Seahawks QB Sam Darnold comments on his game-ending fumble against the 49ers

It's hard to come up with a tougher scenario than the one Sam Darnold faced today in his debut with the Seattle Seahawks. Playing in your first game with new teammates and a new playbook is challenging enough, but throw in facing a determined contender with a crushing defense that also happens to be your team's most-fierce rival is about as bad as it gets.

To his credit, for most of the day Darnold played as well as anyone can reasonably expect given he circumstances. Even though he was under a lot of pressure Darnold didn't make any disastrous decisions or turnover-worthy plays. He didn't force passes and consistently took what the 49ers' defense gave him, which wasn't much.

However, when it mattered most Darnold finally cracked under the pressure. With Abe Lucas getting trucked backwards into his space by Nick Bosa, Darnold wound up and let it fly - but the ball slipped out of his grip on the way out, resulting in a fumble the 49ers recovered and the end of the game.

Here's what Darnold had to say for himself after it was all over.

QB Sam Darnold says yes, he lost the ball into the back of his offensive lineman (it was Abe Lucas). Said he was going to check the ball down there short.

His late fumble at the 49ers 16 ended #Seahawks’ opening loss to the 49ers in his Seattle debut. @thenewstribune pic.twitter.com/MIgRbLZCl9
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) September 7, 2025

For what it's worth, we didn't see the ball hit Lucas in the back - and the way Darnold was winding up he looked more like he was about to go full Rex Grossman rather than check the ball down.

In any case, fans shouldn't be too hard on Darnold. This was an extraordinarily difficult environment to play in - not least of which because his home-field advantage was spoiled by greedy season ticket holders who sold out and wound up filling more than half the stadium with enemy red.

It will get easier from here for Darnold, who will need to get into a better rhythm with his receivers that aren't named Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He finished with a line of 16/23 for 150 yards, no touchdowns, no picks and an 87.2 passer rating. There's plenty of room to improve, but it could have been far worse.

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