Dave Boling: With turnover problem out of way, Sam Darnold, Seahawks look pretty darn good

Last week’s lesson: You can’t spell Darnold without the word “darn.”

That was the word (among others with more spice) that Seahawks fans used last Sunday as they watched Sam Darnold’s four interceptions cause a winnable game against the Rams to slip away.

It upped the Seahawks’ NFL-leading giveaway stats, and put them a game behind Los Angeles in the NFL West Division.

But this week’s lesson against the Tennessee Titans: Sam Darnold is once again pretty darn good when he throws to Jaxon Smith-Njigba rather than the opponents.

The defense and running game also proved they were sharp enough too, to keep the 8-3 Seahawks in the playoff hunt.

This was an important bounce-back win. The Hawks were favored by 11½ points against the 1-9 Titans. But last week’s loss reduced Seattle’s margin of error.

The Seahawk’s 30-24 win over the Titans looked closer than it needed to be. After leading by 20 in the second half, the Hawks saw the Titans put together a 15-play, 62-yard scoring drive to narrow the final margin.

Up by two scores, the Hawks’ defense was mostly playing conservatively. Still, that late Tennessee drive showcased the potential of rookie quarterback Cam Ward, the top-overall draft pick, who converted three fourth-down plays to keep the Titans on the move.

Ward’s mobility and creativity was a problem for the Hawks’ defense much of the day, as he ended up converting on 5 of 7 fourth-down plays.

Ward has a history of cashing in on his mobility, having transferred out of Washington State before his final season and collecting a bag of cash from the University of Miami.

Of course, nobody needed this outcome more than Darnold. He had risen to near the top of the NFL statistics on passing efficiency prior to the four-interception fiasco at L.A.

His NFL journey had been one of disappointment and inconsistency, with the fan-bases of several franchises highly doubtful of his value. Until last week, he’d been an unquestionably positive on-field producer and leader for the Hawks.

The Rams’ loss was cause for grim flashbacks, though.

Darnold said, in the intervening week, that he needed to “listen to my feet,” referring to his passing mechanics, to avoid a repeat of the performance against the Rams.

His feet, on Sunday, must have wisely advised him “Get the ball to No. 11.”

Smith-Njigba added further evidence that he is currently the best receiver in the NFL, with eight catches for 167 yards and two touchdown receptions.

Early in the second quarter, Darnold lofted a perfect pass to JSN, who beat Titans’ safety Amani Hooker up the left sideline. Hooker was in tight coverage, but Smith-Njigba pulled it in and raced in for the 63-yard score. He also added a 56-yard nonscoring catch.

His totals on Sunday lifted his reception yardage to 1,309 yards on 80 catches with seven touchdowns, breaking DK Metcalf’s franchise record for receiving yardage in a single season – with six games remaining.

JSN also is ahead of Calvin Johnson’s record-setting pace in 2012.

Despite playing without injured inside linebackers Ernest Jones IV and Tyrice Knight, the Hawks’ defense was stout again.

Playing in Jones’ position, Patrick O’Connell, recently elevated from the practice squad, was forceful at plugging the run gaps (eight tackles). Drake Thomas led the team with 10 stops.

With coach Mike Macdonald last week committing to showcase Kenneth Walker III as the team’s primary running back, Walker answered with 71 yards on 11 carries, an average of 6.5 per carry.

Darnold’s numbers, 16 for 26, 244 yards, were adequate. It was the “0” in the interceptions column that was most impressive. A couple times, he fired the ball into the turf in the face of pressure. A couple other times, he dumped off safe check-down tosses to backs rather than force in passes to deeper routes.

Late in the first half, the Seahawks settled for field goals on two drives. In both cases, Darnold threw passes that might have been picked off but were safe enough to fall incomplete.

How much better to get the field goals than surrender the ball and momentum?

His most wise “bad” pass came in the red zone on what might have been JSN’s third TD catch. Two defenders had JSN tightly covered in the end zone. Darnold’s high pass was out of their reach. JSN leaped to make the catch, but was just past the end line.

A good incompletion.

While a six-point win isn’t impressive to bettors, the Hawks weren’t really threatened.

Their injury-depleted defense brought steady pressure with the front four, and the piecemeal linebacking corps performed well against the slippery Ward and the Titan rushers.

Darnold seems to have learned his lesson, listening to the coaching of his feet.

JSN again proved his just about unstoppable.

Now the Hawks come home against the 4-7 Vikings and then on the road against a struggling Atlanta team.

The probability is they get to 10-3 before a crucial stretch in mid-December against the Colts and Rams – a Sunday-Thursday home “doubleheader.”

The setup should leave them well in contention over the holidays.

And that all looks pretty darn good.