Will Jaxon Smith-Njigba set any new Seahawks records? Will the Seahawks make it a rare seventh road win? It’s time for the final predictions of the 2024 season.
The Seattle Seahawks’ season will come to an end against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. It’s certainly not how anyone envisioned this would go just three weeks ago, but c’est la vie. There’s at least the positive of a 10th win on the line for first-year head coach Mike Macdonald to still play for, as well as pride, incentives, and good vibes heading into the offseason.
We’re going to skip the normal format of game predictions for this week and focus exclusively on personal or team milestones. Let’s look back at last week’s predictions to see how I fared.
Bold prediction: Caleb Williams’ interception streak ends
Riq Woolen ended the streak, not Devon Witherspoon as I’d predicted. Nevertheless, the Seahawks ended Williams’ run of no interceptions!
Seahawks offense prediction: Jaxon Smith-Njigba reaches the century mark
Nope.
Seahawks defense prediction: Sacks aplenty on Caleb Williams
Does seven sacks count as aplenty? I think so.
Enemy prediction: Darrell Taylor commits at least one penalty
I had the wrong Seahawk helping out his former team. Taylor had a strip-sack but no penalties. Jake Curhan was the Seahawks double agent with two penalties, including one that wiped out a touchdown.
Game prediction: Seahawks win a squeaker in a game that has no business being close
I way overestimated the points scored but the idea of how this game would go was correct.
Let’s roll on with this segment one last time!
Jaxon Smith-Njigba will break Tyler Lockett’s single-season reception record, but not the receiving yards record
JSN only needs five catches to become the Seahawks’ all-time single-season leader in receptions. Lockett hit exactly 100 catches in 2020, and scored two touchdowns along the way. I’m not sure if JSN will get into the end zone but it seems almost inevitable he’ll do Lockett and DK Metcalf proud by cementing his place in Seahawks history. Yes, 17-game season and all of that, but let’s not act like 18-game seasons aren’t on the horizon.
The receiving yards mark isn’t totally unattainable given JSN’s first game against a first-string Rams defense saw him rack up 180 receiving yards. However, it’s still a tough task for Smith-Njigba to get the 184 yards required to surpass Metcalf’s single-season receiving yards mark.
Geno Smith will surpass his existing record for passing yards, completion percentage
Needless to say, Geno’s 4,282 yards in the 2022 season was a lot more impressive in terms of touchdown passes (30) and productivity compared to how he’s made his way to 4,097 passing yards this year. He only needs 186 yards to set a new standard (again, 17-game season but deal with it), and I’d be shocked if he struggled to get that against the Rams’ backups.
Smith can also set a new completion percentage mark as long as he doesn’t go way below his season average of 70.2%. He holds the existing Seahawks record at 69.8%, which led the entire NFL in 2022. I’m confident he’ll be able to keep his mark intact and even stay above 70%.
DK Metcalf will reach 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth time in six seasons
It seems like an easy call to say Metcalf will get to 1,000 yards again given he only needs 61 yards to hit that target. He’s also only eclipsed 60 yards receiving twice since the bye week and hasn’t had a catch longer than 30 yards since Week 7 against the Atlanta Falcons… on a pass thrown by Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
I know the Rams will be playing backups but there’s just something not clicking with Geno and Metcalf specifically in this passing offense, and I believe that Metcalf will only barely get across the 1k milestone.
Leonard Williams will reach double-digit sacks, but not Derick Hall
‘Big Cat’ was a Pro Bowl snub—I hope he isn’t snubbed by All-Pro voters, too—and I’m sure he’ll be playing pissed off against the mostly stationary, accident prone Jimmy Garoppolo. With nine sacks on the year, Williams only needs one more to be the first Seahawk to hit double-digit sacks in a season since Frank Clark in 2018. If Williams somehow gets three, he’ll set a new career-high. The last interior defensive lineman to record at least 10 sacks in a season was none other than Jarran Reed, who had 10.5 in 2018.
The other Seahawk with a shot at 10+ sacks is Derick Hall, who’s done extremely well to have that sophomore surge after zero sacks as a rookie. He’s on eight sacks, so he’ll have to really push a little bit more than Williams. I think he’ll get one sack but not two, although there should be plenty of pass-rushing opportunities available for him.
Seahawks will tie the franchise record for road wins in a season
If the Seahawks don’t win this game and they are seemingly trying hard with first-team players against a Rams team that just wants to be healthy for the playoffs, I don’t think that will sit well with fans who want to end the season on a high note. Even better Seattle teams have been very prone to struggling against backup-heavy squads, so it wouldn’t shock me if the Seahawks made a complete hatchet job of what should be a comfortable win.
Here’s a sobering fact: Seattle hasn’t held a lead larger than 21 points since Smith became the starter in 2022. The Seahawks are the only team in the NFL without a 22+ pt lead at any point in a game during that span. If there was ever a chance to establish a huge lead, it’s this weekend. Somehow I doubt that happens.
Let’s go for a workmanlike 27-17 win for the Seahawks, which would give them a record-tying sixth consecutive road victory in franchise history. A 7-1 record would also equal the 2019 Seahawks for best away form in franchise history, and it could potentially wind up as the second-best road record in the entire NFL if the Minnesota Vikings lose to the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.