Seahawks vs Steelers: Seattle’s second-half surge buries Pittsburgh 31-17

That noise you heard in the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium? It was a crowd watching a game slip away. Seattle turned a tense road fight into a 31-17 win by steamrolling the second half, outscoring Pittsburgh 24-3 after the break. What looked like a grind suddenly became a track meet for the visitors, the kind of turnaround that says as much about composure as it does about scheme. For a Week 2 game, Seahawks vs Steelers carried a playoff feel, and only one side handled the heat.

How Seattle flipped the game after halftime

Seattle’s first half was messy—turnovers, choppy rhythm, a defense stuck on short fields. The break changed everything. The coaching staff shifted the plan, leaned into tempo, and gave Sam Darnold cleaner pictures. More quick-game. More motion to identify coverage. A moving pocket to slow Pittsburgh’s rush. The offense came out looking lighter on its feet and heavier on purpose.

The spark came on a third-and-nine when Darnold looked dead to rights. Linebacker Patrick Queen flashed, Darnold spun free, and found Barner for 19 yards. That single play yanked the game’s momentum out of neutral. You could see Seattle’s sideline react—helmets in the air, energy up—and the Steelers’ defense tilt back on its heels.

Next came the shot. Darnold hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba downfield for 43 yards, a dagger that split the middle and exposed a secondary already reeling. That chunk play forced Pittsburgh to respect the vertical game and opened the run. Two snaps later, Kenneth Walker III cashed it in with a smooth 20-yard touchdown run that broke the structure of the defense. One cut, one crease, and the stadium went quiet.

That sequence wasn’t a fluke. Seattle kept Pittsburgh off balance by mixing formations and using motion to pry open leverage. The ball came out faster, and when it didn’t, Darnold used his legs to extend plays without forcing throws. He stopped pressing and started taking what the defense gave him—checkdowns on early downs, safe throws outside the numbers, then the occasional body blow over the top.

Walker’s score did more than add points. It turned Pittsburgh’s front sideways. Seattle ran with patience, trusted the double teams, and asked Walker to read the cutback. He delivered the finishing touches—pad level through contact, burst into daylight, and a clean finish at the pylon. When your back is that decisive in the red zone, drives end with seven instead of three.

Credit the offensive line, too. Early on, they were leaky. After halftime, they played on time and with help—backs chipped, tight ends nudged rushers off their spot, and the pocket settled. Seattle didn’t need clean plates; they just needed long enough for routes to develop and for Darnold to see it. That happened, and Pittsburgh’s vaunted rush never got its hands around the game again.

Special teams then slammed the door. Under the league’s new kickoff setup, the ball rolling in the landing area is high-risk for the return side. Rookie Caleb Johnson found that out the hard way. He touched a live ball he didn’t need to, opening the door for Seattle to pounce. The Seahawks recovered, turned the short field into points, and removed any real path back for the Steelers. You’ll see more of these moments across the league as players adjust—the rule forces fast decisions, and one mistake can swing a game.

From there, Seattle didn’t get cute. They protected the football, leaned on field position, and traded time for yards. The defense matched the offense’s surge, choking off explosives and forcing long fields. That complementary stretch—efficient offense, no special teams errors, defense winning downs—was the difference between a close one and a comfortable flight home.

What went wrong for Pittsburgh—and what it tells us

Pittsburgh’s defense had the right idea early: squeeze the middle, force Darnold into tight-window throws, and count on pressure to clean up the rest. But the unit cracked when Seattle pushed pace and layered route concepts. The decisive blows were explosives. The 43-yard shot to Smith-Njigba was the turning point, and the Walker touchdown exposed the edge. Once those two landed, the Steelers were defending grass instead of players.

Joey Porter Jr. had a long day. He got caught peeking in the backfield, lost leverage on verticals, and gave up chunk plays that flipped the math. It wasn’t just him—zone handoffs were late, and the middle of the field opened up on scramble drills—but Porter’s missed beats showed up on the scoreboard. Against receivers who can threaten all levels, those small lapses balloon into game-changers.

The offense didn’t help, either. After halftime, Pittsburgh managed only three points. Drives stalled because of the usual chain-breakers: penalties before the snap, negative runs on first down, and pressure creating third-and-long. Red zone chances fizzled. They either got cute when power was needed or conservative when a shot play was there. You can’t chase the sticks against a defense that’s smelling blood.

Seattle’s defense deserves a nod here. While the headlines live with Darnold and Walker, the Seahawks tightened coverage, forced the ball underneath, and tackled well after the catch. They took away the easy buttons and trusted their rush to close on longer-developing routes. That’s how a team gives up only a field goal in a half without a bunch of flashy plays—just steady winning of downs.

Coaching became a storyline, too. Seattle’s sideline made faster, cleaner adjustments. They changed protection rules, tweaked route depths, and built answers for pressure looks. Pittsburgh stuck with the original script a little too long, then had to chase after the game turned. When momentum swings on the road, a couple of quick calls can steady things. The Steelers didn’t find them in time.

Zooming out, the result muddies how we see Pittsburgh. That impressive Week 1 win over the Jets doesn’t hold the same weight after New York’s 20-point home loss the following week. The Steelers will be fine defensively—they’re too talented up front not to be—but this game put a spotlight on coverage communication and situational awareness. Both can be fixed, but both will be tested by better offenses.

For Seattle, this felt like a tone-setter. A rough first half on the road didn’t spiral. They kept the ball safe after halftime, created explosives when they needed them, and played complementary football. Darnold didn’t just manage the game; he took it when it was there and protected it when it wasn’t. That balance travels.

The other subplot worth watching is the new kickoff reality. Teams are experimenting with placement, bounce, and angles, trying to force decisions under stress. Return units are still learning the thresholds—when to let it roll, when to cover it, when the ball is truly live. Until everyone catches up, special teams coordinators will keep hunting for game-swinging edges. On Sunday in Pittsburgh, Seattle found one.

Bottom line: Seattle outlasted, out-adjusted, and out-executed. They won the explosive play battle, the turnover battle after halftime, and the field position battle late. Those three levers usually predict the result, and they certainly did in this one—31-17 tells you the rest.