The Seattle Seahawks came into Sunday's heavyweight battle with the Los Angeles Rams as one of the hottest teams in football. The defense was shutting everybody down and Sam Darnold was carving up secondaries left and right.
The defense held up their end of the bargain on Sunday in Hollywood, stifling an explosive Rams offense after a shaky first quarter. However, Darnold reverted back into the player that fans got accustomed to seeing back during his time with the New York Jets, throwing four interceptions in a 21-19 loss.
After the game, Darnold spoke about his struggles and how he will learn from this loss, via ESPN's Brady Henderson.
“I can't turn the ball over as much as I did today,” Darnold said, per Henderson. “I'll learn from it, watch the tape, grow from it. You've got to give credit to the Rams. Obviously, they're a really good defense, a really good team. But I've got to be better, personally.”
Despite Darnold's struggles, the Seahawks still got the ball back with a chance to win the game late. After a Kenneth Walker II touchdown run cut a nine-point deficit to just two, the Seahawks defense forced a stop and got Darnold the ball back on his own one-yard line.
Seattle worked its way into fringe field goal range, but Jason Myers missed a 61-yard field goal as time expired.
“When it comes to us being backed up on the 1-yard line, that was just, ‘Let's go play ball,'” Darnold said after the game. “We're still in this despite the turnovers and all the things that happened prior to that. That's a huge credit to our defense, the way that they played all day. I just wish I could have played better for our defense and just everyone on the team.
“It stings and it sucks. It should suck. I'm just going to continue to grind and learn from this one the next couple days.”
The Seahawks now drop to 7-3 on the season and are right in the middle of the NFC playoff picture even after this loss, but it will be tough to catch the Rams in the division race now after this loss. However, the two teams will square off again on a Thursday night in Week 16, so that could have massive implications in this race as well.
