Sam Darnold leads Seahawks to easy 38-14 win over Commanders, who lose Jayden Daniels to arm injury

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Sam Darnold was in the type of groove a quarterback rarely experiences.

Then someone told him about it.

“Someone at halftime said to me that I hadn't thrown an incompletion,” Darnold said. “So I think he's to blame for throwing an incompletion in the second half.”

Whether he believes in jinxes or not, Darnold couldn't feel too disappointed. By the time he threw his first incompletion of the game — early in the third quarter — he'd already tossed four touchdown passes. And his Seattle Seahawks were well on their way to a 38-14 rout of the Washington Commanders on Sunday night.

Washington again lost Jayden Daniels to an injury. Daniels, the Commanders' second-year quarterback, left in the fourth quarter after his nonthrowing arm bent gruesomely while he was being tackled near the Seattle goal line.

“Just thinking about him and what he's going through right now,” Darnold said after the game. “I just wanted to say that.”

Darnold completed his first 17 passes. At halftime, he was 16 for 16 for 282 yards and four TDs against Washington’s beleaguered defense. Rookie Tory Horton had the first two touchdown catches for the Seahawks, and even practice squad elevation Cody White got in on the action before the half was over. It was 31-7 at halftime.

Seattle (6-2) remained tied with the Los Angeles Rams atop the NFC West. The Seahawks were without injured receiver Cooper Kupp, but Darnold had plenty of open teammates to throw to. Washington (3-6) lost its fourth straight.

Darnold went 21 of 24 for 330 yards before being removed late.

The Seahawks took over at their own 10-yard line early on and drove all the way down the field to take the lead on Darnold’s 4-yard scoring pass to Horton. Seattle actually accumulated more than 100 yards of offense on that drive because of penalties.

A 25-yard scoring pass to Horton in the second quarter made it 14-0, and after a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Darnold threw his second TD pass in 11 seconds — 26 yards to Elijah Arroyo.

“Just an unacceptable performance by us tonight,” Washington coach Dan Quinn said. “We missed it by a mile.”

White’s 60-yard catch-and-run made it 28-0, and after Daniels scored on a 1-yard run with 53 seconds left, Darnold easily drove Seattle into range for a field goal to make it 31-7 at halftime.

He threw his first incompletion in the third, and even an interception later that quarter couldn’t do much to dampen Darnold’s night. Daniels, meanwhile, was scrambling around from the start. He rushed for 51 yards but threw for only 153 with an interception.

AJ Barner scored on Seattle’s version of a tush push in the third quarter to make it 38-7. Chris Rodriguez scored from 4 yards out for Washington, immediately following Daniels' injury.

Darnold became the fourth quarterback since at least 1991 to throw four touchdown passes before his first incompletion. The others were Lamar Jackson in 2019, Ryan Tannehill in 2015 and Tom Brady in 2007, according to Sportradar.

“Believe me when I say it: I'm not surprised,” Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said. “We watch Sam every day and how he operates. He's the same guy every day, which is what you love about him. We're chasing it. The guys are determined, and it's fun to watch.”

Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught eight passes for 129 yards for the Seahawks. He tied Steve Largent's franchise record with his sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season.

At halftime, the Commanders retired Hall of Fame receiver Art Monk's No. 81. Monk caught a then-record 106 passes in 1984, and at one point he was the NFL's career leader in receptions.

Monk was with Washington from 1980-93 and played for all three of the franchise's Super Bowl-winning teams. After a handful of games with the Jets and Eagles, he retired with 940 receptions.

Seahawks: CB Josh Jobe (concussion) and LB Ernest Jones IV (knee) left the game.

Commanders: Washington was without standout WR Terry McLaurin (quadriceps), and then the Commanders lost WR Luke McCaffrey (shoulder) almost immediately. CB Trey Amos (hip) and CB Marshon Lattimore (knee) were also hurt in the game, as was S Quan Martin (hamstring). Of course, Daniels' injury was the most significant.

Seahawks: Host Arizona next Sunday. Seattle beat the Cardinals 23-20 in September.

Commanders: Host Detroit next Sunday in a rematch of Washington’s victory in last season’s playoffs.

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