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Seahawks Next Gen Stat Of The Week: Jaxon Smith-Njigba Feasts On Downfield Targets

As has been the case all season, good things happened for the Seahawks on Sunday when they threw deep to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

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The first time Sam Darnold threw a pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on Sunday, he uncorked a beautiful deep ball, which Smith-Njigba hauled in, keeping his balance while Titans safety Amani Hooker fell to the ground.

Smith-Njigba then casually strolled into the end zone, backpedaling at one point, on his way to a 63-yard touchdown that helped the Seahawks to a 30-24 win over the Titans.

And that long catch was just the start of another huge game for Smith-Njiba, who with 167 yards and two touchdowns on eight catches, broke the franchise single-season receiving record, running his league leading total up to 1,313 yards through 11 games.

As has been the case throughout this season, Smith-Njigba and Darnold did the most damage when attacking the defense downfield. Against the Titans, Smith-Njigba caught three of four deep targets for 132 yards and both touchdowns, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

For the season, Smith-Njigba now has 13 deep receptions for 542 yards, with both of those totals leading the league, and he's tied for the league lead in deep touchdown receptions with four.

"His body control is second to none," Darnold said when asked about Smith-Njigba's ability to make plays on deep throws. "He can really go up no matter if the ball is overthrown, I feel like he has the talent and the speed to speed up and catch it. Or if it's underthrown, he has the ability to put the defender in a tough position and kind of box him out, and get the ball and not only catch the ball, but also try to score with it as well."

Best shots from the Week 12 matchup at the Tennessee Titans.

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