The Emerald City’s dreams of another Lombardi Trophy are taking a brutal hit, especially after Thursday night’s gut-wrenching 17-14 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos. After hoisting the Lombardi in February and bringing back 20 of 22 starters, we all had massive hopes for this 2026 season. So far, those expectations are getting kicked in the teeth, and it’s a tough pill to swallow looking at the offensive stat sheet from Denver.
The O-Line is Hurting Us, And It Shows
What gives with our offensive line, seriously? We saw the rotation between Christian Haynes and Beau Stephens swing heavily in Haynes’ favor against the Broncos. After slowly seeing his playing time decrease each week, Haynes played more than double the snaps of Stephens in that loss. But here’s the kicker: neither guy excelled. Haynes gave up five pressures, and Stephens allowed three. Whether it’s missed assignments in a new system or just miscommunications from all these lineup changes, our line is just not performing at the level we saw in 2025. This needs to get fixed, and fast.
Darnold’s Deep Shots, Shaheed’s Bad Break, and Horton’s Trial by Fire
Rashid Shaheed saw his lowest percentage of offensive snaps this season at 45.9%. But get this, he still tied his season high in actual snaps played at 39! That’s because our offense was on the field for a whopping 85 snaps. Eighty-five snaps for only 14 points, Hawks fans! On a brighter note, Shaheed and Sam Darnold finally connected for a couple of deep plays. But then the refs overturned a 32-yard completion, and Shaheed got hurt pulling in a 42-yard pass shortly after halftime. Talk about a gut punch.
With Shaheed sidelined, second-year receiver Tory Horton stepped up big, taking many of those snaps on both offense and special teams. Horton had a nice 13-yard punt return, and he pulled in a crucial 13-yard pass on 3rd & 8. But Darnold was off target on several other passes headed Horton’s way, including one that got batted down at the line, one that was completely uncatchable, and then that terribly thrown interception. Kirk Herbstreit somehow blamed Horton for that pick, but let’s be real. Yeah, maybe Horton could’ve been in a better position, but Darnold underthrew the ball late, and that’s where the finger needs to be pointed.
And just to pile on the injury front, tight end Elijah Arroyo’s night ended early too, with a shoulder injury on only his fifth offensive snap. Nick Kallerup stepped in and took Arroyo’s snaps the rest of the night. On the other side of the ball, our defense got pushed around a bit in the first half, letting Denver put up 14 points. Tyrice Knight played for the injured Drake Thomas, which is another blow to our depth.
We’ve got nine days to figure *something* out before Week 7, because guess who’s rolling into Lumen Field? Only one of the three undefeated teams left in the league: the Kansas City Chiefs. This isn’t merely another game, Emerald City. This is about showing if we’re still those Lombardi champs or if we’re just clinging to a memory. We need to see that fire, that grit, the 12s demand it!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Field Gulls.
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