Jaxon Smith-Njigba is having a historic season. He has shattered the previous single-season receiving yards record for the Seattle Seahawks, and he has a chance to break the all-time NFL one as well. But the wide receiver needs his offense to be better.
He isn't wrong, of course. While the team is 11-3 and almost certainly going to make the playoffs, a great defense will need help for the team to make much of a dent once in the postseason. Recently, quarterback Sam Darnold and his friends haven't been overly effective.
While Seattle keeps winning, it is truly more of a defensive and special teams effort. If one takes away the second half against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 14, Seattle's offense has scored just one touchdown in five halves of football. That isn't a good way to attain a high level of success.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba lays bare what the Seattle Seahawks' offensive issues are
Speaking to the media after Week 15's victory against a banged-up Indianapolis Colts team, JSN certainly didn't sound like a player who thinks his offense can't be a lot better. He knows it can because he said the group would be much more efficient earlier in the season.
"As an offense, trying to be elite, we have to score in the red zone," Smith-Njigba said. "That's the name of the game, and that's how we're going to win, so we have to lock in. We've got a short week, (so) we got to lock in and figure out what we need to do better...We just need to get together and understand the game plan, and execute at the end of the day. And I'll leave it at that."
JSN appears to make clear that the current issue with the offense is not the coaching, but the execution by the players. He isn't one to throw another player under the proverbial bus, of course, and he might simply mean everyone needs to be better.
He perfectly hit on one major opportunity for the Seahawks, however. In Week 16 on Thursday Night Football, Seattle will host the Los Angeles Rams, the other team in the NFC that is 11-3. Seattle has struggled for years with LA, including a 21-19 loss earlier this season when Darnold threw four interceptions.
Seattle was lucky to have the game be that close with those kinds of turnovers. The Seahawks even had a chance to win on a 61-yard field goal attempt by Jason Myers at the end of regulation. With a win in Week 16, Seattle would have sole possession of first place in the NFC West.
If the offense doesn't play much better, however, the Rams will defeat the Seattle Seahawks once again (as they have done in 12 of the last 17 meetings), and Seattle will likely start the playoffs in a Wild Card game on the road.