The Seahawks played some good football and some not-so-good football in their first loss in 12 games. In addition to the Seahawks’ lackluster play, give credit to the Marcus Mariota-led Washington Commanders. The Commanders made the plays they needed to win their first game of the season. The Seahawks, on the other hand, struggled a execute when the game demanded it.
The opening drive showed how the game played out. On first down in the opening drive, Jadarian Price ran for an 11-yard gain. On the following first down, Sam Darnold threw an incomplete pass to AJ Barner on second down. Darnold threw an incomplete pass, and Price was tackled for a four-yard loss on third down. On 3rd down, Darnold connected with Rasheed Shahid for a nine-yard gain, which was short of the needed yardage. After a delay-of-game penalty, the Seahawks punted.
DEFENSE RISES TO THE OCASSIN FOR THE MOMENT
The defense held the Commanders to a three-and-out. After receiving the punt, the Seahawks offense went back on the field for just one play. Price fumbled the ball on first down. The Commanders turned the turnover into seven points when Mariota connected with Rachaad White for a six-yard touchdown pass and from there, the Seahawks chased the game all afternoon. Another stop by the defense saw the ball go back to offense, which tied the game on a six-yard touchdown pass from Darnold to Smith-Njigba early in the second quarter.
After both offenses punted the ball back, the Commanders took a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter. Mariota recorded his second touchdown pass of the game with an 11-yard pass to Treylon Burks. A promising 12-play drive by the Seahawks stalled on fourth and two. Darnold’s pass to Barner fell incomplete, and the offense turned the ball back to the Commanders on downs.
DEFENSE HOLDS
An inspired defensive stand forced a Commanders three-and-out, which the Seahawks converted into a 4-play drive that ended with a 57-yard field goal by Jason Myers. The defense’s inspired play was temporary. The Commanders responded with a 5-play drive that took 52 seconds and ended with a 57-yard field goal, which saw the half with the Commanders leading 17-10
MORE INCONSISTENT PLAY
The Seahawks defense regrouped at halftime and forced a Commanders three-and-out to start the second half. While the Seahawks’ defense played well, the offense was the exact opposite. Darnold threw an interception on the third play of the Seahawks’ next offensive series. Mariota threw his third touchdown of the day to give the Commanders a 24-10 lead.
OFFENSE ANSWERS.
After shaking the cobwebs out and clearing his mind, Darnold answered with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Eric Saubert, narrowing the deficit to 24-17.Saubert catch the ball just outside of the goal line, crossed the plane fumbled the ball but fell on it. A booth review confirmed the touchdown. Another defensive stand gave the ball back to the offense, which looked like it had found its rhythm. Donald’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Smith-Njigba tied the game at 24-24 with 11:53 left.
DISASTROUS MISTAKE
The Commanders answered with Stevens’ 36-yard field goal to take a 27-24 lead. All signs pointed to a promising comeback when Darnold and the offense trotted back on the field with a first and ten at the Seattle 30-yard line. After moving the ball to the 49-yard line, Darnold threw the costly interception. On second and 15 from the 49-yard line, Darnold rolled right and threw a pass intended for Barner.
Kain Medrano snatched the ball and rambled 50 yards for the pick-six.
“ Yeah , just being at the right time at the right place. We had a defense on and I just found the space, “Medrano said after the game.
Darnold rallied the Seahawks offense one more time. He engineered a masterful five-play, 68-yard drive that took 1:06 for a score. Darnold hit Kupp with a screen-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to three, 33-31.
The Seahawks’ last chance for a desperate comeback dissipated when Mariota converted a 3rd-and-seven with a nine-yard run with 1:06 left in the game. The Seahawks were out of timeouts, and the game ended with two kneel-downs by Mariota.
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