The Seattle Seahawks (8-3) took care of the Tennessee Titans (1-10), but perhaps not as easily as fans or maybe Mike Macdonald would’ve liked.
Leads of 23-3 and 30-10 became a 30-24 victory in Nashville.
While the last touchdown came with little time remaining and an unsuccessful onside kick, the Seahawks could’ve definitely made life easier for themselves with better 4th down defense, better 4th quarter offense, and better special teams punt return coverage.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba once again dominated, recording 8 catches for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns to continue his all-time great season. He’s now Seattle’s all-time single-season leader in receiving yards, having surpassed DK Metcalf’s 1,303 yards. Zach Charbonnet scored Seattle’s final touchdown, while Jason Myers banged home three field goals.
The defense sacked Cam Ward four times and shut down the run game, but there were many heads-up plays by Ward that explain why he was the No. 1 overall pick this year. He escaped would-be sacks and repeatedly made impressive plays in the face of huge pressure. Alas, it wasn’t enough but he was valiant in defeat. Seattle’s defense only allowed 17 points, with the other 7 coming on a punt return score.
Hey, there were no turnovers by the Seahawks. I guess that’s good! But the bad? Injuries to Ty Okada, Chazz Surratt, and George Holani, all of whom were ruled out for the game by halftime. There were also way too many penalties, with 21 accepted (11 on Seattle, 10 on Tennessee) combined.
By the way, the trend continues. Nine games between the Seahawks and the modern day Titans, nine games decided by one possession.
1st Half
The Titans hadn’t scored an opening drive touchdown all season, but they came very close this week. Cam Ward made a couple of plays with his legs on scrambles, as well as turn a certain sack into a terrific throw to Chig Okonkwo for 10 yards and a first down. Ward got the Titans into a goal-to-go, only for DeMarcus Lawrence to drill Tyjae Spears for a big loss that set Tennessee back. Cam took a sack on 3rd and goal and the Titans kicked a chip shot 22-yard field goal. 3-0 Titans.
Seattle found itself in Titans territory after one play, with Kenneth Walker running for nine yards behind Charles Cross and Grey Zabel blocks. A personal foul penalty added another 15 to make it net 24 yards. Seattle methodically moved into field goal range before Sam Darnold was nearly picked off on a throw to Kenneth Walker. It would’ve easily been a touchdown had it been caught by Marcus Harris. Jason Myers tied things up at 3-3.
After a Titans punt, the Seahawks got good field position off of a 20-yard Rashid Shaheed punt return. On 3rd and 1, the Seahawks committed a false start on a sneak. No problem, for the next play was a touchdown for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Darnold to JSN for 63 yards!
Tennessee went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, with Byron Murphy II sacking Cam Ward on third down. Seattle got the ball at the Titans 26 on another good Shaheed return, but stalled out in goal-to-go. Darnold again was lucky to avoid an interception on a deflected throw to A.J. Barner. Jason Myers extended the lead to 13-3 Seahawks.
Cam Ward hit a big pass play over the middle to James Proche III for 23 yards to get out of a 3rd and 9 jam. Tennessee was on the move on the cusp of field goal range when things took a turn for the worse for the home side. Ward misfired to Gunnar Helm on 3rd and 1 with Uchenna Nwosu in coverage, then Julius Chestnut was stuffed on 4th and 1 for a turnover on downs!
The turnover on downs provided the Seahawks with a chance to score before halftime. They nearly got a touchdown on the two-minute drill through that Sam-to-JSN connection again, but Smith-Njigba was pushed out of bounds by Samuel Womack before both feet could come down in bounds. This led to a third field goal of the half for Jason Myers and a 16-3 Seahawks lead at the break.
2nd Half
Tired of all of these field goal updates? Here’s Sam Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 13-yard touchdown, a few snaps after a 56-yard play immediately to start the second half. 23-3 Seahawks.
There was some life for the Titans, but not because of their offense. After Tennessee punted, the Seahawks went three-and-out and Michael Dickson was called upon for his first punt of the game. Speedy rookie Chimere Dike, who already entered the game with a punt return touchdown to his name, made it a second with a 90-yard house call. 23-10 Seahawks.
Seattle immediately responded with a couple of big Kenneth Walker III runs and a 29-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass. Walker did the bulk of the work, but it was Zach Charbonnet who made it 30-10 Seahawks with his seventh touchdown of the season. An easy 6-play drive in which the Seahawks never even got to third down.
Cam Ward answered with a nine-play, 72-yard touchdown drive capped off by a rushing score to make it 30-17.
Seattle went for it on 4th and 3 in Titans territory in the final quarter. The effort to close the game out instead ended in a Sam Darnold sack by Arden Key, with Jeffery Simmons generating the initial pressure. Ward led a seven-minute drive deep into Seahawks territory, but a penalty and a sack put them at 4th and 21. Despite Gunnar Helm’s best efforts, he hurdled well short of the sticks and the Titans put up nothing.
A three-and-out by the Seahawks soon followed, and the Titans again got into Seattle territory through a series of annoying fourth down conversions. Tennessee converted an astonishing five fourth downs, and with :43 left Chimere Dike got a receiving touchdown to make it 30-24 Seahawks. The onside kick didn’t go 10 yards and Tennessee had exhausted its timeouts, so game over. Thankfully.
Full box score
Next week’s opponent
The Seahawks return home to take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 1:05 pm PT on FOX. It’s not only Sam Darnold’s first game against his previous team, it’s also a final appearance for the throwback uniforms!
