NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Seattle Seahawks would have been fine with a pleasant, routine win Sunday over the beleaguered Tennessee Titans to get back on track after last Sunday’s devastating loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

And for much of the day, it appeared the Seahawks were not only getting that, but some Jaxon Smith-Njigba history-making to celebrate, as well.

But the Titans, maybe remembering they were the hosts, rudely interrupted the party.

The Titans cut a 20-point Seahawks lead midway through the third quarter to 13 early in the fourth and got the ball back and moved to the Seattle 21 with under eight minutes left.

But Derick Hall drew a holding penalty and on the next play got a sack of Titans rookie QB Cam Ward, a former Washington State standout, to extinguish the threat.

The Titans got another quick stop and again drove into Seahawks territory.

By the time the Titans marched from their own 38 to score with a touchdown on a 1-yard pass to Chimere Dike to cut the lead to 30-24, they’d used too much time.

The 15-play drive took up 4:25 and left the Titans with no time outs, and when the Titans illegally touched the onside kick with 43 seconds remaining, the Seahawks finally had secured the win it came for, holding on for a 30-24 victory.

The Seahawks improved to 8-3 and could move back into a tie with the Rams atop the NFC West if Tampa Bay can beat L.A. Sunday night. The Rams would still be in the lead thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Tennessee fell to 1-10.

Until then, the story of the game was Smith-Njigba.

Needing 158 yards to set the franchise record for receiving yards in a season, Smith-Njigba blew past the mark as easily as he did the Tennessee secondary much of the day.

Smith-Njigba passed DK Metcalf’s single-season receiving yardage record of 1,303 set in 2020 with an 8-yard catch in the third quarter on a play that snapped with 11:10 remaining.

Smith-Njigba finished with eight receptions for 167 yards and has 1,309 for the season.

Smith-Njigba got much of the yards he needed on two big plays — a 63-yard TD reception in the second quarter and then a 56-yard catch to set up his own 13-yard TD in the third quarter to get him close to the record.

That put the Seahawks up 23-3 and the rout expected when they were installed as 13-point favorites — tied for the most for a road game in team history — seemed likely.

But the Titans didn’t go away.

The first sign of their uprising came when Dike returned a Michael Dickson punt 90 yards for a touchdown with 10:22 to play in the third quarter to cut Seattle’s lead to 23-10.

The return was one of the few meltdowns this year for a special teams unit that has been regarded as among the best in the NFL. Cornerback Derion Kendrick appeared to get blocked at the point of attack and the Titans built a wall that gave Dike a clear shot down the sidelines.

The Seahawks immediately countered with a six-play, 74-yard drive capped by a 5-yard TD run by Zach Charbonnet to again take a seemingly comfortable 30-10 lead with 6:40 left to play in the third quarter.

But again the Titans came back, moving 63 yards in nine plays to score on a 6-yard run by rookie quarterback Ward — a standout at WSU in 2022 and 2023 before transferring to Miami — to cut the lead to 30-17 with 1:18 left in the third quarter.

The Seahawks were stopped when they went for it on fourth down when Darnold was sacked for the first time in the game.

The Titans faced their own fourth-and-1 at the Seattle 45 with 11:30 remaining.

Ward initially appeared to get it on a sneak. But as the Titans lined up for the next play, Macdonald dropped the red challenge flag but to no avail as the call stood.

But Hall’s two plays meant that drive went for naught.

The Titans held the Seahawks and got the ball back.

The Titans converted three fourth downs in moving to the 1-yard line but ran out of time along the way.

Darnold, whose four interceptions proved the Seahawks’ undoing against the Rams, was turnover free against the Titans and completed 16 of 26 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns.

But he threw three passes that could have been picked off and another that was far wide of Cooper Kupp on a third down in the fourth quarter.

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