Five sacks on Sam Darnold against the 49ers in Week 5. Five! That’s the most he’s seen go down in his entire run with the Seahawks, and frankly, it’s gotta be a gut punch we sort out immediately before Thursday Night Football. We just took a tough divisional loss, and now we’re staring down a quick turnaround into a fight with a Denver Broncos defense that *lives* for putting QBs on their backs.
The Week 5 Sacking Was a New Low For Darnold’s Tenure
Look, the Week 5 loss to the 49ers was already a bitter pill. But seeing Darnold get absolutely hammered five times? That wasn’t just a bad stat, that was a wake-up call screaming into the Lumen Field rafters. Our guy hasn’t been sacked that much since he became a Seahawk, and you just can’t have your quarterback getting punished like that. Especially not when you’re turning around on a short week to face a unit like Denver’s. We were good at protecting Darnold last season, so we really need to believe that San Francisco game was an outlier. But believing ain’t enough, right? We gotta see it on the field.
The Broncos Defense Isn’t Just Good, They’re Sack-Machine Consistent
Here’s the kicker: The Broncos aren’t just some flash in the pan. Vance Joseph’s defense has been racking up sacks like it’s going out of style for years. They led the whole league in sacks in both 2024 with 63, then again in 2025 with 68. And guess what? They’re already sitting on 13 sacks through five games this season, making them a top-10 unit for the third straight year. That kind of continuity and consistent production, with guys like Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto still crushing it, means they’re not just hoping for sacks, they’re *expecting* them. This isn’t just a strong defense, it’s a stiff challenge for an offensive line that just had its worst outing of the season.
This Thursday night on TNF against the Broncos? That’s the ultimate test to see if Week 5 was just a blip or if we’ve got bigger issues brewing. The protection has to be better, period.
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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