Macdonald stands by Darnold amid Seahawks turnover woes — SkimNews
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- Sam Darnold has completed 60.4% of passes at 6.9 yards per attempt with 7 touchdowns and an NFL-high 7 interceptions this season, including two picks against Denver on Thursday night — one that set up the Broncos' game-winning field goal in overtime.
- Mike Macdonald flatly dismissed a QB change during a radio appearance, saying "No, no" to a switch from Darnold to Drew Lock and calling Darnold's play "great football for us this year the majority of the time."
- Drew Lock filled in for Darnold across most of two games (Week 1 vs. New England and Week 2 vs. Arizona), completing 35 of 48 passes for 422 yards and 4 touchdowns — well above his career norms in a small sample.
- Last season's Super Bowl-winning Darnold completed 67.7% of passes at 8.2 yards per attempt despite 14 interceptions, efficiency numbers the current Seahawks offense has not come close to matching.
- Brian Fleury, Seattle's new offensive coordinator who replaced Klint Kubiak (now the Raiders' head coach), needs to "really look at what we're doing, how we're doing it, what we're asking certain people to do" during the mini-bye, per Macdonald.
- The Seahawks face the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7 following the mini-bye, with Macdonald acknowledging Fleury still has "things to figure out."
Why it matters: With Darnold's efficiency plummeting from 8.2 yards per attempt during last year's Super Bowl run to 6.9 this season, and two turnovers directly costing Seattle the Broncos game, the decision to hold the line at QB comes just before a Week 7 matchup against an unbeaten Chiefs team — and Macdonald has simultaneously conceded the new offensive coordinator's scheme still needs refining.
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