No preamble. The Jacksonville Jaguars won the opening toss, elected to receive, and why the heck wouldn’t they? Atop their division with a 4-1 record, fresh off a win over the Kansas City Chiefs, at home
against a Seattle Seahawks defense sans defensive backfield to speak of, who’d just surrendered 38 points a week earlier? You bet they wanted the ball more than Matt Hasselbeck in overtime.
Like Matt, bless his little heart evermore, the Jaguars did not score. They threw it to the right team at least — but they didn’t score, didn’t win, didn’t take advantage of Seattle being more shorthanded in the secondary than Shaquem Griffin. Instead, their offense got their asses kicked from start to finish. And it was glorious.
The Seahawks played Mike Macdonald ball, which, careful, don’t squint too hard or it’ll look like what his predecessor spent his first two years building as well. A deep, young, physical, smart, versatile, starving defense with talons for tackling, buttressed by a patient, explosive, balanced offense that plays clean. That formula worked before and it works now; Sunday’s final 20-12 scoreline only made an un-close game sound close.
(In other words, we got almost exactly the opposite of what we saw at Lumen seven days prior. Didn’t you love it?)
But this post is not about the forgotten past, it’s about the very recent past in which Seattle’s defensive line dictated the game on their terms from start to finish, and the back end held up long enough to assist in a convincing victory.
Remember how Jacksonville took the opening kickoff. Again, why wouldn’t you? For starters, cause you might go the wrong way. You might get sacked by Byron Murphy on the first snap, get called for holding on the second, see your screen blown up on the third (shoutout to Coby Bryant), and run a give-up play on 3rd and forever from your own five-yard line.
That’s when the game took a London-y turn. Some untimely slips, some untimely flags, folks driving on the left side of the road, and soon enough each team had punted twice.
So when the Jaguars did find the end zone on drive three, nothing felt dire, but there were false warning signs galore: defensive twelve men on the field, Dyami Brown wide open but overthrown, malodorous coverage on 3rd and 16, and a bit of miscommunication between Nick Emmanwori and Shaquill Griffin that sprang Brian Thomas Jr. all the way to the end zone.
Thing about Emmanwori is he’s a rookie. That also happens to be the most wonderful thing about him. He’ll get the spotlight fully at the end of the post, so until then know this: making mistakes your first year is literally part of the job description, because how else are you gonna learn. And he made visible in-game adjustments. Let’s table that for a while. Like until Predator and Prey, for example.
Midway through the second quarter, staring at a ho-hum 6-3 game, there was plenty to dislike, plenty to forget about, and plenty of reasons to look forward to better days with a healthier roster and a punchier offense.
Perfect time then for Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba to unleash their tactical strike from outer space: a one-play drive. You cannot — and by you I mean everyone up to and including Darnold himself — throw a better ball than this.
The Seahawks would never trail again. In the second half, the Jaguars would never have the ball with a chance to take the lead. Because the defensive line ate their blinking pellets, gobbled up offensive linemen like ghosts, and wiped the board clean of Trevor Lawrence seven times.
When the Jags got close to scoring again, DeMarcus “The Good” Lawrence hurleed them back nine yards with a third-down sack. Field goal sailed wide right, score remained 10-6.
When Jacksonville neared midfield next, at 9:12 of the third, the Seahawks produced sacks on sacksessive plays, setting up 3rd and 18.
As such, the score was 20-6 visitors. (Cooper Kupp had a drive to justify his monthly pay for a touchdown, in which he fairy-dusted an innocuous crosser into 29 yards and then coralled a perfect toss from Darnold on a precise out pattern in the end zone.)
At that point:
A) Seattle had sacked Lawrence six times already, a career high
B) The six sacks also matched how many Jacksonville had allowed in Weeks 1-5 combined
C) Seahawks had notched 17 pressures already
D) Jaguars were earning just 3.9 yards per play
Felt like one more score would put the game away, and although the Seahawks never added on, it’s only because they ran victory formation inside the Jags’ 10.
Of course, nothing is easy even when it’s pre-ordained. For all the superlative defense witnessed, good players are gonna make good plays sometime in and out of structure. Lawrence did so on his second TD drive, using his legs for a fourth down conversion and then playgrounding around just long enough to spring Tim Patrick behind an over-eager secondary for six.
After sandbagging the Jaguars into going for two — why else put 13 men on the field except to force a flag — it was Ernest Jones time. In fairness, it is always Ernest Jones time, because the linebacker depth is frankly less reassuring than everywhere else. Jones is perhaps the Seahawks’ most indispensable defender.
For all that effort and seven minutes invested, the Jaguars were rewarded with six points, meaning they’d need another TD and conversion (ideally in the opposite direction of Jones) just to tie. They would not score again.
To be fair, nobody would score again, and Jacksonville went for more slop than your AI-obsessed cousin. Gained all of 17 yards the rest of the way, punted thrice, and graciously opened the door for Seattle to kneel down with a braindead defensive holding call on Jason Myers’ game-clincher. If you started Myers in fantasy and you lose by 2.9 points, that’s on the Jags.
The Seahawks, for their part, made sure the end would be academic when inside of three minutes, A.J. put on the Barnerburners and rumbled 61 yards into the Duval red zone, where the game would conclude.
We got some dudes in the Predator Pile today.
APEX PREDATOR
It is time. JSN is a top 5 WR in the league. He has more 20-yard receptions than everyone (13), more 40+ catches too (5) and more yards than everyone (696) anyway. J. He has 80 more than second-place Puka Nacua ON NINE FEWER TARGETS. He has more yardage than Ja’Marr Chase and A.J. Brown combined. He is a willing blocker, can line up anywhere, and plainly a spiritual leader between the lines.
Smith-Njigba is Him.
PREDATOR
Byron Murphy. In on three sacks. Set the tone with one on the first play, then did not let up.
DeMarcus Lawrence. Same as Murphy, participated thrice. He was the better Lawrence all afternoon. Thanksgiving dinner might be extra awkward for Trevor this year.
But really the entire d-line. Like in this pretty moving picture:
Michael Dickson. Put the Cats in unenviable positions all afternoon. Logged a 51.4 average and placed them well enough to limit return yardage to only 24 total on seven kicks.
Seattle pocket protectors. Darnold had time to look deep consistently. Didn’t hurt that Klint Kubiak kept kommitting to the run. But bottom line, it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Jags really bothered Darnold on consecutive plays, with a sack and awkward throwaway.
PREY and PREDATOR
Nick Emmanwori. What began with maximum ominosity on the Brian Thomas TD ended with a complete game that really showcased why the Seahawks made him last year’s 35th pick overall. Two well-timed safety blitzes led to important incompletions.
And after the snafu, the learning:
I really like the second play. Such perfect timing to ditch the tight end, just enough contact to swipe left on the receiver, who Griffin might not have gotten to otherwise. Emmanwori belongs, and the only negative is that he’s about four weeks behind because of that early ankle injury. He couldn’t have landed in a better situation.
Seattle’s 4-2. So are the 49ers, so are the Rams. If the Hawks are to go to a special place, or anyplace, let us go with them.
