Sam Darnold arrived in Denver on Thursday night as the quarterback of the reigning Super Bowl champions. He left Mile High having been sacked five times, intercepted twice, and — on the very first possession of overtime — picked off to set up the game-winner. The Seattle Seahawks fell 17–14 to the Broncos.
It was a night of two halves for Darnold. Stymied all evening, he nearly stole the game anyway, piloting an 11-play, 67-yard fourth-quarter drive capped by George Holani’s one-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion pass that cut Denver’s lead to 14–11 with 3:37 left. Then, after a late interception looked to have ended Seattle’s hopes, Jason Myers drilled a 34-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to force overtime. Thursday night’s game report details the full drive chart.
Overtime lasted one Seattle possession. Darnold’s pass was intercepted by Ja’Quan McMillian, and Denver needed only four plays and eight yards before Wil Lutz booted a 53-yard field goal to win it — a “field-goal drive” in name only.
A pass rush that ruled the night
The Broncos’ defence owned the evening. Five sacks told only part of the story; Darnold threw 51 passes for 278 yards but was pressured relentlessly throughout. Bo Nix needed only 17 completions for 107 yards on the other side, and Denver managed just 30 yards and two first downs in the entire second half. It was not pretty, but it was enough: Denver improved to 4–2 while Seattle dropped to 3–3, its second straight defeat after Sunday’s loss to San Francisco.
An honest reckoning
Head coach Mike Macdonald did not hide from the statistic that decided it. “We have to take care of the ball. Sam knows that,” he said afterwards, adding that he was proud of his team’s fight. “However, there are things we need to get better at quickly. We know those things. They’re in our control… we have some work ahead of us.”
For all the misery of the night, the champions’ season is far from over. Only days earlier, the 49ers survived Seattle in another bruising divisional battle to stay perfect at 5–0, and the standard at quarterback remains the league’s veteran elite — Aaron Rodgers gets his reunion game this weekend as the Steelers host the Colts.
