“Obviously we’re disappointed, but it’s very clear to me that we have a great team.” – Mike Macdonald after the Seahawks lost to the Rams, 21-19

Imagine if Sam Darnold had played a normal football game – one without four interceptions and a 1-for-4 red zone performance. The Seahawks could have blown out the Rams. That is clearly what Mike Macdonald was thinking after the Hawks fell short, 21-19, on Sunday.

Darnold’s poor performance aside, Macdonald seemed quite satisfied with how his team played. It was a big litmus test for his defense, and that unit’s dominance clearly validated to him that the Seahawks are in fact a Super Bowl contender.

“Obviously we’re disappointed, but it’s very clear to me that we have a great team,” Macdonald said. “We’re going to learn to win games like that, and we’re going to learn from weeks like this. We’re young. You’ve got a young head coach — I’m learning how to prepare our team from week to week. So we’re all learning, we’re all growing. I actually think that’s a competitive advantage for us as we start to grow.”

As for this game, the Hawks dominated the Rams in every category except those big ones mentioned at the top. Matthew Stafford engineered one long scoring drive; the two others were shorties off Darnold’s interceptions.

Seattle’s defense, which got off to a shaky start with a bunch of missed tackles, ended up shutting down Stafford like no other defense has this season. That is why Macdonald was so encouraged.

But Darnold ruined it with his constant poor decisions.

He still needs to prove he has the “clutch gene” (as Matt Hasselbeck called it earlier this year) or the “big game gene” (as Kurt Warner called it Sunday). Facing the Rams for the first time since he was sacked nine times in a 27-9 playoff loss with the Vikings last season, Darnold played like he had PTSD from that experience. He pressed way too much and was inaccurate for most of the game.

Because Jason Myers’ 61-yard attempt on the final play was off, Darnold did nothing to quell doubts that he can win big games. Many will point out that he has failed in last-minute comebacks against the top playoff contenders they have played: San Francisco, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles.

The Seahawks now lead the NFL with 20 turnovers, and Darnold has been responsible for 14 of them (10 interceptions and four fumbles). He was not sacked by the Rams, but he surely would have exchanged a couple of those picks for a couple of ball-eating sacks if he knew it meant the difference between winning and losing. And it did.

“A tough one today,” Darnold said. “I felt like despite the turnovers, we moved the ball well; we just couldn’t finish in the red zone. I think that was a big thing today. I can’t turn the ball over as much as I did today. I’ll learn from it, watch the tape and grow from it. I have to give credit to the Rams. They’re a really good defense, a really good team. I have to be better personally, and I know we’ll bounce back and learn and grow from this one.”

As much doubt as many might still have about Darnold, Macdonald and Seattle players have not lost faith in him. To a man, they supported their quarterback.

“Man, Sam’s been balling,” Ernest Jones IV said. “If we want to try to define Sam by this game — man, Sam’s had us in every (bleeping) game. … He’s our quarterback; we’ve got his back.”

Macdonald summed up the team sentiment: “Keep ripping it, man. We love you, and we’ve got your back.”

More dominant wins on horizon

Macdonald and his players clearly are looking forward to the rematch on Thursday Night Football on Dec. 18.

“We’re going to be seeing a lot of these guys,” Macdonald said. “We’re going to see them twice a year, possibly three (times), and to me it’s who evolves best from game to game, who learns from it, who grows the most is going get the advantage every time we play. Every time we play it’s an absolute knock-down, drag-out fight.”

For now, the Hawks are still 7-3 (right where we projected them to be) and on pace for 12 wins (we projected 13). There are still seven games left – the Hawks should win at least five of those.

You have to pity the terrible Titans, who have the unenviable task of hosting a pissed-off bunch of Seahawks next Sunday. That should be the first of several dominant wins by the Hawks, who then will host the Vikings and visit the Falcons.

Those are the warmups for the December proving ground: They host the resurgent Colts in Week 15 before that quick-turn rematch with the Rams. They finish at Carolina and San Francisco.

Zabel watch

Grey Zabel suffered a painful knee injury and had to be helped off the field, but early speculation is that it might just be an MCL sprain rather than the dreaded ACL. That would mean perhaps an absence of 4-6 weeks, which would bring him back in time for the postseason.

His replacement in game was Christian Haynes, who had some trouble in pass protection right off the bat but fared well enough as the Hawks moved the ball into field goal position. Fortunately, he gets an easy first start against Tennessee. But this is definitely a development to watch on the team’s weakest unit.