LANDOVER, Md. — At halftime of the Seattle Seahawks’ blowout win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday night time at Northwest Stadium, Sam Darnold had 4 landing passes and nil incompletions, having related on all 16 of his makes an attempt.
He didn’t understand it till somebody advised him — a no-no in soccer akin to speaking a few no-hitter in baseball.
“Clearly, I can really feel the move of the sport and perceive that we’re doing actually good on offense, however no I didn’t know that I hadn’t thrown an incompletion,” Darnold stated after the 38-14 victory. “It was fairly cool. Somebody at halftime stated to me that I hadn’t thrown an incompletion, so I believe he’s in charge for throwing an incompletion within the second half.”
By the point Darnold missed for the primary time, the Seahawks had been nicely on their approach to a win that improved their report to 6-2 — and boosted their quarterback’s MVP odds within the course of.
“Not going to say who it was,” Darnold stated with a smile, refusing to surrender the offender.
Darnold completed 21-of-24 for 330 yards, 4 touchdowns and one interception earlier than he was pulled in favor of Drew Lock with simply over seven minutes left. That was ok for a Whole QBR of 97.8, the most effective in any sport of his eight-year NFL profession.
In accordance with ESPN Analysis, there have been 4 cases of a participant recording a QBR of 97 or increased in a sport this season, and Darnold has three of them. The others are his performances in opposition to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5 (97.4) and the New Orleans Saints in Week 3 (97.3). Darnold’s three such video games are tied with Tom Brady (2007), Tony Romo (2014) and Lamar Jackson (2019) for probably the most by a beginning quarterback in a season since ESPN started monitoring Whole QBR in 2006.
“Sam’s execution proper now, he’s simply ridiculous,” coach Mike Macdonald stated. “All of the issues we’ve talked about that he’s been doing, however decisive, making sensible selections, our receivers are doing an ideal job, I assumed the safety was actually good.”
The Seahawks had been short-handed at receiver, with Cooper Kupp, Jake Bobo and Dareke Younger inactive. It didn’t appear to be it, although, with Darnold throwing landing passes on every of Seattle’s first 4 possessions. He related twice with rookie Tory Horton — who assumed Kupp’s function of No. 2 receiver — earlier than hitting rookie tight finish Elijah Arroyo and veteran receiver Cody White.
Darnold’s 87.5% completion charge was the second highest in a sport in Seahawks historical past (minimal 10 makes an attempt), behind solely Russel Wilson’s 88.6% in a 2020. By finishing his first 17 passes, Darnold tied the franchise report that Warren Moon set in 1998, which was additionally to start the sport.
“Imagine me after I say it, I’m not stunned,” Macdonald stated of Darnold’s completion streak. “We watch Sam daily and the way he operates, and he’s the identical man daily, which is what you’re keen on about him. We’re chasing it. The blokes are decided, and it’s enjoyable to look at. When the workforce comes collectively, that’s the kind of stuff you are able to do once you play the suitable method, you put together the suitable method. Our coaches deserve a number of credit score. I assumed [offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak] referred to as an ideal sport.”
Jaxon Smith-Njigba prolonged his NFL lead in receiving with 129 yards on eight catches, marking the sixth time in eight video games he has topped triple digits.
Smith-Njigba was requested in regards to the etiquette noticed with a quarterback who’s off to an ideal begin.
“We steer clear of him slightly bit and simply let him do his factor,” he stated. “I believe any person may’ve broke the information to him, however yeah, truthfully, I didn’t know. We had been simply in such a move and simply on the market dealing, so it was nice to see that.”
In accordance with ESPN Analysis, Darnold started the day with 60-to-1 odds to win MVP, per ESPN BET. These odds improved to 18-to-1 by the top of the sport.
With their win, the Seahawks are 4-0 on the highway this season and 11-1 for the reason that begin of final season.
Seattle misplaced center linebacker Ernest Jones IV to a knee harm and cornerback Josh Jobe to a concussion within the second quarter. Macdonald stated of Jones’ harm, “It’s not season ending, however we’ll see the way it goes.”
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