After three consecutive wins, it looked like the Jacksonville Jaguars were in a position to beat the Seattle Seahawks at home. But despite all the things they had going in their favor, the Jags came crashing down.
The Hawks were the better team in all three phases. They relentlessly brought the heat, which prevented the Jacksonville offense from finding a rhythm. Sam Darnold, for his part, strengthened his case as a legitimate MVP candidate, connecting with both Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp for big plays. To make matters worse, kicker Cam Little cost the Jags four points.
When you add it all up, it's easy to see why the Jags lost 20-12, and the grade they got in the aftermath reflects just how bad things went.
The Jaguars earned a mediocre grade for the loss vs. the Seahawks
John Breech of CBS Sports assigned grades to all NFL teams that played in Week 7 and gave the Jaguars a C, noting that they looked a little flat after the win over the Kansas City Chiefs the prior game.
"A big problem for the Jaguars is that they couldn't get their rushing attack going," Breech wrote. "Jacksonville went into the game averaging 137 yards per game on the ground, which was the third-highest total in the NFL, but they were limited to just 59 yards against Seattle. With the ground game bottled up, the Jags had to turn to the passing game and that didn't work either, with Trevor Lawrence facing constant pressure. The Jaguars are a good team, but they got outplayed in all three phases of the game here."
That pressure Breech talked about led to 33 total pressures and a concerning seven sacks. You could make the case that Trevor Lawrence wasn't accurate in the game, but the truth is that it's hard to complete passes when you have defenders already on your face right after the center snaps the football.
The Seahawks Defense vs Jacksonville
💥 33 pressures
💥 7 sacks pic.twitter.com/w3ULcP98J4
— PFF (@PFF) October 12, 2025
It's also worth noting that a Travis Hunter offside wiped out a would-be touchdown to wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. Couple that with the fact that kicker Cam Little missed his extra-point attempt and a field goal, and there's a chance the outcome of the game would've been different despite all the self-inflicted wounds.
The Seahawks, for their part, rightly got an A- for beating the Jags at home. Now, head coach Mike Macdonald is 10-1 on road games as a head coach.
The Jaguars need to get back to the drawing board after the Seahawks loss
The Jaguars didn't do enough on offense to beat the Seahawks, but the defense also failed to come through. Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a monster game, hauling in eight receptions for 162 yards for a touchdown. The pass rush only sacked Sam Darnold once, and the unit failed to register a single takeaway, one of its biggest strengths early in the season.
To make matters worse, Jacksonville had 10 penalties for 76 yards. When you add it all up, it's easy to see why the Seahawks won. For his part, head coach Liam Coen took accountability for the loss, noting that the team will have a great opportunity to clean up mistakes against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 7.
"It's on me, it's an undisciplined operation at the moment, and it's on me, and it's gotta get fixed," Coen said after the loss to the Seahawks. "We're going on the road, we're flying to another country, being together as a group, look ourselves in the mirror and try to figure out, from an operation and habit standpoint, what is standing in our way? Because right now, it's us."
The Jaguars had better fix things up when they play Los Angeles, or else, they'll once again end up in the losing column.