This Sunday’s game against the New York Jets was easily one of the messiest and most frustrating games that the Seahawks have played all season. With that said, the Seahawks are still somehow leaving East Rutherford, New Jersey with a 26-21 win. The game did not start off well, with the Jets jumping out to a 21-7 lead in the first half, on the back of special teams mistakes by the Seahawks, including multiple fumbled punts. At the same time, the offensive line, which has been the biggest spot all year for the Seahawks, had rookie Sataoa Laumea making his first start of the season. The offensive line was not able to hold up at all for most of the game, but especially in the first half, and Geno Smith was running for his life, unable to do anything.
As the game went on, however, the Seahawks defense adjusted and didn’t allow the Aaron Rodgers led Jets offense to score for the rest of the game and was able to force an interception returned for a touchdown by defensive lineman Leonard Williams. The Seahawks offense, assisted by an extremely undisciplined Jets defense, was able to score just enough to take a lead in the 4th quarter on a Zach Charbonnet run. The defense was able to stop the Jets one last time, and the team escaped the Meadowlands with a win. The win will keep the Seahawks on top of the NFC West for another week, just in time for a massive divisional game in Glendale, Arizona against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.
The biggest storylines for fantasy football that I saw during this game was the continued insistence from the Seahawks offensive coaching staff to split carries at running back and the continued emergence of Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Geno Smith was still able to put up a respectable fantasy performance, and he is someone who should be started nearly every week, depending on other quarterback’s that may be on your roster. Kenneth Walker, on the other hand, should begin to be looked at with a skeptical eye, especially as fantasy football playoffs are fast approaching.
The Seahawks running back room has been difficult to predict for most of the season at this point. After Walker’s injury early in the season, Zach Charbonnet filled in adequately, but Walker has been back and healthy for most of the season at this point. The offensive line has struggled to run block all season long, making fantasy performances very touchdown-dependent all year. However, even though Walker is far and away the better running back, the offensive coaching staff has played Charbonnet at a rate that is bordering on disrespectful to Walker. It is harming the team, as evidenced when Charbonnet failed multiple times this game to pick up one yard on 3rd or 4th down, and it makes it impossible to start Walker in fantasy football. I would be cautious about starting Walker next week, especially since the win will mean the team will not try to fix these issues with the urgency that is required.
A positive that I saw in this game though was the increasing levels of trust that Geno Smith clearly has in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and how prosperous that relationship has been recently. JSN has become Smith’s favorite target, especially on 3rd and 4th down. This negatively impacts Tyler Lockett’s projections, as he has become the clear 3rd WR in the room behind JSN and DK Metcalf, but JSN is becoming more and more a must start, especially considering the reliance Seattle has had on the pass game with how ineffective the run game has been all year.
Overall, Seattle could have performed better in this game, but it is clear that Geno Smith should remain a starter, Jaxon Smith-Njigba should start becoming a fixture in Flex spots for the remainder of the season, and Kenneth Walker has become a touchdown-dependent 3rd option on fantasy rosters.