The Seattle Seahawks lost a 17-14 OT heartbreaker to the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. While public criticism immediately targeted QB Sam Darnold for a late INT, Seahawks WR Cooper Kupp quickly stepped in to defend his teammate, insisting the entire offense failed to pull its weight.
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Standing in the locker room at Empower Field at Mile High, Kupp pushed back hard against the idea that Sam Darnold should carry the blame alone. The veteran wideout made it clear that Seattle’s offensive breakdowns went far beyond QB play.
“The loss is going to be put on Sam at the end of the day. But we were all out there,” Cooper Kupp told the reporters during the post-game press conference. “He is going to own that, and that is who he is. We are not doing good enough offensively to get him into a flow, not enough job in the run game, protecting him. Sam is going to wear that, but that’s who he is. But that’s not fair to him since we all have a role in the offense.”
Taking accountability, Kupp said the offense has not done a good enough job of letting Darnold play in rhythm or get into a flow, turning small plays into big ones, producing in the run game, or protecting him.
“Sam’s going to wear all that because that’s who he is. We all definitely have a role in what’s going on,” he added further.
Just as Kupp said of Darnold, the Seahawks QB took full accountability for the mistakes on the field.
“I just think it’s ‘BS’ for me to keep turning the ball over,” Darnold said post-game. “It’s not fair to our defense, not fair to our special teams’ group, not fair really to the entire team. So I have to be better that way.”
Those turnovers proved devastating after Seattle fought back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime. Darnold led two scoring drives to tie the game at 14, but three total turnovers, including Ja’Quan McMillian’s OT interception and Rashid Shaheed’s lost fumble, wiped out an impressive late rally in Denver.
The game tape backs up Kupp’s frustration. Denver’s defense hit Darnold 17 times, bringing Seattle’s two-game total to 10 sacks surrendered. Darnold completed 27 of 51 passes and was sacked five times against Denver’s relentless blitz packages.
HC Mike Macdonald acknowledged the dangerous trend, noting that QBs get hit too much and confirming that the staff must find urgent solutions to protect their passer.
Seattle now sits at 3-3, having dropped three games by a combined eight points. They have entered their mini-bye, and Macdonald will be seeking answers before hosting Kansas City on October 25.