Seahawks’ first tush push of 2026 season erased by offside flag as Drew Lock steps in for injured Sam Darnold

Seattle’s opening bid for points in the new NFL season came undone Thursday night by a familiar referee point of emphasis: the tush push. With starting quarterback Sam Darnold ruled out after one drive because of a hip injury, backup Drew Lock briefly revived a stalled possession with a deep strike — only to see it wiped away by a pre-snap penalty.

Facing third-and-22 from Seattle’s own 33-yard line, Lock launched downfield and connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a tight throw between multiple New England defenders, moving the chains and putting the Seahawks in position to attack near midfield. Trailing 7-0 late in the second quarter, Seattle elected to keep the offense on the field on fourth down and run its version of the quarterback-push play popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Seahawks lined up 251-pound tight end AJ Barner under center in a compact formation and appeared to pick up the first down in Patriots territory. But officials flagged the play, citing right guard Anthony Bradford for lining up beyond the line of scrimmage. The resulting five-yard penalty forced Seattle to punt — its fourth of the first half — and the broadcast’s overhead angle made the ruling difficult to assess from home.

Seattle went into halftime scoreless and down 7-0, with Darnold officially done for the night. The sequence suggests the tush push may once again be an officiating storyline across the 2026 season, after the play survived an offseason attempt to ban it league-wide.

The game aired nationally on NBC and Peacock, both properties of Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), whose shares closed at $24.59 on the day, down 6.61% from a prior close of $26.33, valuing the media and telecom conglomerate at roughly $92.5 billion. Comcast’s Media segment, which includes NBC Sports’ NFL package, remains a key beneficiary of high-profile national broadcasts like Thursday night’s matchup.

What to watch

• An official status update on Sam Darnold’s hip injury ahead of Seattle’s next game, and whether Drew Lock draws a start.
• Whether the league’s officiating office addresses alignment enforcement on quarterback-push plays early in the season.
• How often teams besides Philadelphia deploy tush-push conversions in the opening weeks, and whether penalties on the play become a recurring pattern.
• NBC and Peacock audience figures for the nationally televised matchup, given Comcast’s sports-media rights investments.

Source: original release