Takeaways from Seattle Seahawks 30-24 win over Titans

The Seattle Seahawks accomplished precisely what they needed to in a 30-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

It wasn't a perfect performance by any stretch, but it was the result they needed against a bad (but scrappy) Titans team.

The Seahawks' offense didn't turn the ball over after having 12 turnovers combined over their last four games, though the ball was in peril on a couple of occasions. Also, a short-handed defense held up well despite a late score that trimmed the final margin of victory.

"You would have liked for us to be able to close the game out earlier, but they were fighting hard and they played hard, and they returned a kick for a touchdown. Our guys showed a lot of resilience, just keeping playing," head coach Mike Macdonald said.

If not for a 90-yard punt return touchdown by Chimere Dike, the performance would feel even more complete. Despite the six-point final margin, the game didn't feel the slightest bit in jeopardy.

Here are the takeaways from the win over the Titans:

Jaxon Smith-Njigba's historic season continues.

The Seahawks have a special wide receiver in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. What Smith-Njigba is doing this year in Seattle is incredible and probably still isn't getting enough attention.

Smith-Njigba is setting the Seahawks' record books on fire, and the NFL record book might be in danger as well. 

With eight catches for 164 yards in Sunday's win over the Tennessee Titans, Smith-Njigba passed DK Metcalf for the most receiving yards in a single-season in Seahawks' history.

And it's still November.

"He's doing an incredible job, brings it every day, and he's a great teammate, which is awesome. So you're really happy for him," head coach Maconald said.

Metcalf had 1,303 receiving yards in 2020, surpassing Steve Largent's 1,287 yards from 1985 for the most receiving yards in team history. Smith-Njigba just blew by that number in his 11th game of the season.

"It's unbelievable, man," quarterback Sam Darnold said. "Just the way that he's been able to play this year, every single game. It's tough to be that consistent. But I think it starts with his attitude and his prep that he puts in throughout the week. So no surprise whatsoever. But yeah, he's a really good player."

Smith-Njigba now has 1,313 yards this season, becoming just the fifth receiver in NFL history to reach 1,300 receiving yards in the first 11 games of a season. He joins Elroy Hirsch (1,349, 1951, LA Rams), Charley Hennigan (1,327, 1961, Oilers), Tyreek Hill (1,324, 2023, Dolphins) and Julio Jones (1,304, 2018, Falcons).

"Always knew he was gonna be capable of doing stuff like this," cornerback Devon Witherspoon said. "It's just hard to guard him. He can get open, he's just so efficient at what he do, he's got a great catch radius. 

"I'm just a fan watching just like y'all."

Smith-Njigba already had a share of Seattle's single-season receptions record, becoming just the second Seahawk to ever have 100 receptions in a season last year. Smith-Njigba matched Tyler Lockett's 100 catches from the 2021 season, but did so in 17 games while Lockett accomplished the task in 16 games.

But that record appears likely to be obliterated this season as well. Smith-Njigba is on-pace for 124 this year. Only 19 receivers in NFL history have a season with at least 120 receptions in a season.

Smith-Njigba is also threatening to become the first receiver in NFL history with 2,000 yards in a season. After his performance on Sunday, Smith-Njigba is on pace for 2,030 yards this season, which would surpass Calvin Johnson's single-season record of 1,964 yards from the 2012 season. Johnson accomplished that number in a 16-game season and Smith-Njigba is slightly trailing Johnson in yards per game. 

"It means a lot," Smith-Njigba said. "This organization, great organization. Great receivers have come through here. Honestly, I look at it as a team award quite honestly because without Sam (Darnold) and without the protection, without Sheed (Rashid Shaheed) and Coop (Kupp), this doesn’t happen. So, I’m grateful and thankful and blessed for my team. Blessed to be a Seahawk."

Seahawks' linebacker depth shines.

With Tyrice Knight ruled out due to a concussion and Ernest Jones IV unable to play on Sunday due to a knee injury, the Seahawks had to test their depth at linebacker in Tennessee.

Patrick O'Connell delivered a strong effort in relief of Jones, racking up eight tackles and a sack in his first career start on Sunday.

"I'm glad he had his opportunity today, and happy for him," Macdonald said. "He went out and played winning football for us and made some great plays, so I'm excited to watch the tape and see what he did."

