Halftime Observations: Darnold/Smith-Njigba Connection Guides Seahawks to 13-6 Lead vs. Jaguars

Scoring on three out of four possessions in the second quarter, including a 61-yard touchdown bomb from Sam Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Seattle Seahawks went into the half holding a 13-6 advantage over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Here are three quick takeaways from EverBank Stadium:

1. The Sam Darnold/Jaxon Smith-Njigba connection takes another step towards elite status.

For most of the first 30 minutes, the Seahawks had their offense grounded, going three-and-out three of their five possessions. But in between those failed drives that could barely even get started, Darnold and Smith-Nijgba continued to be a two-man wrecking crew dismantling Jacksonville’s secondary. After back-to-back punts to open the game, the veteran quarterback hit his favorite target for an 18-yard completion along the sideline and a 32-yard strike over the middle wide open, setting up a 24-yard field goal for Jason Myers after the drive sputtered with three straight Zach Charbonnet runs inside the 10-yard line.

Following a quick defensive stop, Darnold made up for that missed chance to get a touchdown on one flick of the wrist. Smith-Njigba blew past cornerback Greg Newsome, who the Jaguars traded for earlier in the week, with safety Andrew Winguard not dropping back to help. The quarterback lofted a perfect deep ball off the play fake that hit the receiver right in stride as he raced in for a 61-yard touchdown, pushing him ahead of 100 receiving yards before halftime. The duo wrapped up the half linking up five times for 117 yards on seven targets, single-handedly elevating the team to the lead.

2. Communication issues continue to dog an embattled, short-handed Seahawks’ secondary.

In five of their six first half possessions, not including a late kneel, the Jaguars punted four times and also failed to score on a promising drive late in the second quarter when kicker Cam Little slid a 50-yard field goal wide right. But in between that dominant stretch for the Seahawks’ defense, a secondary missing starters Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, and Julian Love endured more coverage-related breakdowns that led to an ugly touchdown drive allowed to the opposition. On two different occasions on Jacksonville’s third possession, Seattle had the home team backed up facing 3rd and 11 and 3rd and 15 situations, only to give up long first down conversions.

First, Trevor Lawrence evaded a couple of rushers, including Uchenna Nwosu, who had jumped offsides, and dumped a pass off to tight end Johnny Mundt for a 14-yard gain to convert on 3rd and 11. Only a few plays later, receiver Brian Thomas came wide open along the left sideline with cornerback Josh Jobe and safety Coby Bryant appearing to not be on the same page with coverage assignments for a 19-yard catch. To end the drive, Lawrence pump faked to a bubble screen and both Derion Kendrick and Shaquill Griffin bit on the fake, allowing Thomas to leak out wide open for a 21-yard touchdown to put the Jaguars in front on yet another breakdown.

3. Interior defensive line rebounds from a no-show in Week 5 to rough up Trevor Lawrence.

Despite the three aforementioned coverage busts, however, the Seahawks largely held serve against the Jaguars in the first half, in large part due to a strong bounce back by Leonard Williams and the rest of the defensive line after a rough outing against the Buccaneers last week. On the first play from scrimmage, Byron Murphy II chased down a scrambling Lawrence and tripped him up for a sack, leading to a quick three-and-out. Williams later paired up with Nwosu to tag team for a third down sack on Lawrence to force another punt, while Demarcus Lawrence got in on the act blasting the quarterback from behind off a twist stunt that pushed Jacksonville backwards and led to Little’s long missed field goal.

Overall, Seattle generated eight quarterback hits, with Lawrence, Murphy, Williams, and Nwosu each tallying two apiece and finishing those plays off with a trio of sacks. Interestingly, that number could have been even higher if not for Lawrence managing to escape pressure on a few occasions to scramble, but nonetheless, the pressure has helped take pressure off of a secondary that needs all the help it can get right now.