Seattle, WA
Observations from Seattle Seahawks’ 21-19 loss to Rams
Despite four interceptions by Sam Darnold, the Seattle Seahawks somehow still had a chance to pull off a last-second victory in Sunday afternoon’s NFC West showdown against the Los Angeles Rams.
Instant reaction | Box Score
However, Jason Myers’ 61-yard field goal on the final play sailed wide right and the Seahawks suffered a 21-19 road loss to their division rival as the Rams took Round 1 between these two Super Bowl contenders.
The loss dropped Seattle to 7-3 and allowed the Rams to move into sole possession of first place atop the NFC West at 8-2.
Here’s a look at what stood out from the game.
Darnold’s interceptions prove costly
In a clash of two evenly matched teams, turnovers had the potential to be a differentiating factor. The Seahawks, despite all their success on offense this season, entered the week tied for the second-most turnovers in the league. The Rams’ defense, meanwhile, was tied for the fifth-most takeaways.
And sure enough, it ended up being the story of the game.
Darnold, who entered with just six interceptions this season, was picked off four times by the Rams’ defense. As a result, the Rams began four of their possessions in Seattle territory, and they converted two of those short fields into touchdowns.
For most of this season, the Seahawks were good enough to overcome their high turnover rate. But they essentially handed the Rams 14 points on Sunday, which they simply couldn’t afford to do against one of the league’s elite teams.
A gutsy defensive performance
It’s a major testament to their defense that the Seahawks still had a chance to win this game in the closing moments.
Seattle completely suffocated Los Angeles’ high-scoring offense for most of the afternoon, holding Sean McVay’s crew to just 249 total yards, which was the Rams’ second-lowest mark of the season. Matthew Stafford completed just 15 of 28 passes for a season-low 130 yards, while averaging a season-low 4.6 yards per pass attempt.
And for the final two-thirds of the game, the Rams simply couldn’t move the ball at all. The Seahawks limited the Rams to just 105 total yards and five first downs over their final eight drives, none of which spanned more than 25 yards.
Again, the Rams scored 14 of their 21 points on a pair of drives that started at the Seattle 3 and the Seattle 25. The fact that the Seahawks lost the turnover battle 4-1 and still nearly won should be at least somewhat encouraging.
Settling for field goals
Darnold’s interceptions were by far the biggest problem for Seattle’s offense. But they weren’t the only problem.
The Seahawks drove inside the Rams’ 15-yard line three times over the first two and a half quarters. But all three times, they settled for field goals.
Seattle’s first red-zone drive stalled at the 12-yard line after a pair of incompletions. Seattle’s second red-zone drive – a 15-play, 89-yard march at the end of the first half – stalled at the 3-yard line after Darnold was forced into a third-down throwaway.
And in the third quarter, the Seahawks drove into the red zone again but settled for another field goal. That came after back-to-back plays where Kenneth Walker III had a TD run called back by a holding penalty and Darnold missed a potential go-ahead TD pass by underthrowing an open Rashid Shaheed down the sideline.
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Despite some overcast skies, thousands of Seattleites showed up in rainbow colors and bright smiles to celebrate the Seattle Pride Parade on Sunday.The march kicked off at 11 a.m. along Fourth Avenue in downtown, and wrapped up around 3:00 p.m. near Seattle Center.Seattle Pride traces its roots to 1974 and has grown into one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations, drawing hundreds of thousands of people each year. (KOMO)
Here are three more coyote sightings reported to us in the past few days:
SATURDAY MORNING: Dwight emailed us this report:
At 9:53 this morning I saw a coyote walking down Brace Point Drive towards the Josslin building. He saw me and quickly changed direction and headed up California Drive. He looked healthy and happy, not starved and miserable .
THURSDAY EVENING: These next two came in almost simultaneously just after 8:30 pm Thursday via texts – this one, from 38th SW and SW Raymond:
This one, from 37th SW and SW Juneau:
You can browse our past sighting reports here.
The Seattle Seahawks are the defending champions following a fantastic run in 2025 which resulted in the second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history. Despite this, they’re not the favorites to win their division in 2026.
Instead, the Los Angeles Rams are the hot team, thanks in large part to the addition of Myles Garrett. The two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year does give them a huge boost, but the Seahawks know they can still win their division once again.
Here we dive into three reasons to believe that will be the case for Mike Macdonald and his team.
3. Passing attack will be improved
With Klint Kubiak leaving to take the head coaching job with the Las Vegas Raiders, Brian Fleury is set to take over as the offensive coordinator in Seattle. Fleury spent the past seven years with the San Francisco 49ers and was most recently their run game coordinator and tight ends coach.
He’s expected to feature a run-heavy offense once again, but that doesn’t mean the Seahawks aerial attack won’t be a problem for opposing teams. With Sam Darnold entering his second season with the team, he’s going to have far more comfort with his teammates. As Seahawks On SI’s Russell Baxter wrote, he’s also unsatisfied with his performance in the Super Bowl and wants to improve in 2026.
His motivation, along with the presence of Jaxson Smith-Njigba is enough for the offense to be as dangerous as they were last year. Rashid Shaheed having a full offseason with the team is a reason to believe they can be even better.
2. The run game will be a strength once again
Losing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III in free agency was a blow, but the Seahawks made sure to enter the new season with just as much firepower in the ground game. Even with Zach Charbonnet still recovering from a torn ACL, the Seahawks have a strong unit.
Led by rookie Jadarian Price, Seattle also has Emanuel Wilson and George Holani. There might not be many proven options, but as Seahawks On SI’s Michael Hanich writes, the coaching staff trusts this unit.
Offensive coordinator Brian Fleury had success leading the rushing attack in San Francisco last year and his defensive background has him favoring a more violent and punishing rushing attack. That will allow the Seahawks to wear teams down with the ground game, even without Walker.
1. Mike Macdonald continues to build the defense to fit his vision
During his first season as head coach, Mike Macdonald led Seattle to the 11th best scoring defense, which was a massive jump from 25th the prior year. They shot up the leaderboard again in 2025, finishing with the No. 1 scoring defense, which is what led the way during their title run.
Macdonald made those improvements by building the defense to his preference. They have trusted veterans on the defensive line and have built a strong nickel defense with defensive back Nick Emmanwori as one of his key pieces.
This offseason, he added another versatile defensive back in Bud Clark, a speedy pass-rusher in Dante Fowler Jr., and a big-bodied cornerback in Julian Neal. Macdonald also allowed Boye Mafe to leave while putting Derick Hall in position to take on a larger load. All these moves have given them a defense that Macdonald can turn into an even better one than we saw last year.
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