Beating the Seahawks Starts With Falcons Stopping This Player

FLOWERY BRANCH – The Atlanta Falcons are taking on a high-flying Seattle Seahawks team in Week 14, led by one of the NFL’s best wide receivers. Corralling him will be imperative for a Falcons defense that has held its own more often than not this season. This will be a different type of test for this secondary. 

Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been a marvel this season. Coming into Week 14, the breakout star has the fourth-most receiving yards before December (1,336) in NFL history. His 111.3 yards per game have him well on pace (1,892) to flirt with the all-time NFL record for receiving yards in a season (1,964). 

Despite not catching a single downfield pass last Sunday, Smith-Njigba's 961 yards on such throws this season are still 324 more than the next-closest player.

“He's on one of those record-breaking paces this year. He's looked unbelievable,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said. “He's already been high on himself, but now he's just playing like that lead-dog number one. I’d guess stepping into those shoes with the void of DK [Metcalf] has really provided that for him.

“He has really emerged into one of our league's best, and it's great to see when players develop that way.” 

Smith-Njigba is not alone in this Seattle receiver room. He is matched by another savvy veteran receiver who just recently found himself on that list of all-time seasons for a wideout. Cooper Kupp joined this receiving corps this offseason and has been a solid second option for this offense. 

They also feature a dynamic deep-threat in Rashid Shaheed that the Falcons will be familiar with from his days with the New Orleans Saints. He has not yet firmly established himself statistically for them since being sent to Seattle via trade, but the threat is something every secondary has to account for. 

Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak does a masterful job of using these weapons to throw a lot at opposing defenses and create imbalances to exploit. 

“When you get into the passing game, it's pick your poison,” Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said about what he’s facing this week. “You want to try to take away 11 [Smith-Njigba], and 22 [Shahid] hits you. You want to try to take away 22, 88 [tight end AJ Barner] hits you. You want to try to take away the receivers, but the back [Kenneth Walker] becomes an issue. It's going to be a great challenge.” 

As soon as the secondary starts to wobble, that is when Smith-Njigba strikes. 

The Falcons’ secondary has been strong this season, having allowed a 200-yard passing day in just three games this season, so this will be an interesting strength-on-strength matchup on Sunday. 

What happens next for the Atlanta Falcons? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Falcons news delivered to your inbox daily!

According to the NFL’s NextGenStats, cornerback A.J. Terrell Jr. has allowed just 0.5 yards per coverage snap this season, the fewest among cornerbacks with 250 or more coverage snaps. He rarely sticks by a single receiver, but that could change this week with the unique challenge that Smith-Njigba presents. 

Keeping Smith-Njigba down will prove to be difficult, but if they can slow him down in Week 14, then they could give themselves a chance to win on Sunday.