Fans arrived early. Not to watch Seahawks warm-ups, but to watch the Mariners on the big-screen scoreboard.
Football fans, Seattle fans, the Pacific Northwest’s fans, cheered Julio Rodriguez’s home run early in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series in Toronto, the television broadcast of which the Seahawks were showing on the Lumen Field scoreboard on this Monday night like no other in the PNW.
Gasps filled the football stadium during play midway through the second quarter of the Seahawks’ game against the Houston Texans. Fans watching baseball on their phones from their football seats saw the Mariners’ Eduard Bazardo give up the decisive, three-run home run by Toronto’s George Springer in the seventh inning. That ultimately sent the Blue Jays, not the historic Mariners, to the World Series.
Those fans didn’t miss much while their heads were down. Only after the fans turned their full attention to the Seahawks did Seattle’s NFL team shine.
More of Sam Darnold’s season-long relying on long passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, plus huge plays by coach Mike Macdonald’s defense in the second half, led the Seahawks to a 27-19 win over Houston.
Houston scored a garbage-time touchdown with the stadium half empty at 10:20 p.m. on a work/school night to make the game look closer than it was.
Smith-Njigba, the league’s receiver in yards receiving entering this week seven, caught eight passes on 13 targets for 123 yards and a touchdown as Seattle won for only the fifth time in 13 home games over two seasons under Macdonald. Darnold completed 17 of 31 throws for 213 yards and the first-half score to Smith-Njigba, as Seattle again failed to play a complete game.
The running game they set out to fix this season remains broken. Yet the Seahawks scored the most points that Houston, with the league’s top scoring defense, had given up the season. Seattle is 5-2 entering its bye.
“We picked our offense up today on defense,” Macdonald said, with bass bangin’ the walls of the locker room next to him.
“That’s how we kind of roll. …
“Once we get all three phases going, rolling in games, that’s when you have games that are not coming down to the last possession.”
The Seahawks are tied atop the NFC West in wins and losses with San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams, though the 49ers have the division lead from beating both the Seahawks and Rams so far. “At the bye week, we’ve set ourselves up nice,” middle linebacker Ernest Jones said.
“We’ve got to come back and let’s get rollin’ for real.”
Despite their defense not giving up a touchdown, the Seahawks were in a scrap deep into the third quarter. When the Pacific Northwest’s sad eyes turned away from the sudden end to the Mariners’ historic season, the Seahawks led Houston only 17-12.
They had been in control, up 17-6, allowing no touchdowns, until after Houston downed a punt at the Seahawks 4-yard line midway through the third period. Two runs by Seattle’s Kenneth Walker netted a total of 3 yards. On third down, Darnold rolled left, trying to throw from his own end zone. His rollout went outside, where left tackle Charles Cross was blocking Houston edge rusher Will Anderson.
Cross didn’t know Darnold was out there when Anderson released from him, ran outside and sacked Darnold in the end zone. He also forced a fumble Anderson recovered there, for a touchdown.
The two-point pass failed, but Seattle’s lead was down to 17-12.
Darnold had the Seahawks’ response. It’s what he’s done most of this season. Find Smith-Njigba.
On the first play after the touchdown, Darnold threw to the 2024 Pro Bowl receiver for 26 yards, to the Houston 36. That set up Jason Myers’ field goal for a 20-12 lead.
Then the defense came up large for the second time in the pivotal third quarter.
Houston had a third and short in its own end. Seattle’s Byron Murphy then showed his new-dad strength. The Seahawks defensive tackle who’s been spending his every moment not at team headquarters at the hospital seeing his premature, newborn daughter grow from 2 pounds, 5 ounces the last two game weeks, stood up two Texans blockers. That ruined Houston’s third-down run.
“Just balls to the wall, going all out for each other,” Murphy said of the mentality on those downs, stopping the run.
On fourth and short at the Texans 39, Houston ran rookie back Woody Marks off left tackle. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence just refused to be blocked at the point of attack on the play. He dropped Marks for no gain. The turnover on downs decisively turned the game.
“We have killers up front,” Jones said of his defensive line.
Darnold responded by throwing to…who else? Smith-Njigba caught his pass on a slant and ran for 19 yards to convert third and 7.
Darnold threw to JSN again in the end zone on the next snap. The only reason he didn’t catch a second touchdown pass was Houston’s Kamari Lassiter grabbed Smith-Njigba at the 2-yard line coming out of his break from the left slot. The pass-interference penalty gave Seattle a first down at the 2.
From there, Zach Charbonnet ran off left tackle outside a fine seal block by rookie left guard Grey Zabel for the touchdown. The Seahawks led 27-12.
Seattle’s defense turned back Houston from there. The Texans had a third and goal at the 1. Ty Okada then made his best play as a Seahawk. The fill-in for injured Pro Bowl veteran Julian Love, Okada, in his third consecutive start, leaped in the end zone and knocked down a pass by Houston’s C.J. Stroud headed to an open receiver outside for a touchdown and a one-score game. Instead, it was fourth and goal.
“I could kind of feel it there (the receiver open behind him),” Okada said over the booming locker-room music. “I could see the quarterback’s eyes. And I kinda felt that’s where he was going.
“He threw it fast. Obviously, I would have loved to pick it (off). But to be able to get my arm up in time, I’m glad to have that happen.”
After a Texans penalty for a false start, Seattle’s mix-and-match secondary covered every one of Stroud’s receivers. He threw incomplete to nobody on the right side of the end zone for the third turnover on downs forced by the Seahawks defense in the second half.
The defense winning the game. Just as Macdonald designed this team. “Just losing football offensively in the second half there,” Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp said.
“We know our standard’s much higher.”
