Seahawks finally let Sam Darnold cook vs. Bucs, just in time to finish first half

Seattle almost went into the locker room down 13-0, but Darnold got things going with a great scoring drive to end the half.

Oct 5, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) on the field for warm ups prior to a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lumen Field. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Heading into today's big showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mina Kimes practically begged the Seattle Seahawks to go against type and throw the ball on early downs against a tough Tampa run defense. You can probably guess what happened next if you've been a Seattle fan for a while.

Instead of changing things up and letting Darnold lead the attack, the Seahawks stubbornly ran into a wall over and over in the first half, despite getting stuffed to the tune of just 3.1 yards per carry. However, when it mattered most Klint Kubiak finally let Sam Darnold cook, allowing him to lead a no-huddle two-minute drill to end the half.

Darnold responded with a scoring drive as resplendent as the Seahawks' throwback uniforms, going 6/9 for 50 yards and a six-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba to finish things off.

JSN and Sam Darnold locked in pic.twitter.com/9irS3TvYyp
— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) October 5, 2025

That made it 13-7 going into halftime, which is a whole lot better than 13-0. The Seahawks will also receive the kickoff to start the third quarter.

While this was a promising turn, they're going to have to do something about their tackling. That was a major sore point in the first half.

Despite holding Tampa to just 2.7 yards per carry, the Bucs were able to move the ball as needed, with a near-perfect half from Baker Mayfield. He went 14/16 for 126 yards and a 126.6 passer rating. The Seahawks will need to get more pressure in the second half - they had zero sacks and zero quarterback hits in the first.

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