Five 2025 NFL Playoff Teams Stumble in Week 3 as 3 Blow Fourth-Quarter Leads

Q: How did the Seahawks outgain Washington by nearly 200 yards yet still suffer a devastating home loss?

Seattle lost because it completely gave away the hidden-yardage battle with turnovers and short fields, even while dominating the box score. The Seahawks outgained Washington 437-258 and had far more first downs, but they lost the turnover margin 3-0. Those mistakes directly fueled the result: Washington turned Seattle’s three giveaways into 21 points. Jadarian Price’s early fumble gave the Commanders the ball deep in Seattle territory and led to a touchdown. Later, Sam Darnold had a tipped interception that set up another touchdown drive. The biggest blow came in the fourth quarter, when linebacker Kain Medrano intercepted Darnold and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown. That is why the yardage gap became misleading. Seattle moved the ball well, with Darnold throwing for 379 yards and four touchdowns, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba posting 10 catches for 128 yards and two scores. But Washington did not need long drives because Seattle repeatedly handed it favorable field position or points outright. Seattle also failed in key situational moments. The Seahawks managed only 44 rushing yards, struggled in the red zone, and came up empty on a goal-to-go chance before halftime. Washington, meanwhile, protected the ball, got an efficient no-turnover game from Marcus Mariota, and converted late when it mattered, including Mariota’s clinching third-down run. So despite nearly 200 more yards, Seattle’s giveaways and execution failures were decisive.

3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Sep 28

Five 2025 playoff teams took damaging Week 3 losses, with the Chargers, Panthers and Texans all surrendering fourth-quarter leads while the Seahawks and Patriots fell in different but equally alarming fashion.
Three of the defeats turned on late-game failures: Houston allowed a 53-yard winning field goal, Carolina gave up a go-ahead touchdown after failing on a 2-point try, and Los Angeles wasted a plus-4 turnover margin in Buffalo.
Seattle's 12-game winning streak ended in a 2-point loss to Washington despite 379 yards and 4 touchdown passes from Sam Darnold, as three turnovers produced 21 Commanders points.
New England's collapse looked the most lopsided, with Drake Maye's turnover issues deepening after a blowout loss in Jacksonville left the Patriots facing 3-0 Buffalo and Las Vegas next.
The broader picture is a chaotic Week 3 that exposed different flaws in presumed contenders—quarterback mistakes, conservative coaching, injuries and late-game execution.