More red-zone issues for Geno Smith, Drew Lock. Seahawks play caller: ‘We have a plan’
Geno Smith and the starting offense plus the starting defense took the field near the goal line. The DJ/PA announcer at Seahawks camp challenged the few hundred fans watching from the grass berm beside the fields to get loud.
“We need to make it to tough for the offense to SCORE!” the PA guy bellowed.
No need.
It’s already alarmingly tough enough.
If these early days of training camp are any indication, no matter who ends up quarterbacking the Seahawks would be better off staying out of the red zone.
Monday. Tuesday. Geno Smith. Drew Lock. Hasn’t mattered.
With speaker towers blaring rap music at volume level 11 from the sidelines and those fans trying to do as ordered, Smith’s first-team and Lock’s second-team offense has had zero success so far this week in one of the NFL’s most defining situations to winning games.
It’s the area coach Pete Carroll has said will go a long way to deciding who replaces traded Russell Wilson as Seattle’s quarterback this season: efficiency on third downs, especially inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
“Third down and red zone are really big deals,” Carroll said before camp. “That’s where the quarterbacks get challenged the most and it’s the most difficult. The defenses make it the hardest on you and that usually is a true indicator of how far someone is coming along.”
Uh-oh.
Tuesday’s red zone
Smith again played with the starting offense, behind the first-team line. He’s done that for all but two snaps of the first five camp practices. He completed three of four short, mostly check-down passes. But he failed to get into the end zone against the starting defense’s blitzes on red-zone third downs on the first camp day with shoulder pads.
Smith completed an underneath pass to Tyler Lockett short. He connected with Rashaad Penny over the middle underneath all coverage. On the third play Smith would have been sacked in a real game by defensive tackle Shelby Harris coming in off the left side, but play continued. Smith’s pass found Lockett for a short gain in front of nickel defensive back Justin Coleman. Then new starting inside linebacker Cody Barton reached around Marquise Goodwin as Smith’s pass arrived to break up the pass.
Barton’s defensive mates roared at that play — as they’ve been roaring at the offense for days.
The 25-year-old Lock completed one of four passes in the same red-zone drill. He played behind the second-team offensive line, as he has for all but two snaps at the end of Thursday’s practice. Tuesday, for the first time in camp, coaches made an obvious effort to have Lock throwing to DK Metcalf, Lockett, Dissly and starting receivers in 11-on-11 scrimmaging.
Lock rolled out from pressure and a likely sack and overthrew Lockett in the end zone. Rookie cornerback Coby Bryant, a star of training camp so far, and Coleman were right on Lockett. Dissly then caught a short, quick pass from Lock on an out route. Metcalf dropped Lock’s third pass, a hard throw across the middle on a slant route off the big wide receiver’s hands. Lock then rolled out to the right sideline and threw short in front of the feet of wide receiver Deontez Alexander.
That made it zero touchdowns in 18 tries in the red zone against blitzing Monday and Tuesday for the offense. Two of those tries included false starts Monday; Lock’s hard snap counts twice forced teammates into jumping prematurely.
“To me, that’s the hardest situation,” offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said. “For the offense, third-down situations, in the red zone. Defense is out there pressuring. Crowd is into it. And those are those ones we’ve just got to keep grinding those out, because those are ones we are simulating, as close as we can, to what a game-like atmosphere will be.
“So, I think we’ve still got a ways to go as far as being, you know, sharp, as far as being on the same page, getting all of the communication. Because you’ve got this crowd noise — you’ve got these speakers that I try to hear at the end of practice, to see if I can or not — but everything’s loud. Everything is trying to put the stress on the players, so they can maintain that nice, level, even-keeled approach in those stressful situations.
“Definitely an area we’ve got to keep working on and keep improving it.”
Try again
The coaches sent Smith and Lock back for two more red-zone series.
Smith and the starting offense finally got a touchdown, on a sterling, diving catch by backup tight end Tyler Mabry. Mabry strutted in front of the defense after his score.
Lock had his first pass of his second red-zone series broken up by Coleman. After a scramble and run out of bounds with no one open, Lock got a touchdown pass, too. The defense left rookie running back Ken Walker alone in the right flat for an easy catch and walk-in score. Defensive coaches were groaning as Walker trotted across the goal line.
The last play of Tuesday’s red-zone work was one of the best of many standout plays by Bryant. The formation sent Metcalf outside right one-on-one with Bryant in tight coverage along the line of scrimmage. Bryant said he knew Lock would test him, as Smith and Lock have often in the first week of camp.
Bryant stayed tight on Metcalf as they ran into the end zone. Lock’s throw could have been higher to the 6-foot-4 Metcalf, yet Bryant was still in perfect position to leap with him. The 6-1 cornerback turned his head at the perfect time and knocked away the pass, yet another pass breakup for the fourth-round draft choice.
Then it was time for 1st-and-10 scrimmaging in the middle of the field. The defense deployed six defensive backs, including three safeties with Quandre Diggs and Josh Jones deep and Jamal Adams close to the line, like a roving, “robber” linebacker. Jones was playing after Ryan Neal, the sixth DB in games last season, appeared to get injured in the early, special-team portion of practice.
On Smith’s first pass of that period, Lockett ran a long route from one side of the field to the other. Jones waited patiently in the middle of the field, anticipating Smith throwing out to left to Lockett. He basically baited the 31-year-old veteran into a late throw toward Lockett. Jones easily intercepted it. The defense roared some more.
Lock took the next series, again with the second-team offensive line but starting receivers. He threw a pass far over Metcalf. A second throw to Metcalf went off the receiver’s hands while closely defended. After a false-start, Lock read Metcalf was in tight coverage and threw a back-shoulder ball short. Metcalf kept running longer, into the end zone. The ball was incomplete behind Metcalf by 4 yards. The receiver raised his hand, as if to accept blame.
Then Lock made a brilliant throw, low to the outside just inside the goal-line pylon that only well-covered Penny Hart could catch. Hart did, while rolling, for the touchdown.
Not a true competition yet
After a series of days in which both quarterbacks struggled, Lock has been better than Smith so far this week, though not by much. And frankly, that bar hasn’t exactly been sky high.
Plus, Lock continues to play with the twos, against the second defense.
Some day, to make this a true competition, an apples-to-apples assessment, the Seahawks will have Smith and Lock alternate with the full starting offense. Each quarterback will take snaps from and making protection calls with new starting center Austin Blythe, and work with the four other starting offensive linemen he will need to synchronize with in real games.
Or will they? When will that day come?
“Like anything else, that’s a fluid situation,” Waldron said, intentionally cryptic. “We have a plan that we will