The Commanders and Seahawks will close out Sunday’s NFL schedule, with Seattle hosting Washington at Northwest Stadium for an 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff.
Seattle enters Sunday night with a 5–2 record, as quarterback Sam Darnold continues his career resurgence. The 28-year-old leads the NFL in yards per attempt and, even after an early bye week, has helped wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba climb to the top of the league with 819 receiving yards.
Washington, meanwhile, has lost its past three games after a 3–2 start to the year, but will get a much-needed boost on Sunday as reigning Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels returns to the lineup after a one-week absence with a hamstring injury.
Here are three bold predictions.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba will go for 120-plus yards and a touchdown for a fourth consecutive game
Through seven games, Smith-Njigba leads the NFL in yards (819), 20-plus-yard receptions (14) and first downs (36) while also posting top-10 numbers in receptions (50), targets (70) and yards per catch (16.4). In each of Seattle’s past three contests, Smith-Njigba has notched eight catches and a touchdown for 132, 162 and 123 yards, respectively.
Washington’s defense, meanwhile, has not only allowed 244 yards per game in the air—the 10th most in the NFL—but has also allowed a 110-plus-yard pass catcher in four of its first eight games. Look for Darnold and the Seahawks to exploit this early and often, with Smith-Njigba being the beneficiary.
Commanders will be held to a season-low in rushing yards
Washington has the NFL’s fourth-best rushing attack, averaging 137.8 yards per game while Bill Croskey-Merritt leads the way with 402 on 4.9 yards per carry.
Meanwhile, Seattle has given up only 75.7 rushing yards per game this season—the fewest in the NFL—while allowing only one back, Christian McCaffrey (69 yards), to eclipse the 50-yard mark.
With Croskey-Merritt trending downward (fewer than 4.0 YPC over the past three games) and Daniels only a week removed from injury, I’m predicting Washington will be held to 50 rushing yards or fewer, one shy of its season-low 51 against the Packers in Week 2.
Seattle will come away with a two-score win on the road
The Seahawks were rolling before the bye week and are hoping to keep it that way with the Rams neck-and-neck in the NFC West standings. Their opponents, meanwhile, are ice-cold—and so is their quarterback.
Seattle will show on a national stage why its among the most underrated teams in the NFL halfway through the 2025 season. Call it a 27–17 Seahawks win.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Commanders vs. Seahawks: Three Bold Predictions for ‘Sunday Night Football’.
