The Seahawks took control of a chaotic opening stretch when Emanuel Wilson finished a short-field drive with a 23-yard touchdown catch from Sam Darnold, moving Seattle into a 7-3 lead in Seahawks Game.
It was the kind of start that could have gone either way. On the first play from scrimmage, Justin Herbert was intercepted by Drake Thomas, but the next snap brought a reply as Darnold was picked off by Tuli Tuipulotu.
The Chargers then steadied themselves enough to put together an eight-play drive for 30 yards, which ended with a 40-yard field goal and the first points of the game. But the momentum shifted again when Derius Davis muffed a Michael Dickson punt and Connor O’Toole recovered it at the Chargers 23.
Wilson makes the most of the short field
That turnover gave the Seahawks a chance they did not waste. Darnold found Emanuel Wilson for a 23-yard touchdown pass, and it was Wilson’s first touchdown as a Seahawk.
For Seattle, the sequence summed up an early game defined by mistakes, field position and quick swings. The Seahawks did not need a long drive to strike back; they needed one clean play after the Chargers’ error, and they got it.
With the score now 7-3, the opening chapter had already shown how fragile this matchup could be. The next phase would be about which side could settle first after an unusually turnover-filled start.
