SEATTLE — On the fifth play of their reign, trauma intruded. The Seattle Seahawks had barely unveiled their 2025 championship banner when quarterback Sam Darnold started limping. He tried to jog. His right hip protested.He touched his ailing side. He hopped. He hobbled toward the sideline and then the locker room. Just like that, a team that won the Super Bowl while still ascending heard its first thump of the new season. During a Wednesday night game in a league not known for playing on Wednesdays, the Seahawks found out how hard it is to repeat. The early start to this NFL season yielded the earliest bummer.Still, they won. They came back from a 10-point deficit that felt like 30 with their offense scuffling. They edged the New England Patriots 13-10 at Lumen Field, torturing the team they pounded in Super Bowl 60 in a different way. The Seahawks were hardy and resourceful. They managed to be the team they’re built to be, even while showing vulnerability without their quarterback.How good is Darnold? His absence made his value clear.How good are the Seahawks overall? The rally showcased their championship traits.How great can they continue to be together? Fingers crossed that the season-opening misfortune doesn’t linger.As the long night ended, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald seemed encouraged that Darnold avoided at least one worst-case scenario. Early medical testing ruled out a fracture, he said. But the Seahawks don’t know the extent of his hip injury yet.“It’s positive, great news,” Macdonald said.And then: “It’s … uh … let’s say it’s good news right now.”And soon after: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Sam.”The man may deserve a PhD in coaching, but don’t call him Dr. Macdonald.Seahawks beat Patriots to kick off 2026 NFL seasonIf Darnold can avoid missing significant time — if he can return in a month or less — the Seahawks can survive. Backup quarterback Drew Lock can keep the team competitive. For me, the measure of a quality No. 2 is whether a team can win half its games when he’s the substitute starter. Lock’s task is to play a game simple enough to let Seattle’s all-world defense dictate the rest, but ambitious enough to emphasize the playmaking of wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.After being forced into action, Lock was predictably vanilla at the start, but he was exceptional as the game progressed. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards, with one touchdown and no turnovers. Smith-Njigba, the Offensive Player of the Year last season, put up familiar numbers. He finished with eight receptions for 122 yards, including a 45-yard score on a clever fourth-and-1 play that tied the game early in the fourth quarter.It was a play that Lock hadn’t run. But he was ready. He’s the football nerd who places a whiteboard next to his bed, just in case he feels the urge to diagram a play. That’s one way he stays sharp despite not playing.Said Lock: “That’s just kind of been my thing, being able to visualize it so when I read it out, it’s just there in my head.”It’s always easy to visualize JSN catching a game-changing pass.“It is, like, a classic football play,” Lock said of the fourth-down deception. “But, no, definitely never ran it. Looked kind of funny before the snap. Didn’t really seem like they had anybody ready to match Jax, based on what I knew we were about to run. He’s actually the third read in that play. When (No.) 11’s just standing there, you gotta give him the pill.”Can Seattle Seahawks survive a Sam Darnold absence? Robert Mays and Derrik KlassenBut this game wasn’t really about a resilient offense. It was about a Seahawks defense, with a depleted secondary, humiliating New England quarterback Drake Maye once again.For most of last season, Maye looked like the next top-tier NFL QB. He finished second in MVP voting. He has the size, arm talent and athleticism to lead the next generation of signal callers. Still only 24, he processes the game like a 10-year veteran. To further his growth, the Patriots traded for A.J. Brown, a true No. 1 receiver. Maye is in an ideal situation.But the last two times we’ve seen him, he has faced a Seattle defensive unit that calls itself the “Dark Side.” The Seahawks defensive line pressures him consistently and mixes in effective blitzes. In a 29-13 Super Bowl blowout, Seattle didn’t relent until the closing minutes. On Wednesday, the Patriots had a better offensive game plan, nibbling at available yards and using the Seahawks’ aggressive style against them. But then came the fourth quarter, and Maye performed like an undrafted rookie just handed the playbook.Maye threw interceptions to end New England’s final three possessions, each one more horrendous than the last. His final errant toss, a pop fly into the end zone, landed in the mitts of cornerback Josh Jobe. It was a devastating touchback, a mistake from a quarterback whose team was in range to try a game-tying field goal.“See ball, get ball,” Jobe said afterward of his approach.Maye, after Brown exited early with an ankle injury, committed turnovers as if he were tossing free T-shirts into the crowd. Darnold spent the night in pain, but he still ended up in better shape than his counterpart.For the Seahawks, it was fitting that Jobe made the last big play. Earlier in the game, he was fooled on a flea-flicker, and his pass-interference penalty set up the Patriots’ lone touchdown. His game-clinching pick could be considered redemption. Really, though, it’s just the byproduct of the persistence that champions must have.“The No. 1 thing we have is, we’re just gonna find a way,” said safety Julian Love, one of Wednesday’s stars. “I think the sign of a great team is to be able to win multiple ways.”Drew Lock did what was necessary for Seattle in Week 1. (Jane Gershovich / Getty Images)The Seahawks’ pregame banner ceremony was not a preview of what comes next. It was a celebration of what happened. Quickly, the game reinforced what they’ve been preaching about the 2026 season. They have to chase their own standard, while the rest of the league chases them. The crown is heavy. The hype about the Los Angeles Rams’ star-studded roster helps ease the burden, but it doesn’t eliminate it. They knew this season would be hard, and then four plays into the journey, the difficulty increased.But they’re wired to welcome the challenge.“I think there’s something to be said in the NFL for the expectations you have for yourself,” said wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who has two Super Bowl rings. “Just about everyone on this team has the expectation that we’ll find a way to win, and that goes a long way. There’s power behind that.”Can the Seahawks still be the Seahawks without Darnold?For one night, the answer was yes. Barely yes, but still yes.The new season started with a banner going up, a quarterback going down and a challenger finding a new way to lose to Seattle. Some things about the Seahawks changed with alarming speed. Evidently, badgering the Patriots is not one of them.