Sam Darnold left with a right hip injury on the fifth play of the game, Drew Lock led a second-half rally behind a spectacular Jaxon Smith-Njigba touchdown, and the Seattle Seahawks opened their title defense with a 13-10 win over the New England Patriots on Wednesday night at Lumen Field.
Coach Mike Macdonald said after the game that a fracture has been ruled out, which he called great news, but that more tests are needed. Darnold was taken to Harborview Medical Center for a CT scan that was encouraging but inconclusive, and he is scheduled for an MRI Thursday. Whether he will be available for the Sept. 20 game against Arizona is not yet known.
Darnold went down on the fifth play after being sacked from behind by former Seahawks outside linebacker Dre’Mont Jones and landing hard on his right hip. He hobbled off, was examined in the medical tent, and limped to the locker room before being ruled out.
How Lock won it
He entered to an offense that went scoreless in the first half and trailed 7-0 at halftime after four consecutive punts. They fell behind 10-0 in the third quarter before Jason Myers hit a 30-yard field goal to make it 10-3.
The game turned early in the fourth quarter when cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett intercepted Drake Maye on a deep ball tipped by safety Rodney Thomas II. On the ensuing drive, facing fourth-and-1, Seahawks coordinator Brian Fleury put the ball in Lock’s hands rather than attempting a tush push. Lock found Smith-Njigba on a short throw over the middle, and the reigning AP Offensive Player of the Year outran the Patriots to the end zone for a 45-yard score that tied it 10-10.
He said afterward he had never run the play in practice, that it looked kind of funny before the snap, and that Smith-Njigba ended up being the third read. He said when number 11 is just standing there, you give him the ball.
Myers gave the Seahawks a 13-10 lead with a 26-yard field goal with 5 minutes 50 seconds remaining. The defense closed it out with three interceptions on New England’s final three possessions. Safety Julian Love, who picked off Maye in the Super Bowl, did it again to set up the go-ahead field goal. Cornerback Josh Jobe got both feet in bounds on the final drive to seal the win.
He finished 16 of 22 for 187 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers, though the Seahawks committed seven offensive penalties including four false starts. A penalty for an illegal shift erased a Lock touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp.
The Darnold situation
Smith-Njigba called Darnold the head of the snake and said it was tough to lose him but that the Seahawks trust Lock and that Lock has done it time and time again.
Macdonald said his heart goes out to Darnold, who had a great offseason, but that Lock had also played well and that the Seahawks had confidence in him coming in to play at a high level.
Lock, 29, previously spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as Geno Smith’s backup in Seattle, went 1-4 in five Giants starts in 2024, and returned to Seattle in 2025 as Darnold’s backup. He is 10-18 overall as an NFL starter.
The rest of the day
The day began with an introductory news conference for the Khosla family, whose purchase of the franchise was finalized last week. Before kickoff, Kam Chancellor fired up the Seahawks crowd and the team unveiled a Super Bowl LX banner. Richard Sherman raised the 12 Flag. The feel-good atmosphere at Lumen Field shifted on Darnold’s fifth play.
