Jaxon Smith-Njigba stays hot, 4 other things to know about Seahawks vs. Jaguars

The Seattle Seahawks’ inexplicable issues at home continued last Sunday in one of the most entertaining games of the season. Mike Macdonald’s club came up short, 38-35, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a shootout between quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. The former made one mistake late in the game, and the Bucs kicked a game-winning field goal.

Macdonald’s club fell to 3-2. In fact, the San Francisco 49ers were the only NFC West team to come away with a victory in Week 5.

Has there been a bigger turnaround story this season than the Jacksonville Jaguars? A team that finished 4-13 a year ago has won three straight games and has already equaled its victory total of last season. New head coach Liam Coen watched his team erased a 14-0 deficit last Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence overcame some early mistakes, regained his footing, literally, and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 23 seconds to play in a 31-28 victory.

A week after a Florida team had to make a long trip to the Pacific Northwest, McDonald’s squad now heads all the way to the Sunshine State.

Seahawks vs. Jaguars History

This marks only the 10th time these franchises will meet, and the Seahawks have doubled up the Jaguars in terms of wins by a 6-3 count. The clubs last met in 2021, with Seattle coming away with a 31-7 home win. As for the ‘Hawks’ last appearance at Jacksonville, the Jaguars came away with a 30-24 victory in 2017. All told, Seattle has won three of the last four meetings between the teams dating back to 2009.

Seahawks Have Become Road Warriors

This season, the Seahawks have dropped two of their three home games, while the club has road wins at Pittsburgh and at Arizona. Dating back to Week 16 of 2023, the ‘Hawks have won 11 of their last 12 road games. The lone loss away from home over that span was a 42-29 setback at Detroit in Week 4 of 2024.

Running back Travis Etienne has amassed 484 total yards from scrimmage and scored five touchdowns in five games. Most of that has come on the ground. He’s averaging 5.8 yards per carry this season courtesy of 443 yards on 77 attempts. Etienne totaled only 812 scrimmage yards and 2 TDs in 15 games in 2024.