The Seattle Seahawks dropped a gut-wrenching 33-31 game to the Washington Commanders today in Landover, Maryland, and yeah, that sting is back. It’s been way too long since November 2025, when we last felt a loss this deep, but now we know: Marcus Mariota is still undefeated as a starter against our Emerald City squad. The statistical anomaly kept rolling, and frankly, my mood is worse.
No One Is Safe From Blame in This Messy Loss
This wasn’t just a tough beat, folks. For much of the game, the Hawks looked straight-up horrible, and honestly, everyone had a hand in it. The offense couldn’t get anything going on the ground to save its life, repeatedly stalling and turning the ball over a whopping three times when we desperately needed drives. On defense, our Dark Side unit, which usually holds strong, bent and then completely broke, giving up three touchdowns and letting the Commanders convert crucial third downs with the game on the line. Special teams? Don’t even get me started on Jason Myers kicking the ball out of bounds immediately after we clawed back to tie it up, gifting Washington prime field goal position. That’s just unacceptable. Penalties were also a complete disaster again, haunting us just like in the preseason. We even had an illegal formation penalty right before Darnold’s pick-six that pushed us back to 1st and 15, basically killing any chance of a run play and making that drive infinitely harder.
Darnold’s Misstep, Fumbles, and Thin Secondary Are Big Flags
Now, let’s talk individuals. Sam Darnold played pretty well for his first game back, *except* for that one killer throw. Driving for what could have been the game-winning score, he threw a late game pick-six. During our winning streak, he largely avoided those. That INT off the helmet? Probably just bad luck. But the one he threw over the middle was way more egregious. Jadarian Price also got put on a super short leash after his early fumble, his second in just three games. Crappy conditions or not, you gotta hold onto the rock, Jadarian, especially when trust is so key. Even our incredible Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who continues to show why he’s arguably the best WR in the NFL and kept dragging us back into the game, had an easy drop for a potential first down. And the thin depth at safety? It’s showing big time. No disrespect to AJ Finley, but he’s a quantum leap below Julian Love, and part of the defense’s struggles are because we’re playing short-handed. Guys taking meaningful snaps just aren’t as experienced or talented as Love. Mike Macdonald won’t be happy; his defense couldn’t force a single turnover against Mariota and kept giving up crucial running plays on third and long. We need Julian Love back from that calf injury ASAP.
This loss stings, especially after such a long winning streak. We’ve got to clean up the turnovers, the penalties, and figure out how to stop opponents on third down. It’s early in the season, but these are the kinds of lessons that need to stick. Let’s hope Love’s calf injury is a quick recovery and that the 12s can rally the Hawks to get back on track next week.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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