Photo Credit: Seahawks.com
Before we get into the recap, let’s all just acknowledge something. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is currently the best receiver in the NFL. If you disagree, it either means you don’t watch football or you’re a huge Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase fan. In the 2025 NFL season, no other receiver has been on JSN’s level. We’ll get more into Smith-Njigba later, for now, let’s get into the Seahawks–Titans recap.
The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Tennessee Titans 30–24 in a game that the scoreboard makes look a lot closer than it actually was. Even though it came down to an onside kick, I don’t think many people believed the Titans had a real chance to win. Seattle was up 30–10 late in the second quarter, and Tennessee held the ball 15 more minutes than Seattle, essentially an entire extra quarter.
I have to give the Titans credit, though. For a team with only one win this season, they played really well. A large part of why they dominated time of possession was because they went 5/7 on fourth down. Rookie quarterback Cam Ward made plays with both his arm and his legs and honestly impressed me. He ran for a touchdown and threw for another. His touchdown to Chimere Dike with 42 seconds left it was Dike’s second score of the game, the first being a 90-yard punt return touchdown. Tennessee has lost some close games this year and could easily have more than one win.
Now for the Seahawks.
Sam Darnold bounced back in a big way, avoiding turnovers and throwing for 244 yards and two touchdowns. But the story of this game was Jaxon Smith-Njigba. JSN caught 8 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns. It was his second game topping 160 yards, the first being against the Jaguars and his first multi-touchdown game of the year.
JSN broke DK Metcalf’s franchise record of 1,303 receiving yards in a season (set in 2020) in just 11 games. Smith-Njigba sits comfortably atop the league’s receiving yards leaderboard with 1,313 yards, more than 250 ahead of George Pickens, who is second. JSN is averaging 119.4 yards per game and now only needs to average 104 per game for the rest of the season to break Calvin Johnson’s single-season record of 1,964 yards, (set in 2012).
Smith-Njigba’s best play of the game was a 63-yard touchdown, where he ran a corner route and Darnold dropped a perfect ball into the bucket. JSN then broke away from the Titans safety and coasted into the end zone. It was truly a thing of beauty, much like his season.
Now I have a hot take. Is Jaxon Smith-Njigba the best receiver the Seahawks have had since Steve Largent? I think it’s at least a real argument. I’ve never seen a Seahawks receiver be this dominant. Have you?
The Seahawks only had the ball for 22 minutes and were playing with a big lead, so it’s hard to fully judge the offense. Like I said, Darnold played much better, and he needed to. Kenneth Walker totaled over 100 yards, with 71 on the ground and 29 through the air. Nearly all his receiving yards came on a checkdown where he got a great block from fullback Robbie Ouzts and sprinted down the sideline for 29 yards.
The Seahawks still need to improve their redzone offense. I made a point of it in my preview; they went just 2/4 in the red zone against one of the worst defences in the NFL. Coming away with six points instead of three is what’s going to win you games.
Seattle was without linebackers Ernest Jones and Tyrice Knight on Sunday. Drake Thomas and Patrick O’Connell filled in nicely, each recording a tackle for loss, and O’Connell added a sack.
The Seahawks improved to 8–3, are still fighting for first place in the NFC West, and will take on the Minnesota Vikings next week at home.
