When Sam Darnold makes two major mistakes, it’s 50-50 whether the Seahawks will overcome them. But if he limits himself to just one, the Hawks win. Always.

Behind a dominant Dark Side performance, another JSN classic and a much-improved game from Darnold and the offense, Seattle clamped down on Kenneth Walker III and Patrick Mahomes on Sunday night – handing the Chiefs their first 2026 loss, 20-3.

It was a reminder that the Seahawks are fully capable of dominating any team in the NFL and are still a force to be reckoned with as long as they do not give the ball away.

Mike Macdonald said, “We’re still a championship-caliber team, and that’s what we’re chasing.”

With the 49ers suffering their first loss as well, the Hawks moved back to two games behind in the division.

“We knew how big this game was,” Jaxon Smith-Njigba said. “We wanted this one badly. We saw it as a playoff game — and we’re going to attack each week like that.”

The Seahawks improved to 15-0 since 2025 when committing no more than one turnover (they’re 6-6 with 2+ turnovers).

Darnold and the offense had given the ball away 3-4 times in three losses over the past four games. But Darnold made only one huge mistake this time – an interception in the Kansas City end zone late in the first half. He otherwise played a very solid game, with some great throws and smart decisions.

Darnold and the offense thus finally avoided ruining another awesome game by the defense, which reportedly held KC to the fewest points, yards (213) and first downs (11) in Mahomes’ 153 career games (postseason included).

The Hawks also won the mini-war with Walker, limiting their former teammate — the league’s leading rusher – to just 36 yards on 14 carries. That’s far below the 126 yards he had averaged coming in.

The Hawks now have not allowed a 100-yard back in 36 straight games.

“I ain’t going to lie. I definitely did want to hold him under 100,” said Nick Emmanwori, who led the charge on defense. “I know a lot of dudes on the defense, that was their motivation, too, to hold him under 100 and play lights out on defense — and I think we did that.’’

Meanwhile, Emanuel Wilson led an embattled Seattle rushing attack by hitting 100 yards on 24 carries. Most of it came as the Hawks ground out the clock late in the game. Seattle rushed for 153 yards – second this season to the 162 they had against Arizona in a 31-7 win in Week 2. Many credited the return of Anthony Bradford for the improved performance.

“I think it shows a blueprint for how we want to move forward,” Macdonald said. “We’ve got to reprove it again next week. We have an opportunity to get even better.”

Smith-Njigba caught nine passes for 150 yards, but Darnold also spread the ball around well. He threw to seven other players.

“Sam played great,” JSN said. “He was able to use me. I told him I’m gonna be there for him. … What a helluva game from Sam Darnold.”

AJ Barner got much more involved in the offense, touching the ball as much (seven times) as he had in the past three games combined. Half his action was on Barn Yards – he converted all three. That element had been noticeably absent from the offense for almost the entire season so far. Brian Fleury wisely put it back in this week.

Fleury called three screens that went nowhere – still one of his play-calling weaknesses — but Barner finally managed to make one work in the fourth quarter. He also had a 19-yard gain on a play-action rollout to the backside. He was wide open in the first half for what might have been a TD from about 25 yards out, but Darnold’s pass was knocked down.

“AJ’s always in the plan,” Macdonald said. “Believe it or not, we are trying to get him the ball. I think we had some great stuff for him today.”

Darnold played smart football for almost 30 minutes of the first half. He kept the ball safe, throwing it away and tucking it to run when nothing was there. On the Seahawks’ field goal drive, he threw the ball away in the end zone rather than risking an interception on third-and-goal.

He then converted an interception by Ty Okada – caused by Emmanwori’s pressure on Mahomes — into a 66-yard TD drive. Darnold capped it with a perfect 28-yard TD pass to JSN, who finished the half with six catches for 129 yards.

But then Dumb Darnold showed up. After the Seattle defense got the ball back for the offense, Darnold and JSN moved the ball down into the red zone. But then, on second down, Darnold threw under pressure into a crowd. Nohl Williams picked it off and ran it down into Seattle territory. Rashid Shaheed collided with JSN on the play and was knocked out with a knee injury.

Fortunately for Darnold, Harrison Butker came up short on a 58-yard kick as time expired. So a possible 10-point swing ended up as just a minus-7.

In the half, Darnold threw it in 2.3 seconds – the fastest of his career. He was making fast decisions – and mostly smart, with the major exception of that end zone pick.

He played mistake-free ball in the second half, which was important in what was a 10-point game for most of it. This is the kind of performance the Seahawks need from him and the offense next Monday against Chicago and the rest of the way.

“I think this game reminds the guys what we’re capable of,” Macdonald said. “I think our guys understand there’s more levels to where we can go. So I hope they feel the sense of urgency that we can get there.”