O'Connell and Jamie Sheriff were elevated from the practice squad on Saturday for depth at the position as Jones was questionable to play. The depth was further strained as backup linebacker Chazz Surratt was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with an ankle injury when Cody White fell into his right leg on a kickoff return.

O'Connell made multiple impactful stops for Seattle and recorded his first career sack in the process.

"These guys have earned opportunities to play for us in critical games, and so I was excited to see these guys play. It's great; it's not like, "Oh, shoot, ‘so-and-so’ is out." It's like, okay, great, let's roll with Patty-O. Let's play. Let's go," Macdonald said.

Drake Thomas also began the season as a reserve linebacker before stepping into the starting lineup in place of Knight. He had another strong showing as he led Seattle with ten tackles in the game.

O'Connell had played just eight snaps on defense in a regular season game before Sunday in Nashville. He played late in Seattle's blowout victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 9.

"Pat’s been ready," Thomas said. "The way he works every single week, you can't say enough about a guy like Pat. (He) stays ready all the time, whenever his number is called on. I don't think anybody in this locker room was worried about Pat going out there and playing. We knew he was going to be ready to go and he did a great job filling in today."

Injuries left the Seahawks thin by the end of the game.

A handful of injuries left the Seahawks with few options in reserve at a couple positions by the end of the game.

Reserve linebacker Chazz Surratt were sidelined before the end of the first quarter, and safety Ty Okada and third-string running back George Holani were knocked out of the game in the second quarter.

That left Seattle with one healthy reserve linebacker and no obvious reserve safety to finish the game with more than 30 minutes left to play.

"Ty has an oblique (injury), and all of a sudden he was out," Macdonald said. "… Then D'Anthony (Bell) being ready to go, it got a little hairy there out at safety, so we had to be ready for a contingency plan. But great job."

If another injury had occurred at safety, rookie Nick Emmanwori likely would have been called upon to play safety and leave his hybrid nickel linebacker roll for the rest of the game. Sheriff gave them a little more cushion at linebacker, but it was still a bit uncomfortable for Seattle.

Holani had a hamstring injury that kept him from returning to the lineup, but Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet gave Seattle plenty of cushion at running back.

With Okada out, it could put Seattle into a tough spot next week against the Minnesota Vikings. However, Julian Love is eligible to return from injured reserve after an extended absence due to a hamstring injury.

Macdonald said it's not fully clear just yet if Love will be able to return to action next week.

"We'll see," he said. "He's got a process that we've got to go through, like, we've got to take it day-by-day. We're hopeful, but part of the reason of putting him on IR and taking this time is to ensure when he comes back that he's ready to go, and he can go rip it the way that he plays, and we're not asking second questions. We want to make sure he's ready to go."

Offense keeps turnovers off the board.

It's been a tough go for Sam Darnold and the Seattle offense when it comes to turnovers.

After having 12 turnovers combined in their last four games, the Seahawks came out of Sunday's win against Tennessee clean on the turnovers front.

"No panic from us," Smith-Njigba said. "We're going to stick to the routine, make it right. We believe in Sam. He's our quarterback, he's our guy, and we're going to ride with him and every time we come out we just want to play our best game. And if we didn't the week before, we're going to come back and keep swinging."

Darnold completed 16-of-26 passes for 244 yards with two touchdowns for Seattle in the victory, with both touchdowns coming via Smith-Njigba. He did have two throws that could have been intercepted, but weren't. A pass that was deflected at the line of scrimmage fluttered toward a Tennessee defender before crashing to the turf, and another pass went through the hands of A.J. Barner and deflected into the sky before also falling harmlessly.

"The ball was in jeopardy a couple times," Macdonald said. "The ball hit the guy in the chest once and the ball was up in the air, so we've got to look at that and make sure we're cleaning those things up."

Seattle did have a pair of drives inside the Tennessee red zone that had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. That is one area Darnold still wants to see improve.

"I thought as an offense we were able to move the ball up and down the field," Darnold said. "We just got to finish when we get in the red zone. I think that's the story today. And then some things operationally we can clean up, some penalties. But overall, again like I said, I felt like besides maybe the second drive in the second half where we went three-and-out, I felt like we were moving the ball at a high clip today. But we just got to continue to finish our drives and finish in the red zone."

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