Sam Darnold was nearly perfect. Jaxon Smith-Njigba continued his record-setting pace. The defense authored another dominant performance.
And in front of a national primetime audience, the Seattle Seahawks made a resounding statement.
Seahawks’ rookies helping spotlight their ‘offseason for the ages’
There are all sorts of eye-catching numbers from the Seahawks’ 38-14 thrashing of the Washington Commanders on Sunday night, which improved them to 6-2 and moved them into a tie with the Los Angeles Rams, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the best record in the NFC.
So without further ado, let’s dive in.
Darnold’s near-perfect night
• 2 – Darnold quite literally had a perfect first half, completing all 16 of his passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns over the game’s first 30 minutes. That made him just the second NFL player since at least 1978 to throw at least four TD passes and no incompletions in a half, according to ESPN’s Brady Henderson via ESPN Research.
• 17 – Darnold opened the game with 17 straight completions, which tied Warren Moon’s franchise record for the most consecutive completions in a game. Darnold didn’t throw an incompletion until early in the third quarter. He finished 21 of 24 for an 87.5% completion rate, which was the second-highest single-game mark in franchise history among QBs with at least 10 pass attempts.
Every Sam Darnold pass attempt from the first half
(hint: they’re all completions 👀) pic.twitter.com/usKWatD8ip
— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2025
• 2 – Darnold joined future Hall of Famer Drew Brees as just the second player in NFL history to have multiple games in a season with at least 330 passing yards, four touchdown passes and an 80% completion rate, according to Stathead. On Sunday night, Darnold finished with an 87.5% completion rate, 330 passing yards and four TDs. Darnold’s other instance came in Week 5 against Tampa Bay, when he finished with an 82.4% completion rate, 341 passing yards and four TDs.
JSN’s record-setting pace
• 948 – Smith-Njigba finished with 129 receiving yards on Sunday night, which increased his season total to a league-leading 948 receiving yards. That’s the seventh-most through the first eight games of a season by any player since the 1970 NFL merger, according to Stathead. Smith-Njigba has 117 more receiving yards than the league’s second-leading receiver this season (Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase) and 237 more than the league’s third-leading receiver (the Rams’ Puka Nacua).
Sam Darnold
SEAvsWAS on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/TVIpUCzXkW
— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2025
• 118.5 – Smith-Njigba is averaging 118.5 receiving yards per game this year. That puts him on pace for 2,014 receiving yards, which would break Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson’s NFL single-season record of 1,964 receiving yards in 2012. The caveat is that Johnson did that in a 16-game season, and the NFL since moved to a 17-game season in 2021. However, Smith-Njigba’s 118.5-yard average would still rank sixth in NFL history over the entirety of a season, including third since the 1970 merger.
• 4 – Smith-Njigba has four straight games with at least 120 receiving yards. He’s just the ninth player since the 1970 NFL merger to achieve that feat, according to Stathead.
A night of firsts
• 1 – There were no shortage of career firsts for the Seahawks on Sunday night. Rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo and sixth-year wide receiver Cody White each had their first career touchdown reception. Third-year safety Ty Okada snatched his first career interception. And third-year defensive tackle Brandon Pili came up with the first forced fumble of his career when he knocked the ball free on a Washington kick return.
SAM DARNOLD FOUR TD PASSES IN THE FIRST HALF.
SEAvsWAS on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/fax1SUUUBo
— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2025
Horton keeps finding paydirt
• 5 – Rookie wide receiver Tory Horton caught two more touchdown passes on Sunday night, which gives him five TD receptions through the first eight games of his career. Horton’s five TD catches are tied for the 10th-most in the NFL this season and are tied with Tampa Bay’s Emeka Egbuka for the most among rookies.
TORY HORTON AGAIN.
SEAvsWAS on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/5hHRO65o7N
— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2025
The pass rush and pass protection
• 27 – With four more sacks on Sunday night, the Seahawks’ defense has 27 sacks this season, which is tied for third-most in the league. Seattle has eight different players with at least 1.0 sacks and 12 different players with at least 0.5 sacks.
• 9 – On the other side of the ball, the Seahawks have allowed just nine sacks this season, which is tied for the fewest in the league. By contrast, Seattle allowed 21 sacks through the first eight games last year and finished last season with 54.
The steady defense
• 6 – Sunday night marked the sixth time this season that the Seahawks have held an opponent to both 20 or fewer points and fewer than 300 total yards. The only other team to achieve that is the Houston Texans, who have also done so six times.
Road dominance
• 10 – The Seahawks extended their franchise-best road win streak to 10 games. They are now 11-1 on the road under second-year head coach Mike Macdonald, including 4-0 this season.
The big picture
• 3 – The Seahawks have the third-best point differential in the NFL at plus-81, trailing only the Indianapolis Colts (plus-109) and the Rams (plus-82).
• 5 – The Seahawks rank fifth in the NFL in both points per game (28.9) and points allowed per game (18.8). They are the only team to rank in the top five of both categories.
• 1 – The Seahawks rank No. 1 in FTN Fantasy’s DVOA, which is one of football’s most popular and trusted advanced metrics. They are No. 4 in offensive DVOA, No. 2 in defensive DVOA and No. 1 in special teams DVOA, which makes them the only team to have a top-five DVOA in all three phases.
• 4 – The Seahawks’ league-best 47.0% total DVOA is the fourth-best mark through the first eight games of a season by any NFL team since 1978, according to FTN Fantasy’s Aaron Schatz.
Seattle Seahawks news and analysis
• ‘It’s real’: Macdonald praises first-round pick Zabel’s stellar start
• Stacy Rost: Seattle Seahawks create national buzz with primetime blowout
• Observations from Seattle Seahawks’ 38-14 thrashing of the Commanders
• Instant Reaction: Seattle Seahawks make statement on SNF
• Seattle Seahawks reportedly ‘very aggressive’ as trade deadline approaches