Sam Darnold’s two late interceptions erased Seattle’s chance to complete a comeback in Denver, as the Seahawks fell 17-14 to the Broncos in overtime Thursday night at Empower Field at Mile High.
Seattle, the reigning Super Bowl champion, slipped to 3-3 and now trails the San Francisco 49ers by 2½ games in the NFC West. Darnold led an 11-play, 67-yard fourth-quarter possession that ended with George Holani’s 1-yard touchdown run, then connected with Rashid Shaheed for the two-point conversion to make it 14-11 with less than six minutes remaining.
But the quarterback was picked off on Seattle’s next possession while attempting a third-and-1 pass for Tory Horton. Jason Myers later drilled a 34-yard field goal to force overtime, only for Darnold to throw another interception on third-and-7 while targeting Shaheed. Denver converted that takeaway into the game-winning field goal.
“There’s no way around it,” Darnold said. “That one hurt. I can’t be turning it over. That’s the first thing on my mind, but there are plenty of things we can improve.”
What changed for the franchise
Ball security has become Seattle’s defining offensive problem. Darnold has thrown seven interceptions in four games since coming back from a glute injury in Week 3, matching his seven touchdown passes over that stretch. He entered Week 6 ranked 29th in Total QBR at 34.4.
The veteran quarterback told his teammates he had to own the result.
“It’s B.S. for me to keep giving the ball away,” Darnold said. “It’s not fair to the defense, the special teams or the whole team. I have to be better.”
Head coach Mike Macdonald said Darnold addressed the turnover issue in the locker room and emphasized that the entire offense must protect the football.
“We have to protect the ball,” Macdonald said. “Sam understands that, and he said it to the team. We have to take care of it.”
Seattle generated only 91 yards before halftime and lost another possession when Shaheed fumbled. The offensive line also had difficulty slowing Denver’s rush. Darnold was sacked five times for the second consecutive game and absorbed 17 official quarterback hits.
Macdonald said some of the pressure came from protection failures, including unblocked rushers on consecutive sacks during an early drive, while other plays required Darnold to get the ball out faster.
“Our quarterback was hit too much,” Macdonald said. “We have to protect him better, and we have to make quicker decisions with the football. They rushed well and covered well, but we don’t want those hits.”
Darnold had told offensive coordinator Brian Fleury after Sunday’s loss to San Francisco that he needed to play with greater decisiveness. He believed he did that during the first half in Denver, but said the decisive late mistakes outweighed that progress.
On his first interception, Darnold said he bypassed an option in the flat to Cooper Kupp and made an inaccurate throw under pressure. In overtime, he again passed on Kupp, who had broken open underneath the first-down marker.
“I should have gotten it to Coop,” Darnold said of the overtime turnover. “He ran a really good route under the sticks, and I think he catches it and moves the chains. I have to keep working through the progression and trust it.”
The loss wasted a strong recovery by Seattle’s defense. Denver produced touchdown drives of 74 and 79 yards in the second quarter, but the Seahawks forced punts on each of the Broncos’ remaining seven full possessions in regulation. Five of those series ended in three-and-outs.
“I’m really proud of the resolve from our guys,” Macdonald said. “They executed at a high level against a very good offense. After those first two touchdown drives, they found answers, played together and had a great second half.”
Seattle has committed 12 turnovers through six games, including 10 in its three losses. Those defeats have been decided by a combined eight points, while opponents have turned the 10 takeaways into 44 points.
Darnold led all players with 20 turnovers during the previous regular season, though he made the Pro Bowl and then went without a turnover in the playoffs despite playing through an oblique injury. Defensive tackle Leonard Williams said the quarterback accepted responsibility after Thursday’s defeat.
“He took ownership of everything today,” Williams said. “We trust him, he trusts himself, and I believe he’ll come out of it.”
