Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Each week we ask questions of the most plugged-in Seattle Seahawks fans and fans across the country.
Believe it or not, November has arrived. Week 9 is already upon us, and you know what that means: the Seattle Seahawks are back from the bye.
The Seahawks began year two of the Mike Macdonald era with a bang, going 5-2 to find themselves in a three-way battle for the NFC West division lead. Seattle, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Arizona Cardinals
all had their bye weeks in Week 8, and are ready to return to action for Week 9. Next on the docket for the Seahawks is the Washington Commanders, who have now fallen to 3-5 following their third consecutive defeat. Despite getting Jayden Daniels back, the Commanders will be without Terry McLaurin for Sunday Night Football in Week 9.
This week’s poll was primarily focused on the success of wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was recently named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for the month of October. JSN currently leads the NFL in receiving yards with 819, obtaining 417 of them over the last month alone—and that was with a bye week mixed in.
Naturally, fans have to be ecstatic about the team’s performance thus far. Before Seattle returns to play, let’s assess how the fans are feeling at this point in the season following the latest poll.
Much like with last week’s results, almost everyone is feeling confident in the team’s current trajectory. It’s always great to win games, but it is also important to take a step back and see how things are going at least once in a given season.
The Seahawks seem to have improved under Macdonald, already beginning the year with one more win than they had through the first seven games of 2024. Last year, Seattle’s fifth win came in Week 11, a 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium to climb back to .500. It was the Seahawks’ first divisional win of the season after two losses prior to the team’s bye in Week 10, the second of which was a loss to the eventual division champion Rams.
Seattle still finished 10-7 and narrowly missed the postseason, going 5-2 over the final seven weeks of the season. Right now, the Seahawks are already at 5-2 and have a very realistic shot to advance beyond the 10-win mark from 2024. There is plenty of reason to be hopeful about this team going forward, especially when you have already won more games in the first two months than you did in the same amount of time in the year prior.
The level of fan confidence was reflected in the predicted results of this week’s game as well. 97% believe that the Seahawks will beat Washington on SNF, with 60% feeling that Seattle will win by multiple scores. Between the questionable health of Daniels and the loss of McLaurin, the Commanders’ offense will likely not be as strong as it could be with both players fully healthy.
In addition, Washington’s defense has not been impressive so far this season, ranking 27th in yards allowed (372.8 per game) and 21st in points against (24.8/game). If the Seahawks can get some points on the board early on, the path to victory may emerge rather quickly.
The Commanders have been outscored 72-29 over the last two weeks, losing by 20+ in both matchups. Seattle can take advantage of this, having remained undefeated on the road since Week 4 of the 2024 season. With a win on Sunday night, the Seahawks would hand Washington its second loss at home this year, having previously lost 25-24 to the Chicago Bears back in Week 6.
Now for the biggest question on everyone’s minds: how will JSN do in Week 9? The reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Month has already put up five games with over 100 receiving yards this season, including each of Seattle’s last three games. So far in 2025, Smith-Njigba has 50 receptions for 819 receiving yards and four touchdowns, only 311 yards and two TDs behind last year’s marks of 1,130 yards and six touchdowns.
The fans are quite confident in JSN’s ability to continue at his astounding pace, with 86% feeling that he will get at least one TD and 82% believing that he will finish with at least 100 yards. 72% believe that Smith-Njigba will have another game with both of these marks, which would be his fourth consecutive game of the season with at least 100 receiving yards and a touchdown. You know you’re a successful wide receiver when it’s not a question of whether you will have a good game, but how good of a game you will have.
Will JSN have another 100-yard game on Sunday night? How many points will the Seahawks score vs. the Commanders? How will Mike Macdonald fare in his first game at Northwest Stadium as Seattle’s head coach?
Tune in to NBC for Sunday Night Football at 5:20 p.m. PT to find out!
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