Turns out the defending Super Bowl champions have weaknesses after all.
After the Seahawks' 2-0 start to the season, the Washington Commanders exposed some flaws in a 33-31 victory Sunday. The road loss snapped a 12-game Seattle winning streak.
While there were issues on both sides of the ball, perhaps the most glaring shortcoming was the turnovers, which led to 21 Commanders points.
Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold returned from a glute injury and threw a pair of interceptions, including a pick-6 with 3:57 left. It was the first pick-6 Darnold had given up in five years.
Rookie Jadarian Price also fumbled early in the first quarter and Washington recovered.
Darnold’s interceptions spoiled what would otherwise have been a stellar return. He completed 31 of 45 passes for 379 yards and four touchdowns.
“I mean, the takeaways are tough, but again, we’ll look at them and see why we made those decisions and see what we can do to make better decisions. But I think on the whole, I mean, he kept us in the game,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said.
Darnold was injured on the Seahawks’ first series of their season opener against the Patriots. Backup Drew Lock took over and helped Seattle to a 13-10 victory. Lock then started in a 31-7 win at Arizona.
The team announced on Friday that Darnold would play against the Commanders. He said he felt fine heading into the game.
“I think obviously I can’t turn the ball over the way that I did. We can’t turn the ball over as an offense and you know be inefficient and expect to win games,” Darnold said after the game.
He also took responsibility for the pick-6.
“Yeah, just bad decision,” he said.
Meanwhile, Seattle's vaunted defense failed to force any turnovers.
After looking at the tape, Macdonald had mixed emotions about the team's performance, but was optimistic everything was fixable.
“It’s an excitement about the type of team that we can have and that we aspire to be. And it’s also a sense of urgency and a bit of a kick in the gut that we’re not there yet. We have room to grow,” he said. "The exciting thing is, it’s early in the season and we have an opportunity to go make it right.”
Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has picked up where he left off last season, when he set team records and was the AP Offensive Player of the Year. Against the Commanders, he caught 10 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. He tops the league with 405 receiving yards this season and six touchdowns, two in each of the Seahawks' first three games. Oh, and against the Commanders, he also completed a pass for 14 yards.
The run game, which had just 44 yards against the Commanders, and just 19 in the second half. Clearly, the Seahawks miss Kenneth Walker III, but the good news is that Zach Charbonnet could return to practice next week — although he's still on the physically unable to perform list. The earliest he'd be likely to return is Week 5. Macdonald did not have an update on Monday.
Tight end AJ Barner caught five passes for 69 yards for his best game this season. Barner and the rest of Seattle's tight end corps had been fairly quiet in the team's first two games but the group broke out against the Commanders, with seven catches for 105 yards combined.
Rookie Jadarian Price lost another fumble, his second in as many games. He finished with just five carries for 15 yards against the Commanders. He also caught a pass for seven yards.
“With JD, he understands what’s going on, he needs to take care of the ball,” Macdonald said. "There’s some things fundamentally where we can focus on and we’re going to continue to give him the ball, we trust him. We know that he’s going to work hard to do his part as well.”
Safety Julian Love, who has two interceptions this season, missed the game against the Commanders after his calf tightened up during practice last week. His status going forward is day-to-day. Fellow safety Ty Okada has missed the first three games with a hamstring injury.
12 — The winning streak that was snapped. The Seahawks hadn't lost a game since Nov. 16.
The Seahawks return home Sunday after two road games to host the L.A. Chargers (0-3), who also lost Sunday, 24-16, to the Bills.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald during the first half of an NFL football game against Washington Commanders, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026 in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) with the ball altering after scoring a touchdown against Washington Commanders during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026 in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) throws the ball during the second half of an NFL football game against Washington Commanders, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026 in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A former Ohio music pastor who once appeared on “American Idol” is on trial on charges that he killed his wife while having an affair more than a decade after gushing to TV viewers about how she encouraged him to chase his dreams on the singing competition.
Caleb Flynn, 40, has pleaded not guilty to murder, assault and tampering with evidence charges in the February shooting of Ashley Flynn, 37, a schoolteacher and volleyball coach, at their Tipp City home, north of Dayton. Flynn and their two daughters were home when police arrived.
Flynn’s trial, which heads to closing arguments on Tuesday, has featured testimony from a woman who said she and Flynn had been having an affair at the time of his wife’s killing. Jurors also heard AI-generated love songs that prosecutors say he made for his paramour and some of the more than 100,000 text messages that authorities say they exchanged.
