Halftime Observations: Seahawks 17, Jaguars 0

Led by a near-perfect half of football by Geno Smith and a stingy defense, Seattle built a three-score advantage at the break and will have a chance to further extend the lead receiving first in the third quarter.

Getting off to a roaring start on Halloween, the Seahawks shut out the Jaguars in the first half and entered the break holding a commanding 17-0 lead.

Making his third straight start in place of an injured Russell Wilson, Geno Smith completed 14 out of 15 passes for 137 yards and threw a touchdown to DK Metcalf, while Quandre Diggs intercepted Trevor Lawrence to become the first player in the NFL with three or more picks in each of the past five seasons.

Here are three quick takeaways from Lumen Field:

1. Geno Smith wisely leans on his two Pro Bowl weapons on the outside.

Though Smith energized the 12s at Lumen Field with an 84-yard touchdown pass to Metcalf in the first quarter of Monday's loss to the Saints, he struggled to get the ball to Metcalf and Tyler Lockett most of the evening. Right out of the gate, he made sure to not make the same mistake against the Jaguars, targeting the two star wideouts early and often. He feathered a beautiful 27-yard throw to Lockett on the opening drive to get the Seahawks down to the one-yard line and extended the ball past the goal line on a fourth down quarterback sneak four plays later. Then two drives later, he completed four passes to Metcalf and three passes to Lockett on an eight-play, 73-yard scoring drive, capping it off with Metcalf high-pointing the football over former teammate Shaquill Griffin for a spectacular 16-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14. By the end of the half, while completing 14 out of 15 pass attempts, 13 of those went to Metcalf and Lockett for 130 yards. Continuing to distribute the ball to his two playmakers would be a good recipe for Seattle to run away with this one in the second half.

2. A balanced attack, strong line play helped Seattle sustain two lengthy scoring drives.

While Smith was near-perfect throwing the football in the first half, unlike Monday night, the Seahawks were also able to complement him with a quality running game. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron dialed up runs on nine of the first 11 plays, finding reasonable success moving the ball effectively on the ground with Alex Collins. On the first drive alone, Collins rushed four times for 23 yards and he finished the half with eight carries for 39 yards, averaging a healthy 4.9 yards per carry. Unfortunately, Seattle's overall rushing stats were hindered by Rashaad Penny getting stuffed twice a the goal line as well as blown up runs by Travis Homer and Gerald Everett which each went for negative five yards.

Meanwhile, with Ethan Pocic re-taking his starting job at center in place of Kyle Fuller, Seattle's offensive line did a fantastic job protecting Smith and opening up run lanes most of the half. While Smith did take a 13-yard sack on the final offensive possession, he was only hit twice and consistently had time to navigate through his progressions in the pocket, which played a role in his efficient passing performance. Communication issues that have plagued the unit weren't evident either, as they picked up blitzes and stunts effectively.

3. A dominant effort by the defense spearheads a near-complete half of football for the 'Hawks.

Based on how the first drive started, the Seahawks looked like they may be in for another long afternoon defensively. Rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence drove the Jaguars down to the opposing 39-yard line with three first downs, but a third down sack by safety Ryan Neal pushed them out of field goal range. After that point, their next four possessions ended with a punt, an interception by Quandre Diggs on a horrific throw by Lawrence, a turnover on downs created by a fourth down quarterback hit by Darrell Taylor, and a kneel down to end the half. Jacksonville was held to just 99 total yards of offense on 25 plays, converted on only one out of four third down chances, and potentially lost running back James Robinson to an ankle injury for the rest of the game in the process. Seattle will have to show it can replicate such an effort in the second half, but so far, it's been the team's best performance to date against an offense that had been playing well as of late.