The Seahawks probably should’ve wrapped this one up ages ago, but they eked out a 23-20 win, and at the end of the day, that’s what counts. And Sam Darnold? He might’ve just given us a glimpse of what this offense can look like when it’s running mistake-free football. Something we never really got to see with Geno Smith at the helm.

He accounted for 242 yards with one touchdown and not a single pick. Not mind-blowing, but if one watched him play tonight, they’d call it a near-perfect showing. And Mike MacDonald is a fan. “Sam is playing out of his mind right now. He is doing a great job leading us right now,” he said.

The Seahawks offense was already showing solidity when they went into halftime with a 14-3 lead. The game looked done and dusted, until the Cardinals scored two late touchdowns to put the game on level. Arizona had the momentum, and that’d put any opposing QB under huge duress. But not Sam Darnold.

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He didn’t do anything extraordinary, but he kept his composure. And honestly, that’s all this team ever needed. Instead of trying to be the hero, Seattle’s new QB1 did what Geno Smith so often couldn’t: keep it clean and keep it moving. No wild heaves, no back-breaking mistake.

He racked up just enough yards for Jason Myers, the kicker, to get close enough to his ideal field goal range. He somehow avoided getting sacked in the final drive in what could’ve been an otherwise big bottle job for the Seahawks. They finished the game 23-20, thanks to his smart play.

Now put that against what Geno would’ve done in this scenario. Or, well, what he did in his Seattle days. Remember that matchup vs the Packers in December last season? Geno took a low hit and had to leave the game. But he had already gifted the Packers an interception in the end zone, while the Hawks were already in field goal range. It was his fourth red zone interception of the season (most in the NFL at the time) and fourth interception on a throw into the end zone (tied for most in the NFL at the time). Seattle ended up losing the game 13-30.

Anytime things went sideways, he’d throw a fit. Sure, everyone gets frustrated, but a captain? That’s not how you lead. It would be safe to argue that Seattle would’ve lost this game if Smith were still around. But outside of the QB play, the defense did its part, too.

Seattle’s defense builds on its strong start to the season

Sam Darnold stole the headlines, as he should. And it’s fair to pin the blame on the defense for the (almost) comeback, but that’s far from the case. Heading into tonight’s fixture, the defense had already shown a lot of promise.

They’d kept opposing QBs’ ratings down to just 77.5 (sixth-best in the league), limited yards-per-play to 4.7 (eighth in the league), and were racking up turnovers very effectively: 16.3% of the time, sixth-best in the NFL. Tonight, too, it was more of the same.

Arizona could barely get out of neutral in that error-riddled first half. Just 3 points. Seattle’s defensive line was living rent-free in the Cardinals’ backfield, hounding Kyler Murray into two interceptions and recording six sacks.

This defense could be a big problem for the Buccaneers next week.