Seahawks, the offense that no one talks about in the NFL

I’d bet you didn’t know that the third-best passing offense in the NFL belongs to the Seattle Seahawks.

I know, the fact is as surprising as this other one: Geno Smith needs a 300-yard game to tie Russell Wilson’s franchise record of five 300-yard games in a single season.

With Smith and an opportunistic defense, the Seahawks have won four games in a row, have an 8-5 record and have taken over the lead in the NFC West Division.

Last Sunday, Smith completed 80% of his passes (24 of 30) with a touchdown in Seattle’s 30-18 win in Arizona against the Cardinals, who were trying to control the NFC West.

The Seahawks are 3-2 in the Division, a game ahead of the Los Angeles Rams (7-6) and two ahead of Arizona and the San Francisco 49ers, both 6-7.

The talent surrounding Smith

Smith is surrounded by plenty of talent in Seattle. The receiving duo of Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf is one of the best in the league.

However, there is one name that few mention and that will have to be paid more attention to: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who this season (his second in the NFL) has 75 receptions, 911 yards and five touchdowns. With 89 more yards, he will become the 10th receiver in franchise history with a 1,000-yard season.

In the win over the Rams in early November, Smith-Njigba finished with seven receptions, 180 yards and a pair of scores. Those 180 yards are the fourth most this season for any receiver. The experience, however, is with Lockett and Metcalf, both of whom had subpar seasons.

Lockett, for example, has only three games of five or more receptions and that was in three of the first four games of the season. Metcalf missed two games due to injuries and has a total of 54 catches, 812 yards and three touchdowns.

Despite that, Smith is second in the NFL in attempts (466), completions (324) and yards (3,474). In the backfield, the Seahawks also have a solid tandem: Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet, who have combined for 942 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns on the season.

Walker was inactive last week in Arizona and Charbonnet took advantage of that to have his best game of the season with 22 attempts, 134 yards and two touchdowns, including a 51-yard scamper to the end zone.

On defense, Leonard Williams is the undisputed MVP of this team. Williams leads the Seahawks with seven sacks, and he’s had 4.5 in the last three games, along with 17 tackles, eight for loss, six quarterback hits, one interception returned 92 yards for a touchdown and one blocked extra point.

Another player who has flown under the radar is safety Julian Love, who leads the Seahawks with 88 tackles, has two interceptions, eight passes defensed and has forced two fumbles.

The new stop on the way to the playoffs: Green Bay Packers

On Sunday night, Seattle hosts another playoff contender, the Green Bay Packers, who rank 21st in the NFL in passing yards allowed, averaging 222.2 per game.

It could be another good game for Geno Smith and youngster Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Since 2010, Seattle is 35-18-1 at home in prime-time games, and its mark on Sunday Night Football is 11-6-1.

Pick: Seahawks 28-24 Packers

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