RENTON, Wash. -- It took just five offensive plays for Sam Darnold's 2026 season to go haywire, but fewer than three weeks for him to return from a rare ailment ahead of schedule.
More than a month removed from injuring his glute tendon against the New England Patriots, though, the Seattle Seahawks' starting quarterback has not quite picked up where he left off in 2025.
Darnold threw two interceptions during Sunday's 32-29 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, marking the third consecutive game with at least one pick. The defeat dropped Seattle to 3-2 and two games behind San Francisco in the NFC West, and Darnold acknowledged that there were at least a couple of throws he would have liked back because of his decision-making and ball placement.
"Just got to continue to trust myself, trust my feet, trust what I'm seeing, which I'm doing," Darnold said. "But, yeah, just got to be better (at) taking care of the football."
Throughout his nine-year NFL career, Darnold has flung his fair share of interceptions -- 87 in 104 games. But he's been significantly more protective of the ball (and more prolific) since taking over as starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 and then joining the Seahawks last year.
In 2024 and 2025, both Pro Bowl seasons for Darnold, he threw 2.31 touchdowns per interception, above the NFL average of 2.11 over that span, according to TruMedia. Yet to start the 2026 season, Darnold's touchdown-to-interception ratio is 1.4 (7 to 5) across a small three-game sample (plus five snaps in the opener).
Darnold's early-season regression isn't limited to interceptions.
His statistics through Week 5 in 2025 -- when the Seahawks also started 3-2, with Darnold playing in all five games -- were better across the board than 2026's figures so far, from completion percentage (73.1 to 64.3) to yards per attempt (9.3 to 7.7), interception rate (2.2 percent to 5.1) and sack rate (4.3 percent to 8.4). He's been pressured more often (42.7 percent of dropbacks, up from 36.1), and more of those pressures are turning into sacks (19.1 percent, up from 11.3).
Even if Darnold hadn't missed most of two games, the disparity in the numbers is wide.
In both seasons, Darnold was playing with a new offensive coordinator and play caller, both of whom he knew from his year with the 49ers in 2023: Klint Kubiak and Brian Fleury.
Coach Mike Macdonald conceded Monday that Seattle's pass game hasn't "really clicked yet" under Fleury, a first-time play caller. Macdonald said Darnold, who took much of the blame for that on Sunday, has been a "great representation" of the Seahawks' shortcomings so far.
"When your quarterback is one of those guys leading the charge saying, 'Hey, I got to do X, Y and Z better,'" Macdonald said, "I think it sets the table for everybody else that played to have the same mentality. And, I think if you have that same mentality, you got a really good chance to improve."
There are several ways the Seahawks can help Darnold, namely by giving him a more impactful ground game.
Seattle ranks last in the NFL in expected points added on rushes (-40.5) this season, per TruMedia, in no small part because of the absences of Zach Charbonnet, who has been out since January with a knee injury, and rookie Jadarian Price, who is on injured reserve with a chest injury. Charbonnet is not expected to play Thursday night against the Denver Broncos "as of right now," Macdonald said.
Reserves Emanuel Wilson and George Holani have each been thrust into more regular duty, with the former taking on a lead role in the interim after three seasons as a backup with the Green Bay Packers. Wilson and Holani both fumbled Sunday.
More than half of the Seahawks' negative EPA on rushes (-23.3) has come on four lost fumbles, including -7.0 EPA on Holani's fumble at the goal line that San Francisco recovered for a touchdown before halftime Sunday.
"We're doing everything we can to get the job done," Wilson said after letting out a deep sigh. "Week 3, we had a rough start. And then, it carried on to this week. I feel like we're doing fine. Just the turnovers that's really costing us."
Wilson, Holani and Price have two fumbles each, as does Rashid Shaheed. Darnold has none after leading the NFL with 11 last season.
Otherwise, much has remained the same with Seattle's offense.
Through Week 5, the Seahawks rank 17th in total rushing yards (530), 20th in yards per carry (3.8) and 20th in success rate (34.8 percent). Last season at this time, they ranked 17th (565), 23rd (4.0) and 21st (38.2), respectively, in those categories, even with Kenneth Walker III and a healthy Charbonnet.
Star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba continues to produce at an elite level, too, even though a true No. 2 wideout has yet to separate himself from the rest of the pack. Smith-Njigba's 583 receiving yards lead the league and exceed last year's five-week total by 49.
And as egregious as Seattle's four turnovers against the 49ers were, Macdonald correctly pointed out that the Seahawks are yielding possession at a similar rate to early last season. The Seahawks have nine turnovers through five games, one more than last year. Opponents have scored 44 points off those takeaways this year, tied with the Los Angeles Chargers for the most in the NFL, compared with 27 at this point in 2025.
What's starkly different is that Darnold is off to a much bumpier start than his debut season in Seattle. Not that his teammates, who were vocal in supporting Darnold throughout the 2025 season, have lost any faith.
"I think everybody here's got his back," tight end Eric Saubert said. "We're going to ride with him no matter what happens. He's the man, and takes this very seriously. He's elite at what he does. That's our leader."
Saubert agreed with Macdonald that Seattle's offense has not yet performed up to the team's standard, and not because Fleury is the Seahawks' third play caller in as many seasons. Saubert credited Fleury for "getting us in the right looks," saying the offense needs to execute better.
"I don't think anyone's panicking or anything," Saubert said. "We feel comfortable in what we're running and super supportive of him as a play caller. Obviously, yeah, we could do better in some places, and as the season goes, the mentality is that we get better and better each week. … But so long as we're on the rise and are working towards that, no one here is concerned."
Including the playoffs, the 2025 Seahawks rattled off wins in 14 of their final 15 games en route to winning the Super Bowl. Over that stretch, Darnold completed 65 percent of his passes for 3,474 yards with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, as Seattle developed a stronger rushing attack led by Walker. He also rewarded his teammates' faith with a turnover-free postseason.
Until Price or Charbonnet (who appears closer to a return) is back, though, the onus to improve Seattle's offensive operation might fall largely on Darnold.
"It's a whole different year," Darnold said. "We're not in the business of comparing this year to last year. There's a lot of things that we need to get better at, plain and simple. And we got to have a sense of urgency to do that."
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
