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13 numbers that stand out from Seahawks' 7-2 start

After back-to-back blowout victories, the Seattle Seahawks are flying high.

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Jaxon Smith-Njigba remains on pace to break the NFL single-season receiving yardage record. Sam Darnold has been historically efficient, in terms of yards per pass attempt. Seattle’s pass rush and pass protection have been among the best in franchise history.

And as a result, the 7-2 Seahawks are looking like legitimate Super Bowl contenders as they sit in a three-way tie for the NFC’s best record.

Here’s a look at 13 eye-catching numbers from Seattle’s impressive first half of the season.

The big picture

• +103 – The Seahawks’ plus-103 point differential is the best in the NFC and the second-best in the NFL, trailing only the Indianapolis Colts (plus-115). According to Stathead, it’s the best point differential through the first nine games of a season in franchise history, surpassing the Seahawks’ 1984 team (plus-88), their Super Bowl-winning 2013 team (plus-83) and their NFC champion 2005 team (plus-83).

• 3 – The Seahawks rank third in the NFL in points per game (30.6). They also rank seventh in points per drive (2.45) and second in yards per play (6.3).

• 5 – The Seahawks rank fifth in the NFL in points allowed per game (19.1). They also rank fourth in points allowed per drive (1.62) and fourth in yards allowed per play (4.6).

• 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. 3 in defensive DVOA and No. 2 in special teams DVOA, which makes them the only team to have a top-five DVOA in all three phases. Seattle’s 45.9% DVOA is the ninth-best mark through the first nine games of a season by any NFL team since 1978.

First-half onslaughts

• 24+ – The Seahawks are responsible for three of the four instances in the NFL this season where a team has led by 24-plus points at halftime. Seattle had a 38-6 halftime lead over the New Orleans Saints in Week 3, a 31-7 halftime lead over the Washington Commanders in Week 9 and a 38-7 halftime lead over the Cardinals on Sunday.

• 30+ – The Seahawks are one of just five teams since the 1970 NFL merger to lead by 30-plus points at halftime twice in the same season, according to Stathead. No team has ever done so three times.

JSN’s record-setting pace

• 1,041 – Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s league-leading 1,041 receiving yards are the fifth-most by a player through his team’s first nine games of a season since the 1970 NFL merger, according to Stathead. Smith-Njigba has 210 more receiving yards than the next-closest receiver this season, which is Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase at 831 yards.

• 115.7 – Smith-Njigba is averaging 115.7 receiving yards per game this year. That puts him on pace for 1,966 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 moved to a 17-game season in 2021. However, Smith-Njigba’s 115.7-yard average would still be the fifth-best mark since the 1970 merger, per Stathead.

• 9 – Smith-Njigba has opened the season with nine consecutive games of at least 75 receiving yards. He’s just the third player in NFL history to achieve that feat, joining Hall of Famer Michael Irvin (1995) and Antonio Brown (2014). Both of their streaks ended after nine games.

Darnold’s historic efficiency

• 9.9 – Sam Darnold is averaging a league-high 9.9 yards per pass attempt this season. That’s tied for the second-highest mark through the first nine games of a season since the 1970 merger among quarterbacks with at least 150 passing attempts, according to Stathead. Darnold is on pace to match Hall of Famer Kurt Warner’s 9.9 yards per pass attempt in 2000, which is the highest single-season mark since the 1970 merger.

• 1 – Darnold ranks as the No. 1 quarterback in both ESPN’s QBR metric and Pro Football Focus grading. He also ranks third in completion rate (71.1%), fifth in passing success rate (52.1%), seventh in passing yards (2,262) and tied for seventh in touchdown passes (17).

The pass protection

• 10 – The Seahawks have allowed an NFL-low 10 sacks, which is the lowest mark in franchise history through the first nine games of a season, according to Stathead. Seattle is on pace to allow a franchise-low 19 sacks for the season. It’s a massive contrast from last year, when the Seahawks allowed 28 sacks through their first nine games and 54 sacks for the season.

The pass rush

• 32 – Seattle’s defense has 32 sacks this season, which is tied for second-most in the league. It’s the most sacks the Seahawks have had through the first nine games of a season since 2006, according to Stathead. Seattle has 10 different players with at least 1.0 sacks and 15 different players with at least 0.5 sacks.