It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Seattle Seahawks found a way to pull out an 18-16 victory at home against an Indianapolis Colts squad that had 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers playing his first NFL game in nearly five years.
Seattle Seahawks 18, Indianapolis Colts 16: Box Score
As a result, the Seahawks improved to 11-3 and maintained a tie for first place in the NFC West with the Los Angeles Rams, who come to Seattle on Thursday night for a massive divisional showdown.
Here’s what the voices of Seattle Sports have to say about the Seahawks’ win over the Colts.
Mike Salk – Brock and Salk (6-10 a.m. weekdays)
Sam Darnold and the Seahawks’ offense did not get into the end zone all day. They didn’t move the ball consistently all day. They didn’t run it particularly well, nor were they particularly effective through the air. They weren’t good in the red zone nor on third downs.
And I would give Darnold an “A” grade for the day.
There will be rough games in this league. There will be days when the opposing defense has your number. There will be days, especially in December and January (and hopefully February), when pros playing against pros will be unable to separate themselves as the clearly better team through 58 or 59 minutes. Those are the games you need your quarterback to make a difference, and that is exactly what Darnold did. The new kickoff rules (coupled with the new kicking balls) have made it relatively easy to get into field-goal range; Darnold only needed to go 25 yards on the final drive. But he delivered the two strikes to Rashid Shaheed and not only claimed a huge victory, but one that should ease concerns of Seahawks fans and set up an epic battle against the Rams on Thursday night!
56 YARDS. 6 FOR 6. #ProBowlVote + @JayMy_31
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/jvb7rZOpnH
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 15, 2025
Bob Stelton – Wyman and Bob (2-7 p.m. weekdays)
Jason Myers 18, Colts 16. We need to keep in mind that the Seahawks won this game and are now 11-3 – one game better than last season’s win total. The defense came into this game second in the NFL in defensive points allowed at 17.4. They allowed 16 on the day. Jason Myers was absolutely clutch accounting for all 18 of Seattle’s points in this one. That about covers it for the “good” in this win. Did I miss anything?
This was a dreadful day for this offense. Last time the Seahawks won a game without scoring a TD was just about a year ago (Dec. 26) against Chicago in a 6-3 contest.
They ran the ball 22 times for 49 total yards. Sam Darnold was under very consistent pressure throughout the game. This has been the story through the last few games, and it’s something they need to remedy before they face the Rams, Panthers and 49ers. If they come out this ineffective against those teams, they will lose. An 11-3 record is great and shouldn’t be undersold. But there are problems with this offense right now that need to be corrected if the Hawks expect to make any kind of run through the playoffs.
Seattle Seahawks coverage
• How 2025 Seahawks compare to franchise’s Super Bowl teams
• Roster Moves: Seattle Seahawks activate 3 players, place 1 on IR
• Daniel Jeremiah: Seattle Seahawks rookie Grey Zabel ‘an elite guard now’
• Date and time for Seattle Seahawks’ Week 17 game at Carolina announced
• How much winning No. 1 seed would help Seahawks’ Super Bowl chances
