Seahawks 27, Texans 19
SAM DARNOLD: Oh, man, what a weird game. Obviously I think the first half was really solid for us as an offense, then the second half, it was just a different story. I think we just got to hold onto the football. We can't turn the ball over like that. I can't turn the ball over like that.
Again, our defense and special teams stepping up tonight was huge. So when you come out of here having a game like that offensively, and you still win the ballgame, can't ask for more than that.
We're just going to continue to learn from our mistakes and get better.
Q. What does it tell you about the potential for this offense?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, I mean, when we execute, when we do our job every single play, the results kind of speak for themselves. We just can't keep shooting ourselves in the foot the way we have.
We've put together consistent... I think Tampa, in that loss, was a pretty consistent performance from us. Still had some minor detail things that happened there.
We just got to clean up the details. We will. We'll watch this tape, get better from it, enjoy this bye week. It's going to be huge for us to get some guys back and get healthy.
We're going to enjoy the bye week and come back swinging in a couple weeks.
Q. The sack in the end zone with the fumble and everything, something you should have done differently there?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, yeah (smiling).
I think at the end of the day I got to get the ball out of my hands. If I feel like nothing's there, understand where my check-down is, if he's covered, throw it at his feet.
I think he was open, so I got to get the ball to him.
Q. Does anything surprise you about Jaxon anymore?
SAM DARNOLD: It's not surprising because I see him come into work every day with the same mindset and the consistency. It's not just him, it's our entire receiver group, our entire group as an offense.
We're going to keep getting better and learning from our mistakes in these games when we have that attitude. Like I always say, we're going to continue to grow and get better.
Q. What sets them apart in his own way?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, they're both really, really good players. Great players, if you will. I think they are really different. At the end of the day they both know how to get open. I think that's the only thing that matters. They run routes in different ways. But they understand coverage. They understand the DB they're going against.
Again, that's habits. That's both of their film study habits they have every single week, understanding the guys that they're going against, understanding the coverages we're going to see.
I think at the end of the day it's them just understanding who we're going against and the preparation that Justin and JSN have during the week.
Q. The trust on that touchdown pass, the window was about that big, remarkable.
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, something that we work on. We worked on it a couple days in a row. We work on that throw all the time, going back to OTAs. Yeah, again, it's the work that we put in.
Q. You know you're going to take a shot there. Is that the essence of being an NFL quarterback, to stand and throw that pass?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, my eyes are downfield, so... I can feel the rush. At the end of the day I got to throw it to the spot with the right timing. If I do that, and understanding what the defense is doing, it works out more times than not.
Q. (No microphone.)
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, it's just my progression. I felt like the linebacker, if I would have thrown it to the flat, I think he would have gotten tackled, in my opinion, short. I just progressed up. JSN ran a really good route.
Q. Have you seen defenses try to do differently or more to try to take Jaxon away?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, you know, he gets doubled sometimes. We see some cloud coverage. There's a lot of things that teams do to try to take away players like that.
But again, with the guys that we have, other than JSN, all of our skill players, receivers, tight ends, running backs, you got to account for those guys, as well.
Q. (Question about the slam on the crossbar.)
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, that was surprising because we know that's a penalty. Yeah, I don't know. I haven't really talked to him about that. He got up, I know that. Yeah, we'd like to maybe not do that next time (laughter).
Q. (No microphone.)
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, that was an interesting one. It is what it is. I was out of bounds when that happened. It was weird because I was inbounds when he first hit me. I don't know. That's just kind of what happened. Yeah, we got the penalty and first down. That's all that matters.
Q. Did you feel that on your back?
SAM DARNOLD: No. It was good. Got me into the game a little bit, so...
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