Jaxon Smith-Njigba leaps into the elite-receiver conversation as Seattle outplays Jacksonville

Every so often, you observe a player leveling up in real time. That’s exactly what’s happening right now with Seattle’s third-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who’s grown from first-round phenom to legitimate Offensive Player of the Year candidate. Smith-Njigba’s 162 yards and a cinematic touchdown paced Seattle to a 20-12 road victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Both teams, each now 4-2, are challenging for the lead in their respective divisions, and both have playoff-worthy rosters. But on this day, Seattle brought both big-play magic and a drive-after-drive consistency that Jacksonville couldn’t match. Seattle also brought Smith-Njigba, and Jacksonville had no answers for him at all. 

The backstory: Unfamiliar foes

The Seahawks and Jaguars are two of those NFL franchises that seem to exist on completely different planes, not just completely different coasts. The teams have only played each other nine times in their entire franchise history, just once in the last seven seasons and, obviously, never in the postseason.

The last time before Sunday that the Seahawks played in Jacksonville, all the way back in December 2017, Russell Wilson quarterbacked Seattle, the legendary Blake Bortles was throwing for Jacksonville, and Trevor Lawrence was studying for finals as a senior at Cartersville (Ga.) High School. So there’s not much institutional familiarity here, and as a result, the early drives for both teams were as awkward and difficult to watch as a bad first date.

Unable to sustain drives, evade the Seattle rush or rely on a ground attack, Lawrence struggled much of the afternoon. His counterpart across the field, Sam Darnold, did not … and Smith-Njigba was a key reason why.

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The key play: Smith-Njigba makes Darnold look good

Smith-Njigba hasn’t exactly lurked in incognito mode this year; his 534 receiving yards coming into Sunday ranked second in the league. And given the fact that Jacksonville’s pass defense is among the worst in the NFL, the stage was set for a big game from Smith-Njigba … and midway through the second quarter, he and Darnold delivered.

Seattle has now won nine straight road games, the longest streak in the NFL. 

Lawrence, meanwhile, was chasing Seattle for virtually the entire afternoon. He and the Jaguars mounted a massive comeback last week against Kansas City, and attempted a similar surge on Sunday. But he was too inconsistent, too off-target, and too often sacked — seven times, more than he'd been sacked the first five weeks of the season combined — to really threaten Seattle. The Jaguars pulled to within eight points early in the fourth quarter, but weren't ever able to seriously challenge beyond that. 

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The future: Bright for both, but moreso for Seattle

Jacksonville now heads to London to face the Rams before a bye week, and then has road games against Las Vegas and Houston. Even with Sunday’s loss, there’s opportunity this season for Jacksonville, which has already matched its win total from all of last season. The 2025 Jaguars clearly have the talent to beat the NFL’s elite; now they need to develop the consistency to do so.

Seattle, meanwhile, draws Houston at home next week before its bye, then travels to the other Washington, and later returns home for a divisional matchup against Arizona. Darnold has fit into the Seahawk organization exactly how the team hoped, and his chemistry with Smith-Njigba is even better than expected. This is a duo — and, by association, a team — that can already dream big dreams this season.