TOP STORIES
Week 1
Sam Darnold Lasted One Drive. The Season Kept Going Without Him.
The 2026 season was about ninety seconds old when it tried to end. Sam Darnold took a sack on third down to close Seattle’s opening possession, limped to the sideline tent, limped from the tent to the locker room, and was ruled out before halftime with a hip injury. Five plays. Thirteen passing yards. A banner went up in the rafters and the quarterback who won it went down under it.
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Darnold’s passing yards for the 2026 season so far, all of them from one drive.
Then the night got better, slowly, in the least comfortable way possible. Mike Macdonald said after the game that doctors had ruled out a fracture. Adam Schefter reported Darnold had left the stadium for a CT scan at Harborview that came back “encouraging but inconclusive,” with an MRI scheduled for Thursday. “Let’s say it’s good news right now,” Macdonald said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Sam; we love him, and the guys really pulled through for him.”
They did. Drew Lock, who per Cooper Kupp had not taken a single practice rep all week because why would he have, went 16 of 22 for 187 yards, one touchdown, zero turnovers and a 113.3 rating. On fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter, Brian Fleury lined up in heavy personnel, let New England commit to the run, and had Lock flip a short play-action pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who broke a tackle and ran 45 yards to tie the game.
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He walked onto the field cold, in the loudest building in football, and threw for 187 yards without giving the ball away once.
Seattle trailed 10-0 into the third quarter and won 13-10. Nobody is going to frame the box score. The banner is up, the record is 1-0, and the whole city is now waiting on one MRI result like it’s a jury verdict.
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Defense
Three Picks in One Quarter, From a Secondary Missing Two Safeties
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Interceptions thrown by Drake Maye, all of them in the fourth quarter. It was the first three-pick game of his career.
Do the roll call on who was available for that. Ty Okada was inactive with a hamstring. Nick Emmanwori was inactive with the ankle. Julian Love was the only safety on the 53-man roster without a status next to his name all week, so Seattle signed AJ Finley to the active roster and elevated Thomas II off the practice squad on the morning of the game. Thomas II then tipped the pass that started the whole thing.
“We live in the death zone,” Jobe said afterward, “and we came alive and we took the ball away.” The offense scored thirteen points and the defense still made it feel comfortable. That is a specific kind of team, and we have seen it before, in February, against these exact people.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Kam Chancellor gave the speech and Richard Sherman raised the 12th Man flag as the Super Bowl LX banner was unveiled in the rafters, alongside a Paul Allen video tribute, Steve Raible on the mic and Mike McCready’s guitar anthem. Whoever booked that pregame understood the room. Yahoo Sports
Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught eight passes for 122 yards and the only touchdown, most of it in the fourth quarter, with a backup quarterback throwing him the ball. The reigning Offensive Player of the Year did not appear to notice the change. Seaside Joe
Jadarian Price got his first NFL carries and gained 52 yards on 10 of them, leading a committee backfield. He’d have had more if the line hadn’t spent the night jumping early. Three false starts turns a run plan into a passing situation in a hurry. ESPN
Seattle went into the opener with two of its top three safeties inactive, Emmanwori still working back from July ankle surgery. Julian Love picked off a pass anyway and the ready squad handled the rest. The skeletal safety room held for exactly one week. Let’s see about two. ESPN
Cooper Kupp confirmed Drew Lock had not taken a single practice snap all week, since Sam Darnold was, you know, the starter. Macdonald said afterward he’d find the right way to thank him. Start with a full week of reps. Yardbarker
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
The Rams landed in Melbourne just before dawn Thursday, held one brief walkthrough at a stadium that isn’t the one they’re playing in, and plan to be back in the air before Friday’s sun goes down. About 36 hours on the ground, bookended by two 15-hour flights. “We’re well-rested. We feel good,” Sean McVay said, which is what everyone says at the exact moment they are neither. Ask them Saturday.
NINERS
San Francisco spent nine days acclimating in Australia and then lost a starting defensive lineman at Tuesday’s practice. Kyle Shanahan announced Wednesday that Alfred Collins tore a patellar tendon and is out for the season. Not in a game. Not against an opponent. At a Tuesday session, 8,000 miles from home, before the opener even kicked off. That plane ride home is going to feel long.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
This defensive tackle out of California was Seattle’s third-round pick in 2007, made the PFWA All-Rookie Team, and spent nine seasons in Seattle before signing with San Diego. Who is he?
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Brandon Mebane. He was taken 85th overall, played his first four years at left defensive tackle and the next five on the right side, and won a ring with the Legion of Boom teams.
THIS DAY IN SEAHAWKS HISTORY
2017
September 10, 2017
A Season Opener That Went the Other Way
Nine years ago today, Seattle opened the season at Lambeau Field and lost 17-9 to the Packers: nine points, three field goals, no touchdowns. Same calendar slot, same opening-night stakes, wildly different drive home. Last night the offense scored thirteen and everyone called it grit. That night it scored nine and everyone called it a crisis. Both times the defense was the reason anybody was still talking.
Got a Question? Ask It.
The Mailbag runs on reader questions, and after a night like that you have to have a few. Hip timelines, Lock’s leash, whether we’re allowed to feel good yet. Send it in and sign it with a name and a neighborhood.
One down, sixteen to go. Go get an MRI, Sam. — The Rooster