It got a little hairy there near the end of the game with all the chances that the Seattle Seahawks kept giving the Jacksonville Jaguars, but Mike Macdonald’s crew stepped up when it counted and walked
away with the 20-12 road victory – the ninth in a row for the franchise.
Jacksonville got on the board first, scoring an easy walk-in touchdown on what looked like a coverage breakdown. Both defenses were playing good ball early on besides Seattle’s snafu. Then, the Seahawks offense broke out of their malaise when Sam Darnold found the red-hot Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 61-yard receiving TD.
For the most part, this game was a story about the Seahawks defense. They were in Trevor Lawrence’s grill all game long, sacking him seven times!! That was a career-high for Lawrence, and the Jaguars offensive line came into the game giving up only six total sacks ton the season. With Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love, and Riq Woolen all standing on the sidelines, that defensive output was sorely needed.
Seahawks Droppings
- Of the Seahawks seven sacks, six of them came courtesy of the defensive line. DeMarcus Lawrence had 2.0 in his first game back from a quad injury to lead the team along with Byron Murphy’s 2.0 sacks. Uchenna Nwosu had 1.5 sacks, with Leonard Williams picking up the other 0.5 sack. The only non-defensive line sack came on a well-timed blitz by linebacker Drake Thomas. Along with the sacks, the defense had 17 QB hits on Lawrence. Byron Murphy is turning into the first-round game wrecker in the middle that the Seahawks were hoping for as they had him as the highest graded defensive player on their draft board. Murphy, Lawrence, and Big Cat is a devastating combo.
- Jaxon-Smith Njigba is on an absolute heater and is no doubt a true WR1 in the NFL as he reeled in eight catches for 162 yards and a TD. I just wish he wouldn’t have committed that taunting penalty that knocked the offense back 15 yards after a big conversion. That seemed to sap the energy out of the offense, and they sputtered up until the final drive.
- Cooper Kupp had a few key catches once again, snagging his first TD as a Seahawk on a beautiful route and throw by Sam Darnold. AJ Barner was used sparingly until his huge catch on the final drive which essentially clinched the game.
- Speaking of Sam Darnold , I thought he was very good once again despite having a few throws I’m sure he’d like back. Particularly, I’m thinking of the deep throw to Tory Horton who had a step on the defender and had to slow down for the ball which was then knocked away. If Darnold had gotten just a little more on that toss, he would’ve had another long TD.
- Nick Emmanwori had some really nice tackles for short gains in what is basically only his second full game as a pro. He got juked out of his shoes by Travis Hunter early on, but was a big part of the defensive effort after that, tying Drake Thomas for the team lead with nine tackles in the game. I can’t wait to see how his role expands, or how much more he’ll be freed up when Love, Spoon, and Woolen are all back on the field.
- The running game was pretty much nonexistent today with 26 carries for 60 yards. I remember one good run by Kenneth Walker III, but that’s about it. Kubiak stuck with it, however, and I’m sure that willingness had an effect on the play-action game including the final huge play to Barner.
- Part of the reason that the running game struggled was the offensive line getting stood up or blown into the backfield. I saw it happen to Grey Zabel on a stretch play to the left, and Abraham Lucas also got worked a few times. The pass protection, on the other hand, was quite good with the only sack coming on an all-out blitz. Darnold had plenty of time in the pocket to wait for routes to open up downfield.
I really wish the Seahawks could bottle this up and play like this at home consistently. Seattle is a very good team teetering on the precipice of greatness. The offense is so much better than I expected and they’re not even firing on all cylinders in the run game yet. Things could get very, very scary for opponents if and when the injuries clear up.
