Lumen Field opened the season with plenty of ceremony Wednesday night, but one of the first memorable moments came in NBC’s pregame coverage, not on the field. As the Seahawks unveiled their Super Bowl LX championship banner before facing the Patriots in a rematch of February’s title game, Mike Tomlin’s first regular-season turn as an NBC analyst quickly ran into a name problem.
Tomlin kept tripping over Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s initials, calling him “JNS” on the broadcast. That’s when Maria Taylor stepped in.
“JSN, I’m not gonna let you do it again,” she told Tomlin. “I’m not gonna let you do it again, JSN!”
Tomlin, the former Steelers head coach who stepped away after 19 seasons, took the correction in stride. It was a rough little detour for his NBC debut in the regular season, but not his first time in the network’s booth. He had already appeared as a studio analyst during the Hall of Fame Game back in August.
Smith-Njigba’s name has become a recurring issue this year. Comedian Druski also drew national backlash in February after badly mispronouncing it while presenting Smith-Njigba’s Offensive Player of the Year award at NFL Honors.
The Seahawks receiver arrived at Wednesday’s opener with major momentum, fresh off a $168.6 million extension after leading the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards last season. Seattle also brought back quarterback Sam Darnold, who is looking to build on a championship season, and a defense led by All-Pro cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
New England had its own big-picture storylines in the rematch. Drake Maye is at the center of a retooled offense that now includes three-time All-Pro receiver A.J. Brown, while All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez anchors the other side of the ball.
Tomlin is expected to be part of NBC’s Sunday night coverage throughout the season, so this likely won’t be the last time he’s on a national stage. Whether he gets Smith-Njigba’s name right next time is another question. Taylor made it clear she’ll be paying attention.
In Other News...
Mariners Offseason Bet Looks Worse As Playoff Hopes Fade
Seattles playoff picture has thinned to the point where even a strong finish would have to do a lot of heavy lifting. At 67-78 and 6.5 games behind the Guardians in the Wild Card race, the Mariners are staring at an uphill climb, and the season-long issues on offense have been a major reason why.
Josh Naylor was brought back on a five-year deal as part of the clubs attempt to add dependable production, but his numbers have not matched the standard he set in his best year with Cleveland. In a season where the lineup has already fallen short of expectations, that kind of underperformance has only made the Mariners offseason bet look tougher to justify as the games run out. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Naylor Has Become A Real Mariners Offseason Dilemma
Josh Naylors first season with the Mariners has given the front office a real winter conversation to have. The 29-year-old has still done a lot of the contact-driven work that has defined his game, but his overall offensive output has slipped from the levels hes established in the past. Home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage and OPS are all down, and for a lineup that expected more impact from that spot, the gap has been hard to ignore.
The odd part is that the underlying shape of his at-bats has not changed all that much. Naylor is still making plenty of contact and keeping strikeouts low, but his aggressive style has led him into more pitches outside the zone, and the quality of the contact has suffered because of it. For Seattle, that creates a tricky offseason question: how much weight to give the steadiness of his approach versus the reality that the production hasnt matched it. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Raleigh's Surge May Not Be Enough To Avoid Mariners History
Cal Raleighs late-season surge has given the Mariners something to feel better about, even if it arrived after a long stretch of offensive frustration. Through Aug. 1, his season had been dragged down by a 70 wRC+ slump, but since then he has looked much more like the middle-of-the-order threat Seattle needed, with a 169 wRC+ and 10 home runs along with four doubles.
Still, the bigger picture has not disappeared. Raleigh is sitting at .184 after 458 plate appearances, and the Mariners are staring at the possibility of one of the rarest kind of club history if that number holds. Evan White remains the only qualified Mariner to finish a season below .200, and Raleighs recent improvement may be enough to keep him from joining that particular list, but the margin is thin enough to keep the question alive. [Read more 🡒]