As far as pure quarterback performances go, Geno Smith’s Sunday in Foxborough is one of the best I’ve seen from a Seattle Seahawks quarterback. With a banged-up offensive line that could best be described as a five-man turnstyle and without their lead back with Kenneth Walker out with an oblique injury, Seattle made the nearly 2,000-mile flight to face the struggling New England Patriots at 10 a.m.
And when all else failed, Smith took the entire team on his shoulders and led Seattle to victory.
In a game without their running back, Seattle tried to rely on second-year player Zach Charbonnet. Charbonnet, more of a one-cut power back, just isn’t as elusive as Walker, who used tricks and feints to rush for 103 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1. Behind an offensive line that allows run stoppers within a second of every snap, Charbonnet struggled to get anything done. Charbonnet finished Sunday with just 38 yards on 14 carries.
Seattle’s defense, which held Denver at bay in Week 1, showed some weaknesses on Sunday. Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett avoided sacks all day and hit his receivers on the run, including tight end Hunter Henry (who I really thought had quit), who had eight catches for 109 yards. In the second half, Rhamondre Stevenson and New England’s running game marched down the field with ease.
To make matters worse, the Seahawks’ receivers couldn’t hold onto the ball. En route to a total of five drops in the game, the Seahawks’ receivers and tight ends were on the receiving end of perfect balls from Smith that fell incomplete. Noah Fant was responsible for two of his two target balls, while DK Metcalf dropped two and Jaxon Smith-Njigba dropped one. Any quarterback would have been frustrated, and rightfully so, but not Geno Smith.
Instead, Smith kept firing arrows. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb tried his best to establish Charbonnet and the running game, but nothing happened. His receivers were dropping balls like crazy, but Smith kept firing at them. This raises the question of whether the team would have won if there was no one else to deal with a quarterback with no running game and receivers with no chance of getting cold. We’ve seen this story before with Russell Wilson. If the running game isn’t productive, Wilson wasn’t either.
The point is that Seattle could be shaky in all aspects of offense, but still rely on Geno Smith to complete 75 percent of his passes for 327 yards despite the five drops. The most impressive aspect of this monster performance is that midway through the first quarter, it was clear to everyone, including the Patriots, that the Seahawks were not going to be able to run the ball. The fact that New England knew Smith had to throw it is what makes this performance so masterful.
Seattle was down by three points with just under four minutes left, but Smith led Seattle all over the field to tie the game. Smith completed four of his five attempts and threw for 40 yards on that drive alone, allowing Jason Myers to tie the game and force overtime. In overtime, Seattle started at their own 16-yard line after a defensive stop and needed three points to win the game. Smith was fantastic once again.
The first play was a five-yard dart to Smith-Njigba, who had a career day. The second play was a ten-yard dime to Metcalf. The third play was a throw to Tyler Lockett, who was able to provoke defensive pass interference. On the fourth play, Geno hit JSN again for four yards, then his pass was incomplete on second and sixth. On the huge third and sixth, Smith threw a perfect ball to Charbonnet, who was able to get the first down. At this point, they were approaching field goal range for Jason Myers.
On 1st and 10 from New England’s 38-yard line, Smith took the snap, immediately felt pressure, expertly navigated out of the pocket, extended the play by rolling left and threw a perfect 16-yard pass to Lockett. After a 9-yard run by Charbonnet to the left hash, Myers went for the game-winning 31-yard field goal, slotting the ball between the left uprights. Smith finished the overtime drive by completing five of his six attempts for 62 yards.
Let me be clear: The Seahawks would not have won this game without Geno Smith. I don’t know if the Seahawks would have won this game with anyone other than Patrick Mahomes behind that brutal offensive line and nonexistent running game. The fact that Smith was able to pass for 327 yards on a 75 percent pass rate despite dropping five balls is just amazing.
It was reported that Smith’s camp had asked Seattle for a contract extension before Week 1. At the time, Seattle may have been pretty hesitant to sign Smith any longer than they already were, but now it seems like a pretty good idea for John Schneider and Co.
