"No way to sugarcoat it. That one sucked."
That was how Sam Darnold opened his postgame press conference Thursday night after a 17-14 overtime loss to the Broncos. He was talking about his performance, but he could have been talking about everything offensively from both sides ... and, from a neutral viewer's perspective, the game as a whole.
The Broncos won despite 168 yards of offense, the fewest in an overtime win in NFL history. The Seahawks generated 353 yards of offense but wasted much of it with three turnovers and a missed field goal.
In one word: yuck.
Both Nix and Darnold are going through major struggles of very different types this season. Darnold is tied with Justin Herbert with seven interceptions this year, and that's despite him missing most of the season opener and all of Week 2 with a leg injury.
Nix, meanwhile, is averaging an NFL-low 5.6 yards per attempt, and he's not really exploring trying to raise that rate. His 4.9 air yards per attempt is not just the lowest in the NFL this season, but the lowest by any quarterback through six games in the last 20 seasons. After the game Thursday, Amazon Prime analyst and former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ripped into Nix for "not playing competitive football."
If there's one thing bonding both teams -- and both quarterbacks -- it's that the mini-bye comes at a very good time to evaluate, re-evaluate and make changes. It's not as if the world is crashing down: Seattle is 3-3, Denver 4-2. But it's clear neither is operating at a Super Bowl-winning level or close to it, and given the high expectations of both, that isn't good enough.
"They're incredibly valuable," Mike Macdonald said about the extra three days. "Yes, incredibly valuable. So the responsibility, or onus, is on us to go make it come to life. So that's what we intend to do."
But can either quarterback actually do it?
Sam Darnold's struggles: Turnovers, pressure, no Kenneth Walker III
All turnovers are bad, but not all are equally bad. Both of Darnold's turnovers Thursday were of the "really bad" variety. In the fourth quarter, down 14-11, the Seahawks faced a third-and-1 at the Denver 39-yard line. It was in Jason Myers' field goal range, and if Seattle wanted to get aggressive, they could have gone for it on fourth down. Instead, Darnold did this:
Then, after leading a really impressive drive to force overtime, Darnold did this on the third play of the extra session:
You simply cannot take points off the board and hand points to the other team, especially in games like this, where points are at a premium.
And it's not just this loss. It's every loss so far. The Seahawks have 12 turnovers this year, second-most in the NFL behind only the hapless Chargers. Ten of those 12 have come in losses. In Week 3 against the Commanders, Darnold threw two picks, including a late pick-six. Last week against the 49ers, Darnold threw two more picks, and a terrible George Holani fumble while Seattle was simply trying to run the clock out in the first half resulted in a San Francisco touchdown.
The Seahawks' three losses are by a combined eight points. Those turnovers loom really, really large. They're also canceling out games Seattle largely controls. The Seahawks have already lost two games in which they out-gained their opponent by 150+ yards. The rest of the NFL combined only has two such games.
Darnold has always been a wildcard (at best) when it comes to ball security. He led the NFL with 20 turnovers last year, and he's on pace to have roughly the same number this year. His 4.7% interception rate is on track to be a career high, though it's probably due to regression a bit.
The issue is that Darnold isn't offsetting those turnovers with good play, as he did last year. His numbers across the board are down.
Sam Darnold | 2025 | 2026 |
YPA | 8.5 | 6.9 |
Explosives per dropback | 11.1% | 7.8% |
Sack pct | 5.4% | 8.6% |
TD-Int | 25-14 | 7-7 |
Three things are coming into play here, and they're all related. First, the Seahawks can't run the ball. They're 26th in rushing success rate and 31st in rushing expected points added.
This is where they really miss Kenneth Walker III, who wasn't the most consistent back down-to-down but provided so much explosiveness to make up for it. Just look at what he's doing in Kansas City.
If defenses don't need to worry about the run as much, they don't have to respect play action as much, either. In fact, Kirk Herbstreit pointed out on the broadcast Thursday that the Broncos' linebackers weren't even taking a step down to stop the potential for a run on play action.
Darnold was one of the NFL's best play-action passers this year. He hasn't been the same this year.
Sam Darnold ranks on play action | 2025 | 2026 |
YPA | 2nd | 13th |
Air yards per attempt | 2nd | 27th |
EPA per dropback | 2nd | 26th |
That middle column is key. The downfield elements of the play-action passing attack aren't there. Seattle is also running into a chicken-or-egg issue under new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury. Darnold has been under center on just 44% of his snaps this year, down from 54% last year. But is that because the opponents aren't respecting the under-center play actions? Either way, the drop-off has been steep.
