LANDOVER, Md. – At times it was almost hard to tell which was piling up quicker during the first half Sunday night against the Washington Commanders – points scored by the Seahawks or consecutive completions thrown by quarterback Sam Darnold.
All that really mattered to the Seahawks is that they added up to one of the team’s most impressive wins in years, and certainly the most glittering of the year-and-a-half Mike Macdonald era, 38-14 over the Commanders at Northwest Stadium.
Darnold completed all 16 of his first-half passes in guiding the Seahawks to a 28-0 lead late in the second quarter and tied a team record first set by Warren Moon against Oakland with 17 overall.
The Seahawks improved to 6-2 with the win, their sixth in seven games since a season-opening home loss to the 49ers, and stayed in a tie with the Los Angeles Rams atop the NFC West.
The win also extended their franchise record for consecutive road wins to 10 and made them 11-1 away from Seattle under Macdonald.
Darnold’s hot start highlighted a first half in which the Seahawks outgained Washington 330-140 and averaged 12.2 yards per play as they put the game away at halftime.
Still, it was mandated that a second half be played, and things went from bad to worse for the Commanders as quarterback Jayden Daniels suffered what appeared to be a serious injury to his left arm when he was tackled by Drake Thomas with 7:29 left in the game. Daniels suffered the injury when he tried to brace with his left arm as he was being thrown to the ground.
Players from both sides surrounded Daniels as he was tended to on the field, and Macdonald joined them.
The Seahawks, looking fresh and rested following their bye week, scored touchdowns the first four times they had the ball against a reeling Commanders team that lost 28-7 at Kansas City on Monday night and has dropped four in a row to fall to 3-6.
That’s more losses than Washington had all of last season when the Commanders went 12-5 led by Daniels and first-year coach Dan Quinn, the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator in 2013 when they won the Super Bowl.
If the NFL scheduled this game for a Sunday night as a potential showcase for what it figured would be a Super Bowl-contending Washington team, it turned out to be the Seahawks making their most emphatic statement yet that they may be set up for a long postseason run.
The Seahawks forced Washington to punt after the Commanders won the toss and elected to receive.
And from there, the rout was on.
The Seahawks took over at their own 10 and moved the length of the field – and then some – in 12 plays, capped by a 4-yard pass from Darnold to rookie Tory Horton to make it 7-0 with 3:04 left in the first quarter.
They committed three penalties for a loss of 25 yards, meaning the Seahawks had to move 104 yards overall.
The Seahawks converted both of their third downs on the drive, of 3 and 5 yards. They were just 2 of 14 on third downs in a 27-19 win over Houston on Oct. 20 and just 3 of 26 in the past two games.
Washington moved to Seattle’s 40 on its next drive early in the second quarter, facing a third-and-2, the last time there was any real suspense in the game.
A face -mask penalty on Washington lineman Chris Paul made it third-and-17 and Daniels scrambled and tried to hit receiver Jaylin Lane near the sideline.
But his pass hung in the air and Seahawks safety Ty Okada – continuing to start in place of injured Julian Love – roamed over and leapt and not only caught the ball but dragged both feet in bounds as he was hit by Lane.
That gave the Seahawks the ball at their own 40.
The offense needed just seven plays to cash in, the payoff coming on a 25-yard pass from Darnold to Horton.
Horton lined up in the left slot in man coverage against Washington cornerback Mike Sainristil. Horton ran right past Sainristil at the snap and into the open and had about as easy of a touchdown grab as could be to put the Seahawks up 14-0 with 8:52.
Lane fumbled the kickoff after nose tackle Brandon Pili stripped the ball out of his hands, with Seahawks rookie Connor O’Toole recovering it at the Commanders’ 26.
The Seahawks wasted no time taking advantage as Darnold hit tight end Elijah Arroyo for a 26-yard touchdown on the next play, giving the Seahawks 14 points in 11 seconds.
The desperate Commanders lined up to go for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 29 on the next series. But indicative of the way they played all night, veteran tight end Zach Ertz was called for a false start and Washington punted.
The Seahawks took over at their own 13 and needed just four plays to get on the board yet again.
This time, it was Cody White – who was elevated off the practice squad on Saturday to fill in for the injured Cooper Kupp, Jake Bobo and Dareke Young – adding to the point total and Washington’s humiliation, taking a short pass and bowling over Washington safety Quan Martin and racing down the sideline for a 60-yard score.
It was the first TD of White’s six-year NFL career and gave the Seahawks a 28-0 lead with 4:34 to play in the second quarter and surely compelled much of the national TV audience to see what else was on.
Daniels scored on a 1-yard run with 53 seconds left in the first half to make it 28-7. The Seahawks responded with a 53-yard drive to add a Jason Myers field goal as time ran out in the first half.
Darnold tied Moon’s team record for consecutive completions on a pass to tight end AJ Barner on the second play of the second half.
The streak ended on the next play when Darnold tried to hit Smith-Njigba on a fade route down the right sideline on a third-and-1 play. The pass appeared on target but was broken up by Marshon Lattimore.
Darnold showed a rare moment of fallibility when a pass over the middle was picked off by Sainristil on the next series.
After again stopping the Commanders, the Seahawks made clear there would be no miracle comeback by driving 60 yards in nine plays to add another TD on a 1-yard run by tight end Barner on their version of the Tush Push.
That made it 38-7 with 1:53 left in the third quarter and left everyone wondering why any starters were even still playing.