The Seattle Seahawks are coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but should still feel encouraged about the offense following their highest-scoring game of the season.
Status Report: Seahawks’ depth on D challenged as injuries stack up
They have a 10 a.m. kickoff in Jacksonville against the Jaguars on Sunday, and to help you get ready here are three numbers that matter this week.
534: Jaxson Smith-Njigba’s yards through five games
That’s more than DK Metcalf had through the first five weeks of any season with Seattle.
That’s not a knock on Metcalf, who finished with 1,303 yards in just his second season in 2020 – more than Smith-Njigba did in his second season in 2024 – and has three seasons of over 1,000 yards in his career. Rather, it’s encouraging that Smith-Njigba isn’t just looking like a true No. 1 receiver in his first year without Metcalf, but a No. 1 receiver who’s on pace for over 1,700 yards. That would not only smash the franchise record currently held by Metcalf, but also be a top 14 finish by any NFL receiver all-time.
He tried to tell y'all. 🤷
All Access, presented by @ticketmaster
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) October 8, 2025
Smith-Njigba accounts for 33% of all Seahawks targets, second only to Puka Nacua’s 34% with the Los Angeles Rams. Those 534 yards are also second to only Nacua (588), and his 34 receptions are third among receivers (behind Nacua and Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown) and fifth among all positions (Dallas tight end Jake Ferguson and San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey have been primary targets for their quarterbacks this year).
Among those five — Smith-Njigba, St. Brown, Nacua, McCaffrey and Ferguson — Smith -Njigba’s 15.7 yards per reception leads the pack.
A quirky stat from this one: Nacua and Smith-Njigba are first and second in yards, though both have just two touchdowns, far trailing St. Brown’s six or the five by George Pickens, Rome Odunze and Emeka Egbuka. Not that it has to mean much: Calvin Johnson’s record-breaking season of 1,964 yards saw him finish with five touchdowns, tied for the second fewest of his career.
9: The number of road wins under Mike Macdonald
Depending on the outlet, Seahawks-Jags is a pick ’em right now. Credit Jacksonville for beating the Chiefs on Monday night to improve to 4-1 on the season, giving the Jags plenty of momentum and hype heading into a home game against the Seahawks, the latter of whom are coming off a loss to the Buccaneers in Seattle.
But for all the consternation about the Seahawks’ home losses, their win percentage on the road under Mike Macdonald is a staggering .900. Their only loss so far came in Detroit against the Lions, one of the best teams in the NFC over the past few years. The Seahawks’ defense held opponents to fewer points on the road (20.0 vs. 23.1 at home), their offense averaged five more points on the road (24.8 vs 19.7 at home), and they also won the turnover battle on the road (plus-0.5) while losing it at home.
That doesn’t look likely to change this Sunday despite an early start on the East Coast. The Seahawks average more points per game (29.2) this year than the Jags (25.4), the latter of whom ironically average more points on the road. Seattle is better on third down (43%, which is up from 37% in 2024) and are fifth in red zone scoring (72%).
The advantage in scoring defense goes to the Jags, who twice limited opposing offenses to 10 points at EverBank Stadium. It’s worth nothing, though, that those two opponents were the Carolina Panthers (24th in points per game this year) and Houston Texans (20th in points per game).
20: The Seahawks badly need Julian Love back.
Cheating a bit with this one because it’s not a stat, but safety Julian Love (his uniform is No. 20) was one of the most glaring absences in the Seahawks’ loss to the Bucs last Sunday.
“Sounds like we’re going to be working through (Love’s injury) this week,” Mike Macdonald told Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Monday. “I’m not sure what his practice availability is on Wednesday or Thursday.”
Seattle Sports’ Michael Bumpus, an analyst and former NFL receiver, explained why Love’s return is of pivotal importance.
“There are some things offenses and quarterbacks do to deceive everyone, especially the safeties, the last line of defense,” he said on Bump and Stacy. “All it takes is a little nod and you’re gone. All it takes is a pump fake and you’re gone. All it takes is a quarterback to show the ball in play-action, you bite up, boom, you’re over the top. And Julian Love is one of the more disciplined players on this team. Everyone is better on the backend with him there.”
Seattle’s defense surrendered over 400 yards of offense and allowed Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield to complete almost 90% of his 33 passga attempts — a failure Macdonald took responsibility for after the me.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Seahawks Injury Updates: Even more defensive players banged up
• Stacy Rost: The good and bad for Seahawks as they fall to 3-2
• The Seahawks have one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses
• ‘Calmness’ of Sam Darnold jumps out to Daniel Jeremiah
• Three key questions for the Seattle Seahawks in October