If there’s one thing that was confirmed after Week 1, it’s that the Seattle Seahawks can win games without their starting quarterback, Sam Darnold, operating the offense. Darnold went down with a hip injury early against the New England Patriots before Drew Lock took over and led Seattle to a 13-10 win.
Of course, Lock had support from the offensive playmakers, while the defense did the rest of the work, holding the Patriots to just 10 points despite New England taking the lead. Now, Ryan Fitzpatrick has given his assessment of the Seahawks. And while the former NFL quarterback is optimistic about the roster’s ability to operate without Darnold, he’s concerned about how long the team can sustain that success.
“It sounds like Sam has escaped a serious hip injury, which is good,” said Fitzpatrick on the Fitz & Whit podcast. “But the Seahawks- what a situation to step into if you’re a backup quarterback. You think about the things they have. They’ve got a dominant defense. We know that. They’ve got a defense that’s going to create turnovers. They’ve got this Jadarian Price kid that they’ve been raving about all offseason. He looked really good.
“And then JSN, the big play in that game for them was Drew Lock, a little five-yard spot route, and JSN takes it and goes 45 and a touchdown. So, the elite number one receiver, the reliance on the run game. Drew Lock very mobile guy going to be able to move around, but it’s a nice situation for a backup quarterback to land. We’ll see how long it goes, though.”
Sam Darnold suffered the injury on Seattle’s opening drive during the season opener. On third down, Patriots pass rusher Dre’Mont Jones sacked the quarterback. However, Darnold’s right leg appeared to take much of the impact as Jones brought him to the turf. While Darnold initially got up and walked toward the sideline, he was later listed with a hip injury.
Now, he is set to miss out on the Week 2 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Lock, meanwhile, will replace him after helping Seattle go up 1- 0. And once again, he will have his offensive playmakers to support him.
Lock completed 16-of-22 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown as Seattle came back from a 10-0 deficit to beat the Patriots 13-10. More importantly, the Seahawks won despite their offense not producing a touchdown until late. The team tallied 285 total yards, including 188 passing yards and 97 rushing yards.
Rookie running back Jadarian Price led the running game, as he rushed for 52 yards on 10 carries. Reigning Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba, meanwhile, recorded 8 receptions for 122 yards and one touchdown. The defense did the rest of the work, as the unit built pressure around New England’s quarterback Drake Maye.
Maye completed 23-of-33 for 178 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions, as the Seahawks sacked him three times. Seattle intercepted Maye three times in the fourth quarter, including Josh Jobe’s end-zone interception that sealed the victory.
In simple terms, the Seahawks don’t actually need Drew Lock to become Sam Darnold. Darnold was injured only five snaps into the season, yet Seattle still managed to win.
At the same time, however, it’s worth noting that while the unit started the season on a positive note despite a major injury on the offense, there is still a caveat. The Seahawks scored only 13 points, trailed New England 10-0 into the third quarter, and needed three fourth-quarter interceptions to complete the comeback. Seattle’s offense also didn’t exactly “fire on all cylinders” early, according to the team’s own postgame assessment.
For now, Seattle has shown it has enough around Drew Lock to weather Darnold’s absence, but Week 1 also exposed the limits of that formula. If the Seahawks want to sustain their strong start, the defense, running game, and playmakers will have to continue carrying the load while Lock avoids putting the offense in difficult situations.