The Seattle Seahawks left Denver with a 17-14 overtime loss and another frustrating offensive result, but the case made on Locked On Seahawks is that turnovers, rather than a completely broken attack, have been the biggest drag on the unit. That distinction matters with the Kansas City Chiefs coming to Lumen Field on Sunday, Oct. 25.
Locked On Seahawks host Dan Viens opened the conversation by pointing to Seattle’s ugly result against the Denver Broncos. Guest Griffin Sturgeon of the Seattle Overload podcast argued that the Seahawks should not dismiss the giveaways, but also should not let them obscure the functional parts of the offense. Sturgeon’s turnover-adjusted calculation put Seattle’s offensive EPA per play against Denver at 0.031, a figure he said would rank around 10th in the league over a full season.
That is not an argument that Seattle can simply write off its mistakes. Quarterback Sam Darnold has thrown seven interceptions in 149 attempts, including two in Denver, and the Seahawks have a minus-1 turnover differential. Sturgeon’s point was narrower: if the turnover rate comes down, the offense may look closer to average than its recent scoring output suggests.
Sturgeon also made the case against a quarterback change. He said he would rather trust Darnold’s larger body of work than that of Seattle backup quarterback Drew Lock, even while acknowledging that Darnold’s turnovers have fueled calls for Lock. The Seahawks’ current depth chart still lists Darnold as the starter and Lock as the No. 2 quarterback.
The guest saw encouraging signs in the drop-back passing plan against Denver, particularly more shotgun calls built around quick decisions and intermediate routes on the back side of concepts. He also said offensive coordinator Brian Fleury appeared to be tailoring those ideas to Darnold’s quick release, rather than asking the quarterback to repeatedly win in the same situations that gave Seattle trouble against the Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle still has to solve its run-game limitations and protect the football against Kansas City. But the immediate test is whether the Seahawks can pair a cleaner Darnold performance with the more coherent passing approach Sturgeon saw on film. That would give Seattle a more credible chance to avoid another game defined by its own mistakes.
Seattle hosts the Kansas City Chiefs at Lumen Field on Sunday, Oct. 25, with ball security and Darnold’s decision-making likely to shape whether the offense can turn its underlying progress into points.
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