The Seahawks’ shootout loss to Tampa Bay last Sunday raised an ominous question —- was the defeat an outlier or a sign of some cracks in the foundation Mike Macdonald has been building in his second season.
The answer the Seahawks delivered maybe wasn’t quite as emphatic as it appeared it would be for much of the game, as they briefly left the door open for another fourth-quarter collapse.
But this time the defense stood firm, holding off the Jags three times in the fourth quarter as they had the ball and a chance to forge a tie.
The offense finally delivered the knockout punch with a 61-yard pass from Sam Darnold to tight end AJ Barner that let the Seahawks run the clock out.
The result was a 20-12 in over a Jags team that came into the game 4-1 following a comeback win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night.
While the offense faltered some late, Darnold finished with another sterling passing line going 15 of 27 for 295 yards and two touchdowns.
That included eight completions to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 162 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown that was the longest of his career. He was 18 yards shy of the career high set last year against the Rams.
The Seahawks became the first team this season not to lose a turnover against the Jags, who came into the game with a plus-eight turnover differential, the best in the NFL.
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times who primarily covers the Seahawks but also dabbles in other sports. He has worked at The Times since 2002, reporting on University of Washington Husky football and basketball for his first 10 years at the paper before switching to the Seahawks in 2013.