Sam Darnold & Jaxon Smith-Njigba 'Just Lights Out' In Seahawks' Week 4 Win at Arizona

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold and his top target, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, came through in the clutch to help the Seahawks to a 23-20 win in Arizona.

Sep 26, 2025 at 12:36 AM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

GLENDALE—With Sam Darnold spreading the ball around in the first half on Thursday night, leading receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who had 22 catches for 323 yards in his first three games, did not have a reception at halftime, though he did have a couple of rushing attempts.

But with the game on the line, it came as no surprise that Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold would look Smith-Njigba's way, and as they have done all season, those two connected for big plays to help lead the Seahawks to a 23-20 win over the Cardinals.

"Sam and Jax were just lights out, and just a great job overall," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said.

Smith-Njigba's first catch of the game didn't come until the end of the third quarter, and fittingly it was a big one, a 10-yard pickup to move the chains on third-and-7. On that same drive, Smith-Njigba had an 11-yard catch on second-and-10 to extend a drive that eventually ended on a Jason Myers field goal. That drive would have ended with a touchdown if not for a rather questionable holding call on Smith-Njigba that negated a Zach Charbonnet touchdown run.

After the Cardinals scored to make it a one-score game at 20-13, Darnold and Smith-Njigba connected for a deep ball that at the time looked like it might be a game-clinching play. With Smith-Njigba getting some space with a double move, Darnold uncorked a gorgeous deep ball that hit the Pro-Bowl receiver in stride for a 36-yard gain into Cardinals territory. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, Myers' 53-yard field goal attempt, which would have given the Seahawks a 10-point lead with a little over three minutes left to play, missed wide right.

The Cardinals were able to use the short field after that miss to drive for the game-tying touchdown, giving the Seahawks just 28 seconds to try to win the game in overtime. Starting the drive at the 40-yard line thanks to a Cardinals kickoff that failed to reach the landing zone, the Seahawks decided to be aggressive, and of course, it was Darnold finding Smith-Njigba for a 22-yard completion to put the Seahawks into field goal range, and this time Myers' kick was true and the Seahawks had a third straight win.

"Going into that drive, we wanted to be aggressive," Macdonald said. "We double-moved him there and Jax's made a great catch.

Smith-Njigba not only made the big play on the final drive, but also had the wherewithal to dive for the sideline to save the Seahawks a timeout, allowing the offense to run one more play to shorten the field goal by four yards.

"He's just comfortable in those moments," Darnold said of Smith-Njigba, who finished with 79 yards on four catches, all in the second half. "He showed that even in the San Francisco game. Obviously, we didn't get the job done when we played them in the first game but he showed his big play ability - not only in two-minute, but throughout the game. We have that rapport to where we can trust each other with different routes, feeling leverage and all those types of things. At the end of the day, our other guys did a really good job. In two-minute (situations), Jax does a really good job, but we're going to have other options for the other guys to shine and I know they'll get their opportunities."

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And of course, Smith-Njigba doesn't have another big day without Darnold doing his part, and once again, Seattle's new quarterback was outstanding. After a huge performance in last week's win over the Saints, Darnold backed it up Thursday by completing 18 of 26 passes for 242 yards, a touchdown and no turnovers, giving him a 111.4 passer rating, and most importantly, he made some of his best throws in big moments late in the game.

"Sam's playing out of his mind right now," Macdonald said. "You see him and he's such a cool customer. He is a guy on a mission. He's just so determined for us to be a great team and a great offense. He's doing a great job leading us."