Is the Seattle Seahawks' new offense working? - ESPN

RENTON, Wash. — Sam Darnold had thrown his second interception of the day when Klint Kubiak voiced his displeasure.

It was midway through an organized team activity in early June, and the Seattle Seahawks' defense — which had returned almost every key player from a top 10 unit in 2024 — was taking it to their overhauled offense.

Seattle had hired Kubiak to replace Ryan Grubb as the offensive coordinator, signed Darnold in free agency after trading Geno Smith and then turned over roughly half of the starting lineup around him. And on this day, the offense looked like it was starting over.

«Sam Darnold,» Kubiak told his quarterback, «your group is the sh--s right now.»

Fast-forward two and a half months later, during a training camp practice in mid-August. Kubiak's offense had been making noticeable strides, and in a red zone period, it couldn't be stopped — a stark difference from that June OTA.

Darnold fired one touchdown pass after another, with two in quick succession to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and free agent addition Cooper Kupp. The defense had no answer for backup Drew Lock and the second-team offense, either.

This was what Mike Macdonald had hoped to see when he and general manager John Schneider hit the reset button on an offense that ranked 20th in points per game in 2024. But at this moment, the head coach was wearing his defensive coordinator hat, and he had seen enough.

«We are officially getting shredded,» Macdonald exclaimed to the defense, his voice heightening in a frustrated tone.

The two opposing scenes would serve as a prelude to the first three games of the Darnold-Kubiak era.

Seattle's new-look offense debuted with a 17-13 season-opening dud in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Since then, that group has