And finally, Darnold's protection has not been good. Again, it's related. Is the protection not good because the play action isn't good, because the run game isn't good? Regardless, Darnold is being pressured on 45% of his dropbacks, up from 35% last year.
"You could say it's on the offensive line," Macdonald said postgame. "It's on our offense. You know, it's both. So, it's how efficient we can run the ball and we can move the ball other ways. So, but the quarterback is getting hit way too much. So everybody sees that."
Verdict: There are fixable elements here, but it really starts with Darnold not turning the ball over. Zach Charbonnet's return could help, but relying on an already not-explosive runner coming off a torn ACL to fix everything is unreasonable. Rather, Fleury will have to find creative solutions, and Seattle will have to run the ball better to make everything easier for Darnold. As it turns out, Klint Kubiak and Kenneth Walker III were really good at their jobs.
Bo Nix's struggles: No downfield passing attack
Nix's deepest completion Thursday was 8 yards downfield. He did try three deeper throws, but all three were incomplete: a deep shot to Marvin Mims Jr. that got broken up, an underthrow intended for Jaylen Waddle and a crosser to Courtland Sutton that got broken up by a big hit.
It's clear that Nix not only doesn't want to throw downfield, but that the Broncos don't trust him to make any plays downfield.
Nix has 13 plays on third down Thursday night. He went 4 for 11 for 32 yards with one sack and one 0-yard run. He gained just two first downs on the 13 plays overall, and he threw short of the sticks on nine of his 11 passes.
The final two failures particularly peeved Fitzpatrick from a competitiveness standpoint. The first came with 1:25 left in regulation and the Broncos up 14-11. The screen wasn't open, so Nix threw the ball into the dirt, stopping the clock, too. The Seahawks saved their last timeout and tied the game on the ensuing drive. Then in overtime, Nix got stuffed on a designed run. Afterward, Fitzpatrick implored Nix to "make somebody miss and get a first down for your football team."
Denver is looking more "Checkdown City" than "Mile High City," too. Nix is targeting his running backs on 24.3% of his throws, the highest rate in the NFL among players with at least 120 dropbacks.
That's not necessarily a bad thing -- Brock Purdy is right behind him at 23.2% -- but you can't target running backs a ton and never push the ball downfield. Purdy is averaging 7.8 yards per attempt, an average number. Nix, again, is at an NFL-low 4.9. From CBS Sports researcher Doug Clawson:
After the game, Payton praised Denver for finding a way to win, explaining that different games are won different ways.
"Not one turnover; we put it on their end of the field."
He was praising his team for punting. That's where we're at.
When asked if he's playing conservatively in part because he has a great defense to support him, Nix said no: "I try to be extremely aggressive when I get the opportunities."
That hasn't been the case this year. Nix has attempted a "Big Time Throw" (per PFF's standards) five times on 203 dropbacks. The only players with lower rates (min. 150 dropbacks) are Jacoby Brissett, Kirk Cousins, Daniel Jones and Cam Ward. Bad company.
If anything, Nix is getting less aggressive. He has attempted one Big Time Throw in the past three games.
Nix, like Darnold, entered the season with a new play caller. Unlike Darnold, his team has already switched. Davis Webb called plays Weeks 1-4 before Sean Payton took over in Week 5.
This way of winning can work. In fact, it has worked four times this season against a pretty difficult schedule. But look under the hood of the Broncos' 4-2 record and see a team with a -11 point differential and a -577 yardage differential. The offense had no chance to keep up in losses to the Chiefs and 49ers and needed a Talanoa Hufanga pick-six and a pass interference call the NFL said was incorrect to keep up with the Rams.
The 2026 Broncos are the first team to start 4-2 or better while averaging 4.5 yards per play or fewer 2023 Browns. That team, with an excellent defense and an iffy-at-best quarterback, went 11-6 and made the playoffs but lost in the Wild Card round. Right now, the Broncos look like a similar outfit.
Verdict: The play-calling musical chairs hasn't been helpful. Payton gave the reins to Webb this offseason, only to take them back after four games. But Nix's unwillingness to push the ball downfield effectively has become a feature, not a bug. Can it be changed? Sure, but Nix playing more aggressively might just look like ... Darnold. Last year, Nix was tied for the eighth-highest Big Time Throw rate in the NFL. He doesn't have to get all the way back there, but he, Payton and Webb must find ways to push the ball. Playing an easier schedule will help. It's fixable, but it will take an overhaul of what's happened so far.
