NFL<\/a> partners and added a sideline photo of Sam Darnold. The post credited the moment as the couple\u2019s first regular-season game since getting engaged.Her game-day outfit included a blue and white striped shirt with \u201cSeahawks\u201d and the team logo on the back, a black crop top, wide-leg faded denim pants, sunglasses, a clear handbag, bracelets, and a pendant.The result on the field was a 17-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Sam Darnold went 16-of-23 for 150 yards. Seattle struggled to sustain drives and finish key downs late.<\/p>\nSam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks fall 17-13 as third downs and a cold run game define Week 1<\/p>\n
The offense converted only one third down through the air. Protection held up for most of the night, and the 49ers recorded one sack. The run game never found rhythm. Zach Charbonnet and Ken Walker III combined for 67 yards on 22 attempts, with several carries stopped for no gain or losses. Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the receiving with nine catches on 13 targets for 124 yards. Cooper Kupp finished with two catches for 15 yards. Tight ends AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo had limited production.<\/p>\n
Sam Darnold\u2019s first start with Seattle spotlights early issues in Klint Kubiak\u2019s run-first plan<\/p>\n
Head coach Mike Macdonald said details in the run fits and paths need to be sharper and that the effort and physicality were there. He pointed to execution as the fixable gap. Play action was used sparingly. Sam Darnold had two play-action dropbacks, one producing a 21-yard gain to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Macdonald said the team needs more play action and more movement and that those calls will increase.The distribution of targets leaned heavily toward Jaxon Smith-Njigba. To balance the passing game, Seattle needs more high-percentage concepts for other options and better conversion on schemed looks. The staff believes the group has enough talent to spread the ball, and early-season reps should help clean up timing and detail.Macdonald said the offense will stress clarity, landmarks, and better leverage in the run game. He voiced confidence in the receivers and backs to contribute in the pass game and indicated play-action volume will rise to match the system\u2019s identity under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Katie Hoofnagle, fianc\u00e9e of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, said she felt the pressure during his season opener…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2081],"tags":[7,41216,8357,6,20374,1878,252,238,237,261,63358,2635],"class_list":{"0":"post-354515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-seahawks","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-katie-hoofnagle","10":"tag-klint-kubiak","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-season-2025","13":"tag-sam-darnold","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","15":"tag-seahawks","16":"tag-seattle","17":"tag-seattle-seahawks","18":"tag-seattle-seahawks-season-opener","19":"tag-seattleseahawks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115175042871087895","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Sam](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/sam-darnold-fiancee-katie-hoofnagle-heart-rate-seahawks-debut.jpg\" "\\"Images")
Katie Hoofnagle, fianc\u00e9e of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, said she felt the pressure during his season opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Seattle on Sept. 7, 2025. On Sept. 8, she posted photos and a caption on Instagram that showed how tense the night felt from the sideline.<\/p>\n