From Super Bowl Champions to No Playoffs At All? The Seahawks Have a Sam Darnold Problem

When this season started six weeks ago, I was looking forward to seeing my Seattle Seahawks defend their Super Bowl title and prove that last season wasn't a fluke. I wanted to see this team show that they weren't a one-year wonder and that the success they had with Sam Darnold under center and Mike Macdonald running the defense was sustainable for years to come.

Well, six games into the season, some of the haters may have been right.

While a 3-3 record isn't what I expected, I don't think it's the end of the world just yet. Before the season began, I projected the Seahawks to be 4-2 at this point, and the only game I truly believe they should have won was their Week 3 matchup against Washington. As far as I'm concerned, they're only one game behind where they should be. But it's how they've gotten to this point that has me absolutely terrified about this team.

The defense is still humming and remains one of the best in the league. Mike Macdonald has shown that he's among the best defensive minds in the NFL, and I have no reason to believe that will change anytime soon.

However, this offense has been awful. Despite having what I believe is the best wide receiver in the NFL in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks' offensive performance has been nowhere near good enough.

I didn't go into this season needing them to or even expect them to repeat as Super Bowl champions, but I did expect them to be among the NFL's best teams and show they would be capable of making another deep postseason run.

Based on what we've seen so far, that's looking increasingly unlikely, and a lot of the blame falls on the shoulders of quarterback Sam Darnold.

To be fair to Darnold, this season hasn't been easy from the start. He has had to adjust to a new offensive play caller in Brian Fleury (who has been awful) following Klint Kubiak's departure to become the Raiders' head coach. Then, just four offensive plays into the season, Darnold suffered a glute injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game. At the time, there were concerns that the injury could be season-ending. While it wasn't, it looks like it could end up being season-altering.

Since returning in Week 3 after missing the Week 2 matchup against Arizona, Darnold has looked like a shell of the quarterback we saw last season. He's thrown 7 interceptions in 4 games, and while he led the league in turnovers a year ago, he was also able to make up for those mistakes with explosive plays and long touchdowns. He showed off his mobility in the pocket and his ability to escape pressure and extend plays. This season, we've barely seen any of that. Instead, he's turning the ball over at an alarming rate and looking like he's seeing ghosts again. Once his first read to Smith-Njigba is taken away, he looks completely lost out there.

I also don't think the lack of a running game is doing him any favors. The offensive coaching staff hasn't done enough to tailor this offense to Darnold's strengths. The injuries to Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price have left the team without its top running backs, while the departure of Kenneth Walker may have been more significant than many Seahawks fans anticipated. Without a reliable running game, Darnold is being asked to throw the ball far too often, putting more pressure on him to make plays and creating more opportunities for turnovers.

But the biggest concern right now isn't simply the interceptions. It's his decision-making and accuracy that have me terrified. Darnold isn't just making mistakes that can be attributed to bad luck or a lack of support around him. He's making decisions and missing throws that make you question whether the quarterback we saw last season is still in there.

At the same time, Seattle isn't making things easy on him. The offensive line has been horrible, allowing Darnold to take far more hits than he did last season. The lack of a running game is putting him in a position where he's being asked to do too much, making it increasingly difficult for him to find the same success he had a year ago.

It's gotten to a point where every time he and the offense take the field, I expect the worst to happen.

With every passing game, things seem to be going from bad to worse. Darnold has already matched his loss total from the previous two seasons, when he went 14-3 with the Vikings and Seahawks. This simply doesn't look like the same quarterback we've watched over the past two years. His confidence looks rattled, and the longer these struggles continue, the more difficult it will be to turn things around.

Luckily for Seahawk fans, the team gets ten days off before its next game. Unfortunately, that next matchup comes against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Former Seahawk Kenneth Walker will also be coming to town, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him break the team's streak of not allowing a rusher to get over 100 yards and forr 35 straight games as the Super Bowl MVP will look to make a statement against the team he helped carry to a Super Bowl title last season.

I still believe the Seahawks can turn things around in the second half of the season, but I expect them to lose next week, fall to 3-4, and suffer their third consecutive defeat. That would set up a critical stretch in which we'll learn a lot about what kind of quarterback Darnold really is and how he handles adversity at this stage of his career.

Right now, the way Darnold and this offense are playing, it feels like if Smith-Njigba isn't open, the ball is just as likely to end up in the hands of the opposing defense. That's a massive problem when you look at the quarterbacks Seattle still has to face this season. You cannot keep giving elite quarterbacks short fields and extra opportunities to put points on the board, which then makes you play catch up all day.

Before long, the Seahawks could find themselves chasing games and falling further behind in the playoff race.

At this point, I have a hard time seeing three teams from the same division make the playoffs in consecutive seasons. The 49ers are sitting at 5-0 and have already beaten both the Rams and Seahawks, putting themselves in a strong position in the NFC West. I expect the Rams to find their groove to some extent, and even if they haven't quite lived up to the hype, they're playing better football than Seattle right now.

That leaves the Seahawks in a troubling position, potentially on course to become the rare defending Super Bowl champion that misses the playoffs the following season.