" 𝔹𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕢𝕦𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 "

The Seattle Seahawks (9-3) have pulled up alongside the Los Angeles Rams (9-3) in the NFC West race.

After seeing the Rams lose a stunner to the Carolina Panthers, the Seahawks took care of business at home by shutting out the Minnesota Vikings (4-8) in a 26-0 romp. The scoreline is unfair to the Vikings defense, who gave Seattle’s offensive line and Sam Darnold all sorts of problems,

sacking Darnold four times and forcing a turnover on a lost fumble. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was held to just two catches for 23 yards, which is a huge blow in his quest for Calvin Johnson’s receiving yards record. Seattle only had one offensive touchdown, 219 total yards of offense, under 100 net

yards passing, but it didn’t matter one bit outside of looking for a historic blowout.

 

Just three weeks ago, DeMarcus Lawrence returned two fumbles for touchdowns and was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for that performance.

 

Seattle’s defense made third-string undrafted rookie quarterback Max Brosmer’s first NFL start an absolute miserable experience. He was picked off four times, including a wildly bad pick-six thrown to Ernest Jones IV on 4th and 1 to avoid a sack. Minnesota turned it over five times and even

with garbage time only managed 162 yards of total offense.

It’s the Seahawks’ first shutout win in 10 years, having previously won by the same score against the Chicago Bears.

The Vikings started on offense first with their rookie QB Max Brosmer. A three-and-out was taken away after Josh Jobe’s holding penalty negated a Uchenna Nwosu sack. Tough for Chenna to lose a sack, because Leonard Williams sacked Brosmer on the next third down without a flag.

Seattle was backed up at its own 4 after a poor fair catch decision by Rashid Shaheed. First downs by Kenneth Walker III, A.J. Barner, and Cooper Kupp got the Seahawks out of a hole, but a 3rd and long blitz by the Vikings ended in a sack by linebacker Eric Wilson.

The Vikings and Seahawks traded punts throughout the opening quarter, with Seattle’s offensive line struggling to deal with Brian Flores’ creative pressure and sim pressure packages. Seattle did get the opening points of the day on a 15-play, 53-yard drive that was saved by Cooper Kupp.

When Darnold was strip-sacked by Dallas Turner, Kupp recovered the ball. Darnold found an open Cody White on 3rd and long to move the sticks.

Darnold was sacked a third time to kill a red zone possession, but Jason Myers was on point to make it 3-0 Seahawks.

Minnesota knew it needed its defense to generate takeaways in order to have a chance. Another sack of Darnold led to a fumble, which Minnesota recovered in Seattle’s red zone. Total disaster and another turnover by the Seahawks this year!

Points for the Vikings incoming, right? Nope. Not when Max Brosmer completely brain farts into the funniest pick-six of the year. DeMarcus Lawrence blew up 4th and 1 and instead of Brosmer taking the sack, he gave Ernest Jones IV a pick-six. 10-0 Seahawks.

Lawrence would get a sack on Minnesota’s next drive. Curiously, the Seahawks were not interested in using any of their three timeouts to conserve time for their two-minute drill. They still got a long Jason Myers field goal from 56 yards out to make it 13-0 Seahawks at halftime.

54 yards jaymy31 Good

Kenneth Walker III nearly took the first play of the second half to the house. He gained 24 yards but it could’ve been 80 yards if Harrison Smith didn’t grab Walker’s right arm to knock him off balance. Walker did most of the heavy lifting and it led to another Seahawks field goal. Jason Myers

was good from 54 to extend the lead to 16-0 Seahawks.

Max Brosmer finally connected on a big play by finding T.J. Hockenson down the seam for 29 yards. With Minnesota just about in field goal range, Aaron Jones was stripped from behind by DeMarcus Lawrence on a ridiculous hustle play. Lawrence was 10 yards behind Jones when the ball was

caught, but he tracked him down and forced the fumble, which Ty Okada recovered for the takeaway.

 

 

The Seahawks again settled for a field goal, although at least Jaxon Smith-Njigba got on board with his first catch of the game for a whopping six yards. 19-0 Seahawks after Myers’ fourth field goal of the afternoon.

Pick! Coby Bryant took advantage of Max Brosmer’s overthrow for Seattle’s third takeaway of the game, a season high.

Yeah, the Seahawks punted. Yeah, they got the ball back. Another interception by Ernest Jones IV, giving him five on the year and four Seahawks turnovers.

This time, the Seahawks cashed in to the fullest. A 4th and 1 conversion to A.J. Barner gave Seattle a new set of downs, and Zach Charbonnet took off for a 17-yard score for Seattle’s first offensive touchdown of the afternoon. 26-0 Seahawks.

The Vikings were determined not to get blanked. Brosmer threw another pick, this time to Riq Woolen, whose hilariously bad ball security on the return led to a fumble directly back to Minnesota.

Nevertheless, Brosmer was sacked by Byron Murphy II and Drake Thomas on the next possession, ending any hopes of scoring on the afternoon.

Sam Darnold gearing up to face his former team

Captain Seahawk - it was great seeing @qdiggs6 back home where he belongs

 

 

"I'm super grateful that I was able to do it for these guys and that the lord picked me today." @ernestjones joined Pam Oliver after the @Seahawks shutout win today!

 

The Seahawks go back on the road in Week 14 for a matchup with the Atlanta Falcons (4-8), who just lost to the New York Jets and are effectively out of the playoff picture by any realistic measure. Kickoff time is 10 am PT on FOX on Sunday, Dec. 7.

