Week 3 – Seattle Seahawks at Washington Commanders

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September 28, 2026

By Noonefromtampa

Washington goes into the game with 5 starters inactive due to injury, 3 on offense and 2 on defense.

First Quarter

Washington won the coin toss and deferred until the second half. After a good return on the kickoff, Seattle started with an 11 yard run by Jadarian Price which got their only first down. Amik Robertson broke up a pass and K’Lavon Chaisson tackled Price for a 4 yard loss. Seattle was unable to convert on third down leading to a punt which resulted in a touchback.

Washington was only able to pick up 7 yards on a check down from Marcus Mariota to Jacory Croskey-Merritt on first down. Seattle’s defense forced a three and out. Tress Way boomed a 58 yard which was well covered by Tyler Owens.  Sonny Styles forced Price to fumble the carry which was recovered by Tim Settle.

Croskey-Merritt gained 12 yards on two carries to put the Commanders in first and goal at the Seattle 9 yard line. Rachaad White caught a 6 yard touchdown pass from Mariota two plays later giving Washington a 7-0 lead.

Washington was able to stop Seattle on the first two downs holding them to 1 yard setting up a third and long. The third down completion was short of the first down line, forcing another Seattle punt.

After doing nothing on early downs, Terry McLaurin picked up 12 yards for the first yard. John Conerly Jr. was called for a false start, which putWashington into a first and 15 hole. Stefon Diggs was able to draw a defensive pass interference penalty, giving the Commanders a first down. Croskey-Merritt had a 48 yard touchdown run nullified by an illegal formation penalty. Dyami Brown didn’t get both feet inbounds on another potential big play. After Colson Yankoff stumbled on the slick turf and gain only a few yards on third down, Way came on to punt again and great coverage by Owens forced a fair catch.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba made catches of 11 yards and 20 yards, AJ Barner caught a tight end screen and broke tackles gaining 32 yards. Fullback Brady Russell caught another 20 yard completion.

Second Quarter

Leo Chenal tackled Emanuel Wilson for a 2-yard loss. Quan Martin was called for defensive pass interference in the endzone on Smith-Njigba, who scored the touchdown two plays later against Fabian Moreau.  The extra point was good, tying the game at 7-7.

After a short gain by Croskey-Merritt, Washington was penalized for another false start. Washington could not climb out of the hole, forcing another Way punt.

Seattle also was called for a false start to begin the next drive. Robertson broke up a third down completion to Cooper Kupp to force the punt which was short to Washington’s 40 yard line.

The Commanders started gaining small chunks of yards. Croskey-Merrit ran for 6 yards, and McLaurin caught a pass for 6 yards for the first down. Antonio Williams caught an 8 yard pass and Croskey-Merritt ran for 7 yards. Jaylin Lane caught a tunnel screen for 21 yards. Two plays later Treylon Burks then caught an 11 yard touchdown pass from Mariota in a tight window over the middle. The successful extra point by Drew Stevens gave Washington a 14-7 lead.

On the next Seattle drive, Chanel was hurt trying to tackle Wilson and was carted off the field. Kupp caught passes on 20 and 16 yards. Tory Horton had a 17 yard catch and Barner caught another screen for 15 yards to make it first and goal.  Washington was able to force a turnover on downs by forcing three straight incompletions.

Washington could do nothing on their next drive, backed up in the shadow of their own goal line. They only took 27 seconds off the clock and punted it away. Seattle started on Washington’s side of the field, but Washington held Seattle to only 7 yards and a false start, but it was enough for Jason Meyers to convert a 57-yard field goal to cut the lead to 14-10.

McLaurin caught an 18 yard pass to start the drive and Williams has a 6-yard reception. Stevens came on to try a 57 yard field goal, and it was right through the middle giving Washington a 17-10 halftime lead.

Third Quarter

After an 8 yard completion to Diggs, Washington was unable to the short yardage situation with an deep incompletion just off Williams’ fingertips. After the punt, Seattle gained 14 yards on two plays before Sam Darnold bounced a throw off Settle’s helmet which was intercepted by Styles.

It took Washington 3 plays to score, including Diggs with an 11 yard catch, Burks with a 2 yard completion and then a beautiful, contested catch by McLaurin for a 30 yard touchdown. The successful extra point made it a 24-10 Washington lead.

Seattle started at their own 40 yard line on their next drive because Stevens’ kickoff went out-of-bounds. Unable to effectively run the ball with only 3 carries for 7 yards, Seattle relied on Darnold throwing. His last 4 passes were 5 yards, 12 yards, 14 yards and a 13 yard touchdown to Eric Saubert, who recovered his own fumbled for the touchdown. This cut the lead to 24-17.

Washington started with good field position and picked up a first down but mistakes killed the drive quickly. After another mistake caused a touchback on the punt, Seattle marched down the field.

Fourth Quarter

Darnold had 6 completions on the drive which got extended by a questionable unnecessary roughness penalty on Chassion. Smith-Njigba caught an 11 yard touchdown over Robertson to tie the game at 24 each.

Washington was able to drive down the field, also aided by an unnecessary roughness call. After another first down the drive petered out at Seattle’s 20 yard line, where Stevens made a 36 yard field goal. The lead was 27-24 Washington.

Seattle committed its third turnover when Kain Medrano, playing for the injured Chanel, had a 50 yard pick 6. Washington was penalized on the play for  excessive celebration, and Steven missed the long-distance extra point. Washington led 33-24.

It took Seattle less than a minute to score another touchdown. Smith-Njigba caught three straight passes of 18, 11 and 15 yards. Horton caught a 17 yard completion and Kupp caught a 7 yard touchdown throw. This cut the lead to 33-31.

Washington was able to hold on to the ball for the final 2:51 on the clock. The key plays were a 19 yard run by White on third and nine, plus a zone read option play where Mariota kept the ball and ran for 9 yards to seal the win.

Thoughts

Play of the game Medrano interception:

Every week there are too many stupid mistakes which lead to penalties, loss of key yards or taking points off the board. In the NFL, the team the makes the least amount of mistakes frequently wins the game, especially close games.

Seattle’s first scoring drive was 9 plays for 90 yards. 83 of those yards were on 4 pass plays of 32, 20, 20 and 11 yards. Poor tackling and coverage led to most of the yards. We saw this on other drives as well.

The pass rush applied some pressure but Darnold often moved around enough in the pocket to find the open man.

Washington’s second scoring drive could have been ended by Uchenna Nwosu if he held on to the interception.

How many NFL games in the rain have had two 57 yard field goals made inside one minute at the end of a half?

Last year, Seattle got a 38-14 win, and this year it was 33-31 loss. 21 points off turnovers makes a huge difference.

When you win a big game, the big fans show up

 

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