After a surprisingly strong start to the season, the Seahawks now sit at 3-2 following a 35-38 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While several factors contributed to the defeat, Sam Darnold’s interception on the final play arguably sealed the outcome. Postgame, he took responsibility for the mistake.

Taking full ownership of that final interception, he said, “I feel like that was bad quarterback play on the last snap,” Darnold admitted. “I felt like we could go down and put Jason Myers in a position to be able to win the game. That was disappointing for sure,” he added.

The final snap couldn’t have gone worse. Seattle had just tied the game, and with two minutes left, Sam Darnold had a chance to take it back. He started strong, picking up a short gain to move the chains. But on the very next play, disaster struck. His pass bounced off a defender’s helmet and dropped straight into Lavonte David’s hands. Tampa Bay took over with 58 seconds left, and the momentum.

The Bucs ran down the clock, and Chase McLaughlin nailed a 39-yard field goal as time expired. Just like that, Seattle’s near-perfect afternoon unraveled into a cosmic joke. It wasn’t a bad read. The route was clean. If anything, it came down to sheer bad luck. And the worst part?

Darnold was brilliant all afternoon. He went 28-of-34 for 341 yards and four touchdowns, keeping the offense in rhythm and punishing Tampa’s front. For most of the game, he looked exactly like the franchise quarterback Seattle thought they were getting.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba was Darnold’s go-to target, hauling in 8 catches for 132 yards. A.J. Barner became a red-zone cheat code, grabbing 7 passes for 53 yards and two touchdowns. Add Kenneth Walker III’s 86 rushing yards, and for the first time all season, Seattle’s offense looked complete.

But when Darnold stepped up to take the blame, his teammates weren’t having it.

Locker room backs Sam Darnold

The Seahawks locker room didn’t point fingers. They backed their quarterback. Instead of dwelling on the interception, teammates praised Sam Darnold for a standout performance.

“Everyone keeps talking about the interception. Sam played a great game,” Kenneth Walker told reporters. And A.J. Barner, who caught two TDs said, “We have a very special quarterback here.” And they’re right.

If you’re grading Darnold by the box score, that interception was brutal. But if you’re grading him on poise, command, and the ability to make Seattle look like a real passing offense again, this game was another statement. And he has been stacking those all season.

This is exactly the Darnold Seattle paid for back in March in a $100 million deal after shipping Geno Smith to the Raiders. The player who was supposed to bring consistency and edge to an offense that couldn’t stop tripping over itself. And he is already doing what Geno couldn’t: playing mistake-free, controlled football. Remember the Cardinals game?

Seattle was up 14–3 at halftime, only to see Arizona claw back to 20–20. Old Seahawks might’ve panicked. Darnold didn’t blink. He drove the team just far enough to get Jason Myers into his comfort zone for the walk-off field goal. It’s still insane how he avoided getting sacked on that final drive. The Seahawks edged it out 23-20. He’ll end up being the difference in the Seahawks’ playoff hopes.