Seahawks' Sam Darnold throws 4 first-half TDs in blowout win - ESPN

LANDOVER, Md. — At halftime of the Seattle Seahawks' blowout win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday night at Northwest Stadium, Sam Darnold had four touchdown passes and zero incompletions, having connected on all 16 of his attempts.

He didn't know it until someone told him — a no-no in football akin to talking about a no-hitter in baseball.

«Obviously, I can feel the flow of the game and understand that we're doing really good on offense, but no I didn't know that I hadn't thrown an incompletion,» Darnold said after the 38-14 victory. «It was pretty cool. Someone at halftime said to me that I hadn't thrown an incompletion, so I think he's to blame for throwing an incompletion in the second half.»

By the time Darnold missed for the first time, the Seahawks were well on their way to a win that improved their record to 6-2 — and boosted their quarterback's MVP odds in the process.

«Not going to say who it was,» Darnold said with a smile, refusing to give up the culprit.

Darnold finished 21-of-24 for 330 yards, four touchdowns and one interception before he was pulled in favor of Drew Lock with just over seven minutes left. That was good enough for a Total QBR of 97.8, the best in any game of his eight-year NFL career.

According to ESPN Research, there have been four instances of a player recording a QBR of 97 or higher in a game this season, and Darnold has three of them. The others are his performances against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5 (97.4) and the New Orleans Saints in Week 3 (97.3). Darnold's three such games are tied with Tom Brady (2007), Tony Romo (2014) and Lamar Jackson (2019) for the most by a starting quarterback in a season since ESPN began tracking Total QBR in 2006.

«Sam's execution right now,