DENVER -- Shortly after the Seahawks fell in overtime to the Broncos on Thursday, quarterback Sam Darnold addressed his teammates in the locker room.

Darnold led two scoring drives in the fourth quarter to help the Seahawks force overtime in an eventual 17-14 loss, but he also threw a pair of interceptions, one that ended a drive late in the fourth quarter prior to the possession that resulted in the tying field goal, and another crushing one in overtime that set the Broncos up to kick the game-winning field goal without getting a first down.

"I just think it's B.S. for me to keep turning the ball over," said Darnold, who has seven interceptions this season, including six in his team's three losses. "It's not fair to our defense, it's not fair to our special teams group, it's not fair really to the entire team, so I've got to be better that way."

Receiver Cooper Kupp noted that the Seahawks need to do a better job around their quarterback, whether it be providing a reliable rushing attack or pass protection. On Thursday, Darnold was sacked five times and hit 17 times by Broncos defenders. He's been sacked 10 times in the past two games.

"He knows what it is, he doesn't want to turn the ball over," Kupp said. "We all know that. A lot's going to get put on Sam for the result at the end of the day, but we're all out there with him, and we all have a responsibility in this. We all play a role in protecting the football. He's going to own that, I know he's going to own that, because that's who he is, but we are not doing a good enough job offensively to allow him to play in rhythm, we're not doing a good enough job allowing him to get into a flow, turning small plays into big plays. We're not going to do a good enough job in the run game, we're not doing a good enough job protecting him. There's a lot of things that need to improve. Sam's going to wear all of that, because that's who he is, but it's not really fair for him to shoulder all if it when we all have a role in what's gone wrong."

Darnold talked during the week leading up to the game about wanting to play decisively, and he felt like for much of the game he did that, including early on when the Seahawks moved the chains on their opening drive, only to have the drive stall out on consecutive sacks. But then in the fourth quarter, he tried to fit a throw into Tory Horton while backing away from pressure, and Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine was able to dive in front of Horton for the pick. Then in overtime, facing third and long, Darnold tried to drop a sideline shot between coverage to Rashid Shaheed, and cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian was able to intercept it.

Darnold said the first pick was an errant throw forced by the pressure, but said on the second pick, "I just got greedy… That play specifically, I should have just gotten it down to Coop. Coop ran a really good route right under the sticks, and I feel like he would have caught it and got the first down. I've just got to continue to go through my progressions and trust it.

"Really, the whole game I felt like I was really decisive, there's a couple of plays I'd like to have back. Unfortunately that's sometimes how football goes, but that's not acceptable for me to keep turning the ball over that way."

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said after the game that as a team, "We have to take care of the ball. Sam knows that, he told the team that. We've got to take care of the ball."

But Macdonald also noted that the Seahawks need to do a better job keeping Darnold from taking many hits and sacks.

"The quarterback is getting hit way too much, everybody sees that." Macdonald said.

A big reason Darnold wanted to take ownership of his mistakes was the fact that he felt like he let his team, and the defense in particular, down in a close loss. Seattle's defense gave up two early touchdowns, but after that second score in the second quarter, the Broncos managed only two first downs the rest of the game, punted seven times, and only got into position to kick a game-winning field goal because of an interception.

"No way to sugarcoat it, that one sucked," Darnold said. "Can't turn the ball over. That's obviously at the forefront of my mind, but there's just a lot we can do better. Obviously, we're driving, we're running the ball, we're dropping back and having some things work in the drop back game -- some of the play-action stuff was a little iffy tonight -- but we've just got to be better, all around. It starts with me. We've just got to look at who we are as an offense, look at things that we do well, things that we don't do well, and go from there.
When you have a defense and a special teams group that are playing the way they are for us, for me, I've just got to protect the football. Dropping back and taking what they give me, I feel like I did a pretty good job of that in the first half, then late in the second half, those two plays, can't have it."

Seahawks teammates and Macdonald pointed to the fact that Seattle's offensive problems go beyond a couple of poor throws from Darnold, but the fact that the team's Pro Bowl quarterback put it on himself after the game is meaningful to the team and should help the Seahawks moving forward.

"To me, I think he did a great job himself, he broke down the huddle, he took ownership on everything today," said defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who has been teammates with Darnold starting at USC, with the Jets and now the Seahawks. "… I have a personal relationship with Sam, I've been around him since college, we've been on multiple teams together, so I have that relationship where I can approach him and talk about whatever. But I feel like we all trust him, and he trusts in himself, and I feel like he'll get out of it."