Seahawks - 31, Steelers - 17
SAM DARNOLD: Obviously a great result today. Like I kind of mentioned in the Fox postgame interview, but a lot of stuff to cleanup offensively. But at the end of the day, we'll take a win every single day, every single Sunday.
For our defense and special teams to play the way they did, especially that special teams touchdown, one of the more interesting plays that I've seen in my career. But it was just great to be able to see our guy, George get in the end zone that way.
And it was just a great team win. The way that -- I feel like at halftime, you know, guys could have let up or let down, and I feel like in the locker room, it was just very positive energy. And we knew that we had a chance to go out there and play really good football and win this ball game.
I felt like our guys did a really good job of going out there and executing in the second half.
Q. You said it was positive energy at halftime. What was the exact message what were you talking about at the game dominating?
SAM DARNOLD: I was just saying I think -- and the coaches going right into kind of the plan and what our halftime adjustments were. And then for me personally just letting the guys know, if we don't turn the ball over, we're marching right down the field, whatever, kicking field goals or scoring touchdowns.
Obviously we'd like to score touchdowns, but I feel like we were driving the football really well. And there were just a couple bad plays on my end that I'm obviously going to clean up, watch the tape and get better from. But I felt like there was a lot to go into the second half optimistic about.
Q. You talked in the past about when people ask about your leadership style being consistent. Is this the type of game you really need to lean on that to not react (inaudible)?
SAM DARNOLD: At the end of the day, I've seen -- I've been around a lot of football, especially in this league -- and I've seen it go a bunch of different ways. That guy was obviously very tight going into the second half. Might not have felt that way, but our guys knew what the situation was. We knew that we were going to be able to go out there and play really good football, like I said. And felt like we did that.
Q. What did you like about the way Clint called the offense today to get more guys involved? Seemed like you guys were able to distribute the football to a lot of players, (indiscernible) having a big game, Tory with the touchdown.
SAM DARNOLD: I think at the end of the day, we put ourselves in good positions on first and second down to get us into good third downs, third and manageables. And we converted a lot of those third downs, I think. Not exactly sure on the exact numbers, but felt like we were staying on the field longer.
And, yeah, just I think that was the difference, converting third downs to being able to stay on the field to be able to call the plays that we want to call. And so I'm always confident in the way that Clint will call a football game.
Q. The third down on the last drive, where you escaped pressure, how would you describe that?
SAM DARNOLD: My progression was starting on the right side and just felt a guy coming loose up the middle. He picked -- I was trying to figure out what side he was going to pick on me. He picked the right side so I was able to spin out to the left. And A.J. did an incredible job of feeling me scramble, even though he was kind of chipping his way out. And I was able to get to get him the ball.
Q. Was he supposed to chip that whole play or was (inaudible)?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, he was supposed to chip and then get out. But obviously there's certain times when he doesn't and he needs to stay in. It was a great job.
Again, I've got to watch the tape to see what exactly happened on that play. But he did a great job of, like I said, feeling my escape and getting out there for me.
Q. Jaxon said that deep ball you guys had, you guys had been setting up that up over the course of the game. What does it feel like for your coordinator to make that call at that stage of the game when you have a chance to put it away eventually with a deep ball (indiscernible)?
SAM DARNOLD: We felt on one of the plays, especially I think it was in the third quarter, the safety just driving, driving on one of our plays. That's when I took a shot to Tory deep, but it fell incomplete.
But we had a little opportunity there, and we knew that we had a chance to be able to make that same play. They played a little bit different coverage with no safety help. But I was able to -- that's a ball that me and Jax have thrown ever since the start of OTAs. I felt very confident about that one.
Q. The way Ken finished the drive, (indiscernible) from the 19 doesn't seem like a high-percentage run play (indiscernible)?
SAM DARNOLD: It was an incredible play to watch from my angle. Just thinking I'm going to pitch it. And I'm always confident. Let me start by saying I'm always confident in our guys that we'll be able to go third-and-19 no matter what, we're going to be able to score.
But I was kind of pitching it just telling him, hey, stay inbounds here; we need the clock to run. And getting ready to send the field goal unit on. Sure enough, he breaks a couple of tackles, and I knew he had a chance.
But Ken's got a chance every single play he touches the rock. It was an incredible play by him and our offensive line.
Q. What can you say about the way the defense kind of kept you guys in early (indiscernible)?
SAM DARNOLD: Again, not necessarily taking care of the ball the way that I would have loved to in the first half. And, again, our defense and our special teams, you know, the way they played throughout that first half kept us in the game. And felt like we were able to kind of finally play the style of ball that we wanted to in the second half. It wasn't necessarily the way exactly the way we wanted to play, but we were able to protect the football and march down the field.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports