Sam Darnold remains Seahawks starter for Week 7 vs. Chiefs

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald gave Sam Darnold a vote of confidence Friday, saying Darnold is “definitely part of the solution” and that there are no plans to bench him. “No, no,” Macdonald said during a radio appearance when asked about a potential switch to backup Drew Lock, according to CBS Sports.

What happened

Darnold threw two costly interceptions in the Seahawks’ 17-14 overtime loss to the Broncos on Thursday night. The second came on the first drive of overtime and set up Wil Lutz’s 53-yard game-winning field goal.

Darnold completed 27 of 51 passes for 278 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss. He also rushed twice for 19 yards and threw a two-point conversion pass.

After the defeat, Darnold addressed his teammates and took accountability for his turnovers. “I just think it’s BS for me to keep turning the ball over,” Darnold said, via Yahoo Sports. “It’s not fair to our defense, it’s not fair to our special teams group, not fair really to the entire team.”

Context

Darnold has thrown seven interceptions this season, tied for the NFL lead with Drake Maye and Justin Herbert, according to Yahoo Sports. He has completed 60.4% of his passes at 6.9 yards per attempt with seven touchdowns, per CBS Sports.

Through Week 5, in four games, Darnold has 54.8 PPR points on 755 passing yards, seven touchdowns, five interceptions and 16 rushing yards. That is 13.7 PPR points per game. He missed most of the first two games with a glute injury.

In Week 5, Darnold had 10.3 PPR points on 195 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. In Week 4, he had 14.3 PPR points on 168 passing yards and two touchdowns. In Week 3, he had 29.7 PPR points on 379 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Macdonald said Darnold “has done a lot of great things this year” and that the team has faith in him. “We just won a world championship with him,” Macdonald said.

Depth chart

Drew Lock is Seattle’s QB2. He has 34.2 PPR points on 422 passing yards and four touchdowns in two games this season, completing 35 of 48 passes, according to CBS Sports. Jalen Milroe is QB3 and has not played this season.

What’s next

The Seahawks take on the undefeated Chiefs in Week 7. Macdonald said offensive coordinator Brian Fleury has some things to figure out during the mini-bye.

“Brian is well prepared. He’s incredibly smart,” Macdonald said, via Seattle Sports. “But as an offense, we need to really look at what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, what we’re asking certain people to do.”