Jaxon Smith-Njigba's record-breaking season in jeopardy after slow day vs Vikings

The Seattle Seahawks (9-3) might have played one of their toughest offensive games of the season on Sunday at home against the Minnesota Vikings. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores composed a brilliant set of packages to confuse the offensive line and pressure quarterback Sam Darnold.

The Vikings limited the Seahawks’ passing, giving Darnold little time in the pocket. The Seahawks’ 26-0 home win resulted from their elite defensive play and a late-game development from their rushing offense.

Star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba had his least productive game of the season with no fault of his own. He was going against a great Vikings secondary and couldn’t get open in time for Darnold, thanks to the often-poor blocking by the offensive line.

JSN caught two receptions out of four targets for 23 yards. It’s only the fourth time this season that he accounted for less than 100 receiving yards in a game, and the first time it was under 79 yards.

Through 12 games played, JSN has caught 82 receptions for a league-high 1,336 yards and seven touchdowns. He still has 194 more yards than Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens, who has 1,142 receiving yards.

The biggest drawback from JSN’s 23-yard performance is the chase for the league’s all-time single-season record in receiving yards of 1,964 yards set by Detroit Lions wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson in 2012.

JSN is 629 yards away from passing Johnson’s single-season record. With five more games to go, there isn’t a lot of room for error or lackluster performances from the entire offense. JSN would need to average 125.8 (or 126) receiving yards in the Seahawks’ remaining games to pass the record.

If JSN wants to pass the record in the same number of games as Johnson (16 in 2012), then he would have to average 158 yards in the next four games. The Seahawks’ next four opponents are the Atlanta Falcons, the Indianapolis Colts, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Carolina Panthers.

The Seahawks want to get their first NFC West Divisional title for the first time since the 2020 season and go on a serious Super Bowl run. It would be an excellent addition to the team’s success to have JSN become the league’s single-season leader in receiving yards.

JSN’s performance against the Vikings didn’t ruin his chase for Johnson’s record, but it didn’t help much. The offensive line has to play better moving forward to ensure that Seattle’s passing game gets going and helps the team win.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s record-breaking season in jeopardy after slow day vs Vikings

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