The Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks are up for a Monday Night Football battle for Week 7 in Lumen Field in a game that, for both sides, will be critical to take advantage of.
The Texans will be searching for their third-straight win fresh out of their Week 6 bye which would effectively level them out to a 3-3 regular season record, while on the Seahawks’ end, they could reach first place in the NFC West with the right factors around them swinging their way, making this tilt high-stakes, and highly important for each group.
But for Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, though, in preparing for such a matchup he certainly won’t be overlooking what this Texans defense has to offer–– a unit that’s emerged as the top scoring defense in the entire NFL through their first five games, and in the eyes of Darnold, is not only well-coached, but has the right personnel too.
“I feel like I’m a broken record at this point, but another great defense we’re going against,” Darnold said during his weekly presser. “Houston and Coach DeMeco Ryans over there. I feel like he has those guys rolling. Their defense is playing really well. They’re playing at a high level. Offense is too, but all of the guys that they have on defense, man. They have such great personnel.”
“The guys up front, the linebackers, the secondary, they fly around. They know their scheme inside and out. And they do a good job. Whether they want to play coverage, or pressure, or play man-to-man.”
“They do a really good job in that, and we’ve got our hands full this week. But, like I say all the time, we’re really excited about this opportunity.”
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) looks to pass during the third quarter of an NFL football matchup, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Seahawks defeated the Jaguars 20-12. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Just like the Seahawks and their offense may have their hands full, so will the Texans defense, set to be tasked with the assignment of limiting a red-hot Seattle offense led by Darnold and his favorite target, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who currently leads the entire NFL in receiving yards (696) through six weeks.
Darnold on his own has also remained among the top producers of his respective position. He’s third in the NFL for total yards, tied for sixth in touchdowns, and has completed over 70% of his throws, a class only six other starting quarterbacks are a part of this season.
For the edge-rushing tandem of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, they’ll need to be on their A-game in bringing pressure on Darnold to keep their explosiveness to a minimum. Star corner Derek Stingley Jr. will also have a huge weight on his shoulders in limiting Smith-Njigba to the best of his ability, who’s only been limited to under 80 yards in a game once through his 2025 campaign.
But if the Texans’ defense can continue the momentum of being a league-best unit, perhaps they could be the group that holds down this Seahawks offense that’s proven to be extremely tough to limit in the first third of this season.
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