The Seattle Seahawks (4-2) were undermanned on defense, but they played like they had a full set of available players on Sunday.
Mike Macdonald’s group sacked Trevor Lawrence seven times and held the Jaguars
rushing attack to just 59 yards on 19 attempts, and despite some early coverage busts, the Seahawks were able to win 20-12 in a game that was very ugly to watch but is nevertheless a huge W for Seattle. They are now 10-1 on the road under Mike Macdonald with nine consecutive victories outside of Lumen Field.
Sam Darnold wasn’t at his absolute sharpest, but he still threw for two touchdowns and 295 yards. Most importantly, the Seahawks committed 0 turnovers for the first time all season, denying the Jaguars any chance to extend their league lead in defensive takeaways. The star of the game on offense was Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who caught 8 passes for 162 yards and a 61-yard touchdown. Cooper Kupp caught his first TD as a Seahawk, which proved to be Seattle’s only points in the 2nd half.
The Seahawks are guaranteed to be above .500 entering their Week 8 bye, so it’d be huge if they can turn 4-2 into 5-2 next week on Monday night against the Houston Texans.
1st Half
The Seahawks and Jaguars traded three-and-outs to start the game. Seattle’s highlight was getting a sack on the first play by Byron Murphy II, giving him 3.5 on the season. Jacksonville punted again after rookie safety Nick Emmanwori blitzed Lawrence into an overthrow.
After another three-and-out by the Seahawks offense, the Seahawks defense put the Jaguars behind the sticks and still allowed them to convert. Trevor Lawrence completed passes on 3rd and 11 and 3rd and 16 to keep the drive going. Travis Hunter juked Nick Emmanwori out of his shoes, then the Seahawks were made to pay after Emmanwori and Shaquill Griffin coverage busted a fake screen and let Brian Thomas Jr run free for a touchdown.
Seattle responded with a field goal drive. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught passes of 18 and 32 yards and helped set the Seahawks in a goal-to-go situation. For whatever reason, Klint Kubiak decided it was Zach Charbonnet time, and he called three straight runs that didn’t gain a first down. Jason Myers hit a 24-yard field goal after Kubiak ludicrously took the ball out of Darnold’s hands.
Jacksonville punted on the next series following a Lawrence overthrow, a Nick Emmanwori run stop on Travis Etienne Jr, and a coverage sack by Uchenna Nwosu and Leonard Williams. The defense did its job, then the offense did its job in only one play.
Darnold to JSN, 61 yards, house call. New Jaguars CB Greg Newsome got torched.
The Jags drove into field goal range, converting on 4th and inches with Dyami Brown on a clever run play. Trevor Lawrence was sacked by DeMarcus Lawrence. A little Lawrence on Lawrence crime!
That sack meant a lot, as Cam Little missed a field goal wide right. Little cost the Jags four points by missing a PAT and then that field goal. Meanwhile, his counterpart, former Jaguars kicker Jason Myers, was able to hit from 53 yards out to give the Seahawks a 13-6 lead.
2nd Half
It’s not quite a double-double of scoring touchdowns on either side of halftime, but it was nevertheless 10 points for the Seahawks between the one-minute drill and the first drive after the break. Sam Darnold found Cooper Kupp for a 29-yard gain on a seam pass, with Kupp taking off with yards after catch. Following a nice run by Kenneth Walker III, Seattle faced 3rd and goal and this time there would be no running. Cooper Kupp’s first touchdown came in man coverage against Jourdan Lewis.
Jacksonville’s offensive line just could not handle Seattle’s defensive line. By the end of third quarter, Trevor Lawrence had been sacked six times. And yet, the Seahawks didn’t quite create enough separation at just 20-6. Naturally, the Jaguars were able to march on a 14-play, 82-yard drive lasting over seven minutes. There was a touchdown by Brian Thomas Jr taken away after Josh Jobe juggled an interception into Thomas’ arms for a crazy score. Travis Hunter, however, committed offensive offsides on the play.
Jacksonville made consecutive 4th down conversions through Trevor Lawrence’s arms and legs to keep the drive (and, in effect, the game) going into the final quarter. Lawrence tested Josh Jobe on Hunter, who had no separation as Jobe had lockdown coverage. Then Jobe horribly misplayed a pass to Tim Patrick, resulting in a touchdown. The Jags went for 2 and did NOT convert, thanks to great penetration by Brandon Pili and an all-important tackle by Ernest Jones.
Seattle stuffed the subsequent two-point conversion to keep it at an 8-point game. The offense picked one brutal time to go three-and-out, with Darnold suffering his first sack of the game on an all-out blitz. However, Brian Thomas Jr bailed out the Seahawks on the next drive with a critical third down drop. Seattle wasted this by going three-and-out again. Two possessions in the fourth quarter? Two yards of offense.
Jacksonville had another chance for a game-tying drive, but Uchenna Nwosu and DeMarcus Lawrence met at the quarterback to destroy another drive. The Jaguars punted the ball away and never got it back.
Struggling for any offense, Sam Darnold and A.J. Barner delivered the dagger. A 61-yard catch off a deep play-action shot not only put the Seahawks in the red zone, it made the Jaguars burn their timeouts. Jason Myers hit the game-clinching field goal with two minutes left, but a Jaguars defensive hold meant Seattle could accept the penalty and run the clock out.
Full box score
Seahawks injury report
DT Jarran Reed suffered an undisclosed injury (knee, cramps, uncertain). DT Leonard Williams had his arm looked at but returned to the game, while LB Drake Thomas had his hand dinged up but nevertheless returned to action.
Next week’s opponent
The Seahawks return home to take on the Houston Texans (2-3), who are coming off their bye week. This will be Seattle’s last game before its own bye week and it’ll be a late start time of 7 pm PT on Monday, Oct. 20, live on ESPN.
