. The bad news is those were four run plays, and the fourth one by Wilson was short of the goal line.

Seattle still got the ball back with a little time and a timeout left to at least get a field goal on the board. Drew Lock aggressively pursued a big play to Shaheed, but Will Johnson tipped it away. Cooper Kupp gained 16 and got out of bounds to give Seattle

a fighting chance to get into FG territory. JSN had a pass he couldn’t corral, then a flat-out drop, a catch on the third target in a row, and Drew Lock was sacked on the Hail Mary attempt.

Nick Emmanwori - "Ultimately it was just trying to figure out what was the best thing to do," Emmanwori said after the victory. "Whether it was going to heal on its own. It was just like a whole weird situation and I thought it was really good, but turned

out it was just the best decision to knock it out so I can be good early in the season, like right now."

 

Seattle Seahawks running back Emanuel Wilson (23) breaks a tackle from Arizona Cardinals safety Andrew Wingard (28) during a game at

 

State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. on Sept. 20, 2026.

 

 

Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Here’s a wacky play! Rashid Shaheed fumbled the opening kickoff, which Chazz Surratt scooped up and ran all the way inside Arizona’s 40-yard line! Just how Seattle drew it up!

After a 25-yard run by Jadarian Price, Seattle retook the lead on a 3rd-and-goal strike from Lock to, you guessed it, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. 14-7 Seahawks.

PICK! How did Julian Love catch this? What a play!!!

Jadarian Price Week 2 Highlights vs Cardinals | Every Play

Seattle turned another short field into points, albeit just three when Eric Saubert caught a pass on a checkdown and fell for a 10-yard loss. Jason Myers was on the money from 33 yards out. 17-7 Seahawks.

The Cardinals just couldn’t do anything on offense. No explosive passes, no explosive runs, nothing substantive for Brissett, Love, McBride, and others. It was unlikely the Cardinals would find a way to get more than 17 points on the afternoon.

A 10-play, 80-yard drive by the Seahawks took over five minutes off the clock and proved to be the back-breaker. Lock found JSN matched up with Budda Baker, and Baker got a 4k view of Smith-Njigba’s third touchdown of the afternoon. 24-7

Seahawks.

You want physical? Here’s physical. The Seahawks put up a 16-play, 70-yard drive lasting over 10 minutes. It was almost exclusively run plays, with the final one coming from tight end A.J. Barner for the last touchdown of the afternoon. 31-7 Seahawks

final.

The Seahawks will be back on the road for Week 3 against the Washington Commanders, who lost Jayden Daniels to an awful left arm injury and are now 0-2 to start the season. It’s an early kickoff at 10 am PT on FOX on Sunday, Sept. 27.