The Seattle Seahawks managed to earn a much-needed road win over the Tennessee Titans by a score of 30-24. Despite the six-point margin of victory, the game was never once in doubt for even a minute. Seattle held a 20-point lead in the second half at two separate instances, and the Titans only made it appear “close” due to a garbage time score late.
Seattle needed this win because this was easily their most “winnable” game left on paper for their remaining schedule. With three losses, two of which are against NFC West rivals, the Seahawks had to bank a win over Tennessee while they could. Good teams beat the bad teams, it’s as simple as that, and Seattle did not disappoint.
Here are the top takeaways from the Seahawks’ 30-24 win over the Titans.
No. 1 – Jaxon Smith-Njigba stands alone in Seahawks history
JSN hauled in eight receptions for another 167 yards and two more touchdowns on Sunday. This was his eighth game this season with 100+ receiving yards, which puts his season total at 1,313 yards. With this performance, JSN just cemented himself in Seahawks franchise history for the most receiving yards in a single season, eclipsing DK Metcalf’s previous mark of 1,303 he set during the COVID year of 2020. Keep in mind it is only Week 12, which means JSN could reach heights that may never again be reached by a Seahawk, at least for quite some time.
No. 2 – Sam Darnold wasn’t spectacular, but he cleaned it up
Sam Darnold completed 16-of-26 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. No one is going to fondly remember this week as anything particularly special, but oddly enough, the lack of notability is exactly what Darnold needed in all honesty. For the first time since Seattle’s 20-12 road win over the Jaguars in Week 6, Darnold did not turn the ball over. Critics can mock all they want about how low of a bar it is, but when a quarterback has nine turnovers in four games to co-lead the NFL in that category, clearing said bar is a good place to start to get back on track. The Seahawks are good enough to where they don’t necessarily need spectacular from their quarterback to win games… they just need him to not be an active hindrance to their efforts.
No. 3 – I guess this is just what the Seahawks run game is, huh?
Kenneth Walker III rushed the ball 11 times for 71 yards, while backup Zach Charbonnet had 35 yards on six carries and a touchdown. Seattle had 20 rushes for 114 yards as a team. It feels like something similar is always the case with this team, week in/week out. This isn’t terrible, and it’s an obvious improvement over last year with Ryan Grubb. But it’s still not the dominant attack I think anyone – Mike Macdonald included – wanted from this unit. Ken Walker gets the bulk of the yards and carries, while Charbonnet gets plenty of goal line looks. Rinse, wash, repeat. I mean, it’s fine, it’s obviously getting the job done. But I keep waiting for this rushing attack to finally break out. However, for right now, I will happily settle for some consistency.
No. 4 – Jason Myers needs more love
Seattle’s kicker Jason Myers is making a unique name for himself as a lowkey franchise legend. Myers now has 183 field goals made with the Seahawks, which is the most in team history. He moved past the beloved Stephen Hauschka this year, and just like JSN with his receiving yards, will likely remain No. 1 in team history for several years to come. Myers connected on all three field goal attempts against the Titans, and all three extra points. Although I said this game never felt in doubt, it’s impossible to ignore it still was only a six-point win from Seattle. All nine points given to the Seahawks from Myers’ field goals were needed, because…
No. 5 – Red zone offense remains a problem
Seattle is still struggling to score the closer they get to the end zone. A frustrating conundrum for sure. The Seahawks were 1-for-4 in the red zone last week against the Rams, and they were hardly much better in Nashville with only 2-for-4 on their trips to this part of the field. Part of their struggles is the fact they are having difficulty sustaining drives once it gets to third down. Seattle is one of the worst teams in the league when it comes to third-and-long situations, and overall they were 2-for-7 in this critical situation. The Seahawks have been able to mask some of these issues by converting first downs on either first or second down, but this is a problem that is officially a top problem for offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to solve.