By Michael-Shawn Dugar, Saad Yousuf and Alex Valdes

Despite a Houston Texans team that simply would not quit, the Seattle Seahawks had a bit too much Jaxon Smith-Njigba and too much defense on Monday night.

The third-year wide receiver caught eight passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, and the defense harassed Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud all game as Seattle beat Houston 27-19 to keep pace in the NFC West at 5-2. Seattle running back Zach Charbonnet rushed for two touchdowns.

Stroud completed only 23 of 49 passes for 229 yards and was sacked three times. He finally broke through with a late touchdown to pull the Texans to within a score.

Smith-Njigba also got caught up in a sideline scuffle in the fourth quarter. Derek Stingley Jr. intercepted a Sam Darnold pass and then stiff-armed Smith-Njigba on his head, forcing his helmet to pop off. Players from both teams mixed it up, and a referee even had to shield a helmet-less JSN amid the fracas.

Offense let down Texans

There’s no other way to describe Houston’s offensive performance against the Seahawks aside from flat-out embarrassing. The bottom-line stats are horrendous in their own right — no running back rushed for more than 16 yards and Stroud completed less than 50 percent of his passes while posting a quarterback rating of 59.0 — but it was more about the key opportunities, particularly in the second half, that Houston completely botched.

In the third quarter, the Texans needed one yard on third down from their own 41-yard line, only for running back Woody Marks to get stuffed. On fourth down, the Texans went for it and ran Marks again, which resulted in a 2-yard loss and a turnover on downs. The Seahawks turned that into a touchdown five plays later.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Texans had first-and-goal from the 3. Following a 2-yard run, the Texans failed to get the ball in the end zone on three consecutive plays, including a fourth-down run that initially got stonewalled, only to be bailed out by a false start but ended with an incomplete pass and a turnover on downs. — Saad Yousuf, NFL staff writer

Houston D kept fighting

The Texans’ defense wasn’t perfect, but it did a solid job in creating opportunities for the offense. In the second half, the defense got an interception and forced two fumbles, including a strip-sack by Will Anderson Jr. on Darnold that Anderson recovered in the end zone for a touchdown after a great punt pinned the Seahawks deep in their own territory. Earlier, the Texans blocked a field goal. Defense and special teams did a good enough job to win but the offense was a complete letdown. — Yousuf

Injuries piling up

It’s not going to get any easier for the Texans’ offense to get on track. Wide receiver Nico Collins left the game early in the fourth quarter and did not return. At one point, tight end Dalton Schultz was also sidelined with an ailment, though he did return. Marks also appeared to be in pain after he caught a late touchdown from Stroud. Speaking of which, the Texans quarterback got hit quite a bit, though he managed to hang tough through the end of the game. — Yousuf

Seahawks are legit

The Seattle Seahawks are the real deal. Their offense was good enough to hang 27 points on the No. 1 scoring defense in the league, which, prior to Monday night, was allowing just 12.2 points per game. On defense, Seattle suffocated a struggling Houston offense and made a strong case for being the best unit in the NFL (Seattle ranks fourth in opponent points per drive). The Seahawks have some kinks to work out on offense as they enter the bye week but it’s obvious that this is a very good team with premier players on both sides of the ball. — Michael-Shawn Dugar, Seahawks writer

Total Texas takedown

This was a dominant showing by Seattle’s defense, which gave up just 13 points. Mike Macdonald’s defense had 12 passes defensed, three sacks, seven tackles for loss on non-sacks and two run stops for no gain. The Texans were 2-for-15 on third down and 1-for-4 on fourth down. Houston’s offense is nothing to write home about — especially without  Collins, who left the game with a concussion — but considering the Seahawks were without two Pro Bowl defensive backs and outside linebacker Derick Hall, this was nonetheless an impressive night. — Dugar