Prosecutors say Flynn staged a home invasion to mislead investigators and claimed in a frantic 911 call that a burglar had shot his wife. Flynn's alleged paramour, 24-year-old Alleigha Botner, testified that he had remarked that he hated his wife and harbored thoughts of killing her.
Here’s what you need to know about Flynn’s trial:
Botner's bombshell affair testimony has been the highlight so far. On the witness stand for two days, Botner described how she met Flynn in 2022 while she was a 20-year-old intern at his church and carried on an affair with him that spanned more than a year.
She detailed the secret life she says they shared, including candid conversations in which he mused about leaving his wife and wanting her dead.
“He told me that he hates her,” Botner testified. “He told me the only reason that he’s still with her is because of the girls.”
Botner sobbed as she read some of her text messages with Flynn, saying she regretted telling him: “I want to kill her, Caleb.”
Rather than dissuade her from that dark thought, Flynn replied: “That makes two of us.”
In August 2025, about six months before the killing, Flynn texted Botner: “I was up until 4 a.m. last night crying, literally trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail."
In another text message read in court, Botner said she wasn't serious, telling Flynn: “I'm not asking that you take her life obviously, because that's not what you should do, and I know you actually wouldn't. But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.”
When a prosecutor asked how she felt about Flynn now, Botner said: “I hate him.” Asked why, she said: “Because I believe that he murdered his wife.”
Prosecutors played some of Flynn’s AI-generated love songs, which included lyrics such as: “Age never mattered, when it was you and me," and “we danced on the edge of a life we could choose, so close to forever, so much left to lose.”
They also played audio of Flynn's 911 call, in which he said someone had broken into his home and killed his wife. He told a dispatcher that she was shot multiple times in the head and didn't know whether the intruder was still there.
When police arrived, the garage door, a side door and the center console of Flynn’s pickup truck were all open. Flynn told officers he kept a gun in the console, but no weapon was found there, according to a police report. Police say they never found the gun used in the killing.
Jurors also saw videos of Flynn’s police interviews. Crying and wearing a sweatshirt that said, “God-Sized Vision,” he said he was sleeping on the couch when he was awoken by a pair of gunshots. Flynn told investigators that a man had come to the door a day before the killing and handed his wife an American flag while making a “weird sales pitch for America.”
In another police interview, Flynn told investigators: “We are a normal married couple who love each other and disagree. I’ve never laid hands on her.”
Flynn didn't testify on his own behalf. Nor did anybody else.
After eight days of testimony from 40 prosecution witnesses, including detectives and forensics experts, Flynn's lawyers decided not to call any witnesses.
The prosecution and defense both rested their cases on Monday. That leaves Tuesday for closing arguments, followed by the start of jury deliberations.
In an opening statement, defense lawyer Emily Smith acknowledged Flynn's affair. But, she told jurors: “Caleb is not on trial for being a bad husband. He’s not on trial for cheating. You’re not here to deliberate on whether or not you like Caleb.”
Prosecutors opted not to call Flynn’s daughters, ages 10 and 12, as witnesses.
Flynn appeared in season 12 in 2013. He sang in televised auditions in Chicago before judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj but did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood, where Candice Glover took the crown.
“Music is all I know,” Flynn said on the show. “It’s what I live to do, and I love to sing.”
Flynn said God inspired him to be a performer. He credited his wife with encouraging him to try out for “American Idol” again after he missed the cut a few seasons earlier.
“I love my wife more than anything,” he said. “She’s very, very pretty. Oof, I love her.”
Ashley Flynn coached middle school volleyball and was a substitute teacher, Tipp City Schools said on its Facebook page. In her obituary, she was described as “a devoted and loving wife, and a caring and dedicated mother.”
“She was known for her beautiful smile, warmth, kindness, and the positive impact she had on so many — both in and out of the classroom and on the court,” the school district said.
According to her online obituary, the Tipp City High School and Lee University graduate also volunteered at her church, Christian Life Center, and was part of a program that teaches the Bible to public school students.
“Ashley was known as a shining light of joy to all who crossed her path, effortlessly encouraging others along the way,” the obituary said. “Her genuine care for people reflected the selfless love we all strive to share.
Caleb Flynn, left, sits next to Emily Smith, right, one of his attorneys on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in the Miami County Court of Common Pleas in Troy, Ohio. (AP Photo, Pool)
Caleb Flynn listens to court proceedings inside the Miami County Court of Common Pleas on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Troy, Ohio. (AP Photo, Pool)
