Seattle's Sam Darnold is the next QB to face shaky Washington secondary

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Seattle's Sam Darnold is the next QB to face shaky Washington secondary

2025-10-31 07:37 Last Updated At：07:41

Seattle (5-2) at Washington (3-5)

Sunday, 8:20 p.m. EST, NBC

BetMGM NFL Odds: Seahawks by 3

Against the spread: Seahawks 5-2, Commanders 3-5

Series record: Commanders lead 13-10.

Last meeting: Seahawks beat Commanders 29-26 in Seattle on Nov. 12, 2023.

Last week: Seahawks were off; Commanders lost to Chiefs 28-7 on Monday night.

Seahawks offense: overall (11), rush (21), pass (8), scoring (T-5).

Seahawks defense: overall (10), rush (1), pass (23), scoring (7).

Commanders offense: overall (16), rush (T-3), pass (24), scoring (17).

Commanders defense: overall (27), rush (22), pass (26), scoring (22).

Turnover differential: Seahawks minus-4; Commanders minus-5.

RB Kenneth Walker III. After a slow start to the season for the Seahawks running game, the third-year back has started to turn a corner. Walker ran for 66 yards during the Seahawks’ win against the Texans on Oct. 20, marking the third time in four weeks he’d rushed for at least that many.

TE Zach Ertz. With WR Terry McLaurin (quadriceps) set to miss another game, the Commanders are again short-handed even if they get QB Jayden Daniels back from his hamstring injury. Ertz is second on the team with 27 catches and already has four touchdown receptions this season.

Seattle QB Sam Darnold vs. the Washington secondary. Dak Prescott picked the Commanders apart two weeks ago, and although Patrick Mahomes threw two interceptions against Washington, he too had little trouble moving the ball. Darnold isn't necessarily on their level, but the first question in this game is whether the Commanders can hold up defensively.

Seahawks: DE Demarcus Lawrence (quadriceps), LB Derick Hall (oblique) and CB Devon Witherspoon (knee) all participated in Wednesday’s practice. S Julian Love (hamstring) did not practice Wednesday, and his status for Sunday was “in jeopardy” according to coach Mike Macdonald.

Commanders: Daniels was a full participant in practice Wednesday and Thursday, but T Laremy Tunsil (hamstring) missed Wednesday's session and was limited Thursday.

Washington holds a significant lead in the series in the regular season, but the Seahawks have won all three playoff meetings by double digits. ... Eight of the past nine regular-season matchups have been decided by one score.

The Seahawks are seeking to win six of their first eight games for the first time since 2020. Seattle went 10-7 last season and hasn’t had a losing season since 2021 under Pete Carroll ... The Seahawks lost their lone matchup with an NFC East team last season, 29-20 to the New York Giants. ... Darnold’s 68.2 completion rate ranks 10th in the league. … Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who led the Seahawks in yards receiving in 2024, leads in the NFL in that category this season. His 819 yards are 99 more than Ja’Marr Chase, who has played in one more game than Smith-Njigba. … LB Ernest Jones IV had a season-high 11 tackles in the Seahawks’ latest win. ... The Seahawks have eight interceptions as a team this season, tied for fourth in the NFL. The Bears lead the league with 11. … The Seahawks have 23 sacks, tied for fifth in the NFL, while the offense has allowed just nine. ... Seahawks K Jason Myers went 2 for 3 on field-goal attempts in Seattle’s latest game. Myers is 13 of 17 on the season. Last season, he missed four kicks total. ... Commanders LB Von Miller needs 2 1/2 sacks to tie Jared Allen for 12th on the career list. ... Washington's Bill Croskey-Merritt has rushed for 402 yards, fourth among NFL rookies this season. ... The Commanders lead the NFL in kickoff return average at 30.3 yards per attempt. ... Washington's Deebo Samuel is second in the NFL in yards after the catch since 2021, behind only Cincinnati's Chase. ... The Commanders have touchdowns on 75% of their red zone trips, second in the league behind Philadelphia. ... Originally drafted by Seattle, Commanders LB Bobby Wagner faces the Seahawks for the first time since 2022 when he was with the Rams. He has the most tackles (524) in prime time since entering the league in 2012 and is in fact the only player since 2000 with at least 500 tackles in prime-time games.

Expect Seattle receivers — Smith-Njigba in particular — to be popular among fantasy players given how Washington's coverage has struggled.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Trump cancels meetings with Iranian officials and tells protesters 'help is on its way'

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he’s cutting off the prospect of talks with Iranian officials amid a protest crackdown, telling Iranian citizens “help is on its way.”

Trump did not offer any details about what the help would entail, but it comes after the Republican president just days ago said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic, where the death toll from nationwide protests has spiked to more than 2,000, according to human rights monitors.

But Trump, with his latest message on social media, appeared to make an abrupt shift about his willingness to engage with the Iranian government.

"Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” Trump wrote in a morning post on Truth Social, which he later amplified during a speech at an auto factory in Michigan. “Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”

Trump, in an exchange with reporters during the factory visit, demurred when asked what kind of help he would provide.

“You’re going to have to figure that one out,” he said.

He also said he didn't have accurate numbers on the death toll in Iran but added: “I think it’s a lot. It’s too many, whatever it is.”

The U.S. president has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military action if his administration found the Islamic Republic was using deadly force against antigovernment protesters. Trump on Sunday told reporters he believed Iran is “starting to cross” that line and has left him and his national security team weighing “very strong options” even as he said the Iranians had made outreach efforts to the U.S.

And on Monday, the president’s team offered guarded hope that a diplomatic solution could be found.

“What you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. “However, with that said, the president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”

Also on Monday, Trump said he would slap 25% tariffs on countries doing business with Tehran “effective immediately,” but the White House has not provided details on that move. China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Brazil and Russia are among economies that do business with Tehran.

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and key White House National Security Council officials began meeting Friday to develop options for Trump, ranging from a diplomatic approach to military strikes.

Iran, through the country’s parliamentary speaker, has warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 600 protests have taken place across all of Iran’s 31 provinces, the Human Rights Activists News Agency reported Tuesday. The activist group said 1,850 of the dead were protesters and 135 were government-affiliated. It said more than 16,700 people had been detained.

Understanding the scale of the protests has been difficult. Iranian state media has provided little information about the demonstrations. Online videos offer only brief, shaky glimpses of people in the streets or the sound of gunfire.

Trump's push on the Iranian government to end the crackdown comes as he is dealing with a series of other foreign policy emergencies around the globe.

It’s been just over a week since the U.S. military launched a successful raid to arrest Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and remove him from power. The U.S. continues to mass an unusually large number of troops in the Caribbean Sea.

Trump is also focused on trying to get Israel and Hamas onto the second phase of a peace deal in Gaza and broker an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the nearly four-year war in Eastern Europe.

But advocates urging Trump to take strong action against Iran say this moment offers an opportunity to further diminish the theocratic government that’s ruled the country since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

The demonstrations are the biggest Iran has seen in years — protests spurred by the collapse of Iranian currency that have morphed into a larger test of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s repressive rule.

Associated Press reporter Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.