Seahawks' Sam Darnold accepts blame for costly mistake in loss to Buccaneers

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers produced the top shootout of Sunday's NFL action. 

That said, Darnold was also a key figure in the game's biggest mistake when he had a pass intercepted by Buccaneers veteran linebacker Lavonte David with under a minute to play in the fourth quarter. That pick gifted the Buccaneers with an opportunity to set Chase McLaughlin up to kick a walk-off field goal as time expired, and Darnold said after the 38-35 loss that the turnover was "definitely on" him. 

What Sam Darnold was trying to do on game-changing play

"I was just trying to throw it away," Darnold said about that play, per the Seahawks' website. "I think it might have deflected off a helmet. Once I saw it was going to be hot to my left, I just tried to throw it away, and I think it deflected off somebody's helmet."

Specifically, Darnold's pass deflected off the helmet of Tampa Bay's Logan Hall before David reacted in time to secure the interception. It was a brutal blow for Darnold, who completed 28-of-34 passes for 341 yards with four touchdowns against Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, Mayfield connected on 29-of-33 pass attempts for 379 yards with two touchdowns, the last of which helped the Buccaneers tie things up with 1:08 remaining in regulation. 

Pro Football Reference stats show that Darnold entered Monday ranked third in the NFL among qualified quarterbacks with a 114.8 passer rating, sixth with 1,246 passing yards, tied for seventh with nine touchdown passes and third with a 73.1 percent completion percentage on the season. Understandably, he had other things on his mind after Sunday's defeat that dropped the Seahawks to 3-2. 

Sam Darnold vows to protect the football after costly interception

"At the end of the day, I got to protect the football in that situation and can't give them a short field to put the game away like that," Darnold added. "Also want to give credit to those guys, Tampa Bay. They're a tough team. Every game they're in, I feel like they fight until the very end, so you got to give them a lot of credit."

Darnold and Co. will look to bounce back when the Seahawks play at the Jacksonville Jaguars this coming Sunday. 3-1 Jacksonville hosts the Kansas City Chiefs (2-2) on Monday night.