The Seattle Seahawks are staring down a serious turnover crisis, and on Sunday, it cost them another game. A 33-29 loss to the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field was decided by turnovers, with two Sam Darnold interceptions and two lost fumbles from the backfield sealing their fate. Three of those giveaways turned into 21 points for the 49ers, snapping Seattle’s nine-game home winning streak and dropping the defending champs to 3-2.
It is becoming a familiar, frustrating pattern. The Seahawks have turned the ball over nine times in five games, tied for the fifth-most in the NFL. That includes three turnovers in their Week 3 loss to the Washington Commanders. Coach Mike Macdonald knows they need to clean this up fast. ‘We need to grow quickly in terms of complementary football. Definitely [in] taking care of the football. Way too many giveaways at this point in the season,’ Macdonald said.
For the second straight week, Darnold threw a pick on Seattle’s opening possession, and he added another one in the third quarter. He was sacked five times, his most in 24 games with Seattle, but he kept some plays alive under heavy pressure. Darnold finished 18 of 29 for 195 yards and a touchdown. He knows he made some bad calls. ‘There’s a couple of decisions that I would like back,’ Darnold said. ‘The second one that I threw, just being able to kind of throw that over the top and let him go get it. I think the other one is just poor decision. Just got to continue to trust myself, trust my feet, trust what I’m seeing… But just got to be better taking care of the football.’
It is not just Darnold, though. The backfield is a mess right now. Emanuel Wilson lost a fumble in the second quarter that set up an easy touchdown for San Francisco. Then, with seconds left in the half, George Holani got stripped in the end zone, gifting the 49ers another seven points. Wilson is starting as the lead back with Jadarian Price out with a chest injury, and Zach Charbonnet is still recovering from ACL surgery. Without Price’s explosiveness, the run game has struggled, with Wilson and Holani combining for just 68 yards on 24 runs.
The defense and special teams did everything they could to keep Seattle in the game. Jason Myers hit all five of his field goals, and Nehemiah Pritchett forced a muffled punt fumble and picked off a pass. The defense held the 49ers scoreless for three quarters, with San Francisco’s early points coming entirely off turnovers. But once the offense kept handing the ball over, the defense cracked in the fourth quarter. Wide receiver Cooper Kupp was visibly frustrated. ‘We were very aware of how good the defense is playing… And then you gift them seven points there at the end. We just can’t do that. Offensively, we put the defense in a lot of really tough positions. They have bailed us out over and over and over again, and we just can’t do that,’ Kupp said.
The final drive showed just how messy things got. Seattle had a chance to tie or win, starting with a 35-yard completion to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But Smith-Njigba dropped the next two passes, including an uncontested deep throw that could have sealed it. Smith-Njigba caught five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown, but those late drops stung. ‘I have to reel those ones in and I know that,’ he said.
Last year, the Seahawks were also 3-2 at this point before going on a massive run. But Darnold is quick to shut down any comparisons. ‘I think a lot of guys are just pissed about not winning the game. Again, it’s a whole different year… There’s a lot of things that we need to get better at, plain and simple. We got to have a sense of urgency to do that.’ With a short week ahead before facing the Denver Broncos, they cannot afford another sloppy, turnover-filled game.
