It was just an ugly night for the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle lost its third game out of the last four, falling 17-14 to the Denver Broncos in overtime. Sam Darnold’s overtime interception sealed it, and the Seahawks are now 3-3.

This was a winnable game for Seattle. The defending champs didn’t do enough to win it, and they didn’t deserve it. Maybe Denver didn’t deserve it either, but the Broncos made one more play when it mattered. I still have a few winners from this one, and obviously some losers.

Seahawks winners

RB George Holani

I’ve been critical of Holani lately. He’s landed in my losers section for most of my postgame reactions, so credit where it’s due. He got limited opportunities with only five carries, and Seattle clearly wanted to roll with Emanuel Wilson again.

Holani made the most of his touches anyway. He ran with passion and purpose, pushed piles forward, broke tackles, and scored the Seahawks’ lone touchdown. That was a good performance.

WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

JSN feasted all game long with 12 catches for 134 yards. With Broncos CB Pat Surtain II not out there, you figured he would have a big night, and he delivered. He caught the football well from start to finish. I know he took that drop last week against the 49ers pretty hard. He bounced back in a big way.

LB Ernest Jones IV

Jones IV keeps stacking up strong performances. He’s been in my winners list for most of the past few weeks, and he’s here again after leading the team with nine tackles, a sack, and a tackle for loss.

He forced Broncos QB Bo Nix out of bounds on that sack, and he got away with one on the stat sheet. Still, Jones is playing some really good football.

S Nick Emmanwori

Emmanwori had Seattle’s other sack. He does so many things well for the Seahawks. He knows how to rush the passer, he can play in coverage, and he can do it all. His full skill set was on display in Denver. He is the chess piece for Mike Macdonald.

HC Mike Macdonald

Mike Macdonald has Bo Nix in hell for pretty much the entirety of this game. After a rough display of defense against the San Francisco 49ers last week, the Seahawks definitely turned it around tonight. If there’s one thing for fans to hang their hats on after this one, it’s the performance of Macdonald’s unit. 

Seahawks losers

QB Sam Darnold

Darnold struggled. He made some big throws down the stretch to get the game into overtime, and I’ll give him that. Then came the horrible overtime interception, trying to fit a ball into a hole the Broncos wanted him to throw into. Denver certainly baited him.

Sam was just off. He’s now at seven touchdown passes and seven interceptions, so the turnover problem from last regular season hasn’t gone away. He was laying it on the line, but he didn’t play well.

Offensive Line

That brings me to the offensive line, specifically the pass protection. Abraham Lucas and Grey Zabel had rough nights. Darnold got sacked five times and was on the run for most of the game.

Yes, the Seahawks ran for 113 yards. A lot of that came from backs like Holani breaking tackles and making plays after contact, not from the blocking up front.

TE AJ Barner

Barner has been a no-show in the passing game this season, and that continued with three catches for 16 yards. The wide receiver room stepped up, which I like to see. Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed made plays alongside JSN to give him some help. Barner didn’t do anything, and that was not fun to watch.

Yes, he is solid as a blocker in the run game, but after the postseason run last season we know he should be doing more as a pass catcher. 

K Jason Myers

I know Myers hit the big kick to force overtime. He also missed a 47-yard field goal off the upright earlier, and that kick essentially would have won Seattle the game. That’s one that he’s going to look back on for a few days. 

DE DeMarcus Lawrence and OLB Uchenna Nwosu

The last two spots go to the front line. Nwosu did have the big pass breakup late in the fourth quarter to get Seattle the ball back, but he finished with zero tackles. Lawrence wasn’t much better with one tackle and one quarterback hit.

Those are two players who need to drive the pass rush and impact the quarterback in the backfield. They weren’t able to do that very often in Denver.

Seattle had this one in its hands. If Darnold cleans up the turnovers and the protection holds up, the Seahawks are going to be just fine. Until then, nights like this will keep turning winnable games into losses.