Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold had a fantastic performance in the 38-35 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on October 5 at Lumen Field. Moreover, the USC product is earning praise from FS1 host Colin Cowher as the player continues this resurgence that began with the Minnesota Vikings.

Darnold completed 28 of 34 pass attempts, leading to 341 passing yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. It’s the 28-year-old’s best performance with the Seahawks through the first five weeks of the 2025 NFL season.

That lone interception by Darnold ended up backfiring after a bit of misfortune, as his throw intended to be a safe discard ricocheted off one Tampa Bay defender and landed right into the hands of another, setting up the Bucs’ game-winning field goal.

Despite the result, Cowherd praised Darnold, highlighting his growth over the past two years after a rocky start to his NFL career.

“Sam [Darnold is] a little more athletic,” Cowherd said on the October 6 edition of “The Herd.” “Baker [Mayfield], [is] probably better [at] just throwing strikes from the pocket. What I watched was two great quarterbacks, two great GMs/rosters, [and] two very competent head coaches. And Baker was not playing with a fully healthy team, and Seattle wasn’t playing with a fully healthy defense.

“But it’s funny—both these guys obviously take to coaching, because Sam Darnold’s biggest issue was really reckless [play] and accuracy issues. And he had a slow windup. Darnold gets rid of that ball fast, and he’s really accurate. So four straight years, Darnold’s accuracy has improved. The other thing is, they both have a great young wide receiver that is growing with them. So they didn’t inherit a lot of egos. They went to good coaches, defensive coaches, who let them be their own personality.”

Sam Darnold Has Seahawks Teammates Raving

One of the receivers to benefit from Darnold’s impressive Week 5 performance was rookie receiver Tory Horton. After the game, Horton didn’t hide how impressed he’s been with the Seattle signal-caller.

“He has some magic up his sleeve,“ Horton said (h/t Brady Henderson of ESPN). “He’s always on top of his game. Just the way he moves in the pocket is very underrated. That’s stuff that we repped in practice. I threw my hand up and he made eye contact and we knew we had a play. He’s doing all he can out there. He’s playing at the top of his game.”

Seahawks QB Sam Darnold Earns Praise from Head Coach

According to ESPN Research, Darnold completed all five of his attempts for 156 yards and a touchdown on passes traveling 15 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage—the most completions of his career on such throws without an interception. Head coach Mike Macdonald didn’t hesitate to share his amazement with the quarterback’s performance.

“Sam played a tremendous football game,” Macdonald said. “I thought we were going to have a chance to win the game there at the end. What was it, a 99-yard drive, fourth down, extending plays. I thought Sam played tremendous.”