The Seattle Seahawks (8-3) took care of the Tennessee Titans (1-10), but perhaps not as easily as fans or maybe Mike Macdonald would’ve liked.

Leads of 23-3 and 30-10 became a 30-24 victory in Nashville. While the last touchdown came with little time remaining and an unsuccessful onside kick, the Seahawks could’ve definitely made life easier for themselves with better 4th down defense, better 4th quarter offense, and better special teams punt return coverage.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba once again dominated, recording 8 catches for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns to continue his all-time great season. He’s now Seattle’s all-time single-season leader in receiving yards, having surpassed DK Metcalf’s 1,303 yards. Zach Charbonnet scored Seattle’s final touchdown, while Jason Myers banged

home three field goals.

The defense sacked Cam Ward four times and shut down the run game, but there were many heads-up plays by Ward that explain why he was the No. 1 overall pick this year. He escaped would-be sacks and repeatedly made impressive plays in the face of huge pressure. Alas, it wasn’t enough but he was valiant in defeat.

Seattle’s defense only allowed 17 points, with the other 7 coming on a punt return score.

Hey, there were no turnovers by the Seahawks. I guess that’s good! But the bad? Injuries to Ty Okada, Chazz Surratt, and George Holani, all of whom were ruled out for the game by halftime. There were also way too many penalties, with 21 accepted (11 on Seattle, 10 on Tennessee) combined.

By the way, the trend continues. Nine games between the Seahawks and the modern day Titans, nine games decided by one possession.

JSN’s 63 YARDS TD CATCH

The Titans hadn’t scored an opening drive touchdown all season, but they came very close this week. Cam Ward made a couple of plays with his legs on scrambles, as well as turn a certain sack into a terrific throw to Chig Okonkwo for 10 yards and a first down. Ward got the Titans into a goal-to-go, only for DeMarcus

Lawrence to drill Tyjae Spears for a big loss that set Tennessee back. Cam took a sack on 3rd and goal and the Titans kicked a chip shot 22-yard field goal. 3-0 Titans.

Seattle found itself in Titans territory after one play, with Kenneth Walker running for nine yards behind Charles Cross and Grey Zabel blocks. A personal foul penalty added another 15 to make it net 24 yards. Seattle methodically moved into field goal range before Sam Darnold was nearly picked off on a throw to Kenneth

Walker. It would’ve easily been a touchdown had it been caught by Marcus Harris. Jason Myers tied things up at 3-3.

After a Titans punt, the Seahawks got good field position off of a 20-yard Rashid Shaheed punt return. On 3rd and 1, the Seahawks committed a false start on a sneak. No problem, for the next play was a touchdown for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Darnold to JSN for 63 yards!

Tennessee went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, with Byron Murphy II sacking Cam Ward on third down. Seattle got the ball at the Titans 26 on another good Shaheed return, but stalled out in goal-to-go. Darnold again was lucky to avoid an interception on a deflected throw to A.J. Barner. Jason Myers extended

the lead to 13-3 Seahawks.

Cam Ward hit a big pass play over the middle to James Proche III for 23 yards to get out of a 3rd and 9 jam. Tennessee was on the move on the cusp of field goal range when things took a turn for the worse for the home side. Ward misfired to Gunnar Helm on 3rd and 1 with Uchenna Nwosu in coverage, then Julius

Chestnut was stuffed on 4th and 1 for a turnover on downs!

The turnover on downs provided the Seahawks with a chance to score before halftime. They nearly got a touchdown on the two-minute drill through that Sam-to-JSN connection again, but Smith-Njigba was pushed out of bounds by Samuel Womack before both feet could come down in bounds. This led to a third field goal of

the half for Jason Myers and a 16-3 Seahawks lead at the break.

Tired of all of these field goal updates? Here’s Sam Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 13-yard touchdown, a few snaps after a 56-yard play immediately to start the second half. 23-3 Seahawks.

There was some life for the Titans, but not because of their offense. After Tennessee punted, the Seahawks went three-and-out and Michael Dickson was called upon for his first punt of the game. Speedy rookie Chimere Dike, who already entered the game with a punt return touchdown to his name, made it a second with a

90-yard house call. 23-10 Seahawks.

Seattle immediately responded with a couple of big Kenneth Walker III runs and a 29-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass. Walker did the bulk of the work, but it was Zach Charbonnet who made it 30-10 Seahawks with his seventh touchdown of the season. An easy 6-play drive in which the Seahawks never even got to

third down.

Cam Ward answered with a nine-play, 72-yard touchdown drive capped off by a rushing score to make it 30-17.

Seattle went for it on 4th and 3 in Titans territory in the final quarter. The effort to close the game out instead ended in a Sam Darnold sack by Arden Key, with Jeffery Simmons generating the initial pressure. Ward led a seven-minute drive deep into Seahawks territory, but a penalty and a sack put them at 4th and 21.

Despite Gunnar Helm’s best efforts, he hurdled well short of the sticks and the Titans put up nothing.

A three-and-out by the Seahawks soon followed, and the Titans again got into Seattle territory through a series of annoying fourth down conversions. Tennessee converted an astonishing five fourth downs, and with :43 left Chimere Dike got a receiving touchdown to make it 30-24 Seahawks. The onside kick didn’t go 10

yards and Tennessee had exhausted its timeouts, so game over. Thankfully.

The Seahawks return home to take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 1:05 pm PT on FOX. It’s not only Sam Darnold’s first game against his previous team, it’s also a final appearance for the throwback uniforms!