Seahawks offense has flawless drive in Sam Darnold's preseason debut

The Seattle Seahawks got their first chance to look at their offense with new quarterback Sam Darnold on Friday night in their preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. It could not have possibly looked better.

Darnold helped lead a flawless drive in his first game action with the Seahawks, completing 4-of-4 passes for 34 yards as part of a 10-play, 81-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with a 15-yard Zach Charbonnet run. 

The Seahawks took a big gamble this offseason by trading veteran quarterback Geno Smith and then bringing in Darnold in free agency. Given the structure of the contract, the Seahawks could get out of it after one season if Darnold flops, so there isn't a huge long-term risk with it. But it's still a roll of the dice in the short-term, given how productive Smith was the past few years, and given how much of an unknown Darnold still is as a starter.  

While his 2024 season with the Minnesota Vikings was a huge success, it was also a massive outlier in his career as a whole. 

The question Darnold has to answer is whether that performance was just a flash in the pan in a perfect situation, or if it is something he can build on.

The Vikings not only surrounded Darnold with great playmakers, but they also had a tremendous offensive system that helped make it easier on him. 

The talent level in Seattle is not quite what it was in Minnesota, and there is still some unknown as to how well of a fit he will be in its system. 

On Friday, they received a nice preview of what it might look like. And they had to like it, even with the grain of salt that has to be taken with preseason football. 

Even more than Darnold's play (he was not asked to do a ton) was the fact that the Seahawks' offensive line and running game took off, especially on the opening drive. Charbonnet ran for 45 yards on five carries, with the Seahawks' line doing a great job opening holes for him. The offensive line has been a huge point of concern for Seattle for years now, and if they can run block and keep Darnold upright, it will go a long way toward getting the offense to a level it needs to be at to compete in the NFC West.