The Seattle Seahawks, coming off a last-second loss a week ago, traveled across the country to face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday afternoon. Both of these teams are off to a hot start and have playoff aspirations, and while they’re in different conferences, today’s game will have big playoff implications down the line.

With a win, the Jags would move to 5-1. Teams that start 5-1 make the playoffs over 90 percent of the time, so they’d all but lock themselves into at least a Wild Card spot. On the other hand, the Seahawks would much, much rather be sitting at 4-2 than 3-3. They’re too good to be at .500 through six weeks, so a win on Sunday would be big.

The Jags took an early lead, but the Seahawks responded with 20 unanswered points in the second and third quarters to take a 20-6 lead heading into the fourth. Jacksonville put a touchdown on the board, but failed the two-point try, to make it 20-12. However, they couldn’t get on the scoreboard again, and the Seahawks came away with a big road win.

Here were my takeaways from Sunday’s game.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba is unreal

It’s time to have a conversation. Jaxon Smith-Njigba might be the best receiver in football right now. He entered the week with 534 yards (2nd in the NFL) and two touchdowns, and he quickly added to that total today.

By the eight-minute mark of the second quarter, Sam Darnold had 117 passing yards. All of those went to JSN. He very reasonably slowed down in the second half, but still finished the game with seven catches for 150 yards and a touchdown.

JSN is playing at an unreal level right now, and it’s time to put him in the conversation for the best in the league.

Seahawks need to give Kenneth Walker more carries

The Seahawks have split their carries pretty evenly between Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet, but it’s very obvious that Walker is the better running back.

Coming into the game, Walker received 58 percent of the carries between these two, but is averaging 4.9 yards per carry compared to 2.8 for Charbonnet. Today, Walker received 10 carries to Charbonnet’s eight, and out-gained him 34 to 19. I understand not wanting to run Walker into the ground, but you can still do that with a 70-30 split.

Sam Darnold is playing very well, but they can’t make his life harder than it needs to be. Give Walker more carries, and their run game – and therefore their offense – will be much more efficient.

Seahawks could make the NFC Championship

I love what Mike Macdonald has going on in Seattle. They made a great move going out and getting Sam Darnold this offseason. Many thought he was just a product of Kevin O’Connell last year, but they saw something in him, and it’s paying dividends. They have one of the best passing offenses in football, and if the run game really gets rolling, they can be one of the best offenses in the NFL.

I also love what Seattle has going on defensively. Macdonald is very obviously one of the best defensive minds in the game. In 2023, before he arrived, the Seahawks ranked 25th in PPG allowed. Last year, they climbed to 12th, and this year they’re also 12th through five weeks. And that ranking should improve after this week.

They have an offense that, when it’s on, can keep up with anyone, but they also have a defense that’s good enough to keep them afloat if their offense is struggling. They are real threats in the NFC.

I’m out on Jacksonville

I was never really “in” on the Jaguars, but I’m officially out on them now. I know, they’re 4-2 and have some big wins, but I think they just have too many issues to really contend. Their offense sputters at times, and defensively, they just aren’t good enough to carry this team when the offense isn’t scoring.

This isn’t a knock on the Jags. They have a really good core in place and are in their first year under Liam Coen. They have a very bright future, and I think they can still make the playoffs, but they’re not real contenders in the AFC in my opinion.

Brian Thomas Jr. is back

Brian Thomas Jr. is back.

After a very slow start to the season, Brian Thomas Jr. seems to have figured things out. Last year, all of his success came when Trevor Lawrence was out, but it feels like these two have finally built a connection, which stems from his huge catch late on Monday night.

On Sunday, Thomas caught a team-high eight passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. He was making plays all day, and he just looked much more like the BTJ we saw last year. For my fantasy team’s sake, hopefully, he can keep this up for the rest of the year.