Despite Loss, Sam Darnold Shows That Seahawks 'Have A Very Special Quarterback'

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold was outstanding in his team’s Week 5 loss to the Buccaneers.

Oct 05, 2025 at 06:48 PM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

After a thrilling, but ultimately disappointing loss, Sam Darnold couldn't help but focus on his final play in the Seahawks' 38-35 defeat to the Buccaneers.

With the score tied at 35-35 and the Seahawks trying to drive for a winning score, Darnold found himself under pressure on second-and-1, and while trying to throw the ball away, his pass glanced off the helmet of a Buccaneers defensive lineman, causing it to pop into the air and into the hands of linebacker Lavonte David.

That interception gave the Buccaneers a short field, and after running the clock down, they were able to kick the game-winning field goal.

"The last turnover, definitely on me," Darnold said. "I was just trying to throw it away. I think it might have deflected off a helmet. Once I saw it was going to be hot to my left, I just tried to throw it away, and I think it deflected off somebody's helmet. At the end of the day, I got to protect the football in that situation and can't give them a short field to put the game away like that. Also want to give credit to those guys, Tampa Bay. They're a tough team. Every game they're in I feel like they fight until the very end, so you got to give them a lot of credit."

But while Darnold was hard on himself after the loss, noting he should have changed the protection on that final play based on what he saw pre-snap, no one watching for the entirety of Sunday's game should have come away with any impression of Seattle's quarterback other than that he played another outstanding game in a season full of them.

"Sam was great," Seahawks coach Mike Madonald said. "Sam played a tremendous football game. I thought we were going to have a chance to win the game there at the end. What was it, 99-yard drive, fourth down, extended plays, I thought Sam played tremendous."

As Macdonald pointed out, there was indeed a 99-yard drive, which came on the possession before that fateful interception. With the game tied at 28-28, the Seahawks defense forced a punt, which was downed at the 1-yard line. But Darnold and the offense, which had scored touchdowns on four consecutive drives up to that point, were able to calmly march down the field on an eight-play, 99-yard drive, finishing things off with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Tory Horton on fourth-and-2.

"Sam's fantastic," said tight end AJ Barner, who was on the receiving end of two of Darnold's four touchdown passes. "He's doing a heck of a job. Just how consistent he is, how hard he plays, how he leads, we have a very special quarterback here, and I think people are starting to find that out. We're going to continue to ride with him."

Darnold finished the day 28 for 34 for 341 yards and four touchdowns, all of those numbers representing season-highs, and his 135.4 passer rating gives him three straight games with a rating over 111. So while Darnold will lament that final deflected pass turned interception, his teammates came away from the game even more impressed with their new quarterback.

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"He's a great leader," said running back Kenneth Walker III, who had 86 yards on 10 carries. "That one play doesn't define who he is. He played a great game. We wouldn't have been in that position if Sam didn't make that play to Tory. He could have gotten sacked, but he spun out of it and made a play. He made plays all day, so I feel like people shouldn't just harp on him making that interception."

On that touchdown to Horton, the Seahawks elected to go for it on fourth-and-2 rather than kick a go-ahead field goal, and Darnold rewarded the decision by evading pressure, rolling to his left, and finding a wide open Horton for the rookie's third touchdown reception, and fourth overall touchdown, this season.

"He's got some magic up his sleeves," Horton said. "He's always on top of his game, and just the way he maneuvers in the pocket, that's something that's very underrated. You've always got to stay alive, and that's stuff we rep in practice, and he and I made eye contact, and we knew we had a play."

"We know he's a great competitor, a great player. We know he makes a lot of great plays, and one play doesn't define his game. We know he's an outstanding quarterback. He goes out there and leaves his heart on the field. You can tell with his game, he's always on point, he's sharp. Shoot, he's a great quarterback."

While the ending of the game will be the focus, players on the Seahawks offense also lamented the way the game started. For most of the first half, the Seahawks were shut out, coming up empty on each of their first four possessions, not so much because Tampa Bay's defense was shutting them down, but because penalties, as well as a fumble when Jalen Milroe tried to pitch the ball to Walker, kept the Seahawks from finishing drives. Seattle's fifth drive of the game, and last of the half, ended with a touchdown, as did their next four, but it wasn't quite enough with the Buccaneers offense and quarterback Baker Mayfield also having a big game.

"That was an incredibly impressive performance by (Darnold)," said receiver Cooper Kupp, who had six catches for 59 yards. "There were so many guys that stepped up and made big plays. It's crushing for it to end there. Even in that situation, Sam is making the right decision, he's trying to dig the ball, and it hits off someone and stays up. It's unfortunate. Shoot, we had so many opportunities out there today. Caught a lot of breaks. It seemed like in the first half we couldn't catch a break, and in the second half we were catching all of the breaks until the end there. A lot to clean up. Shoot, we have to be better offensively. There's a lot left out there that we got to be better at. I'm looking forward to watching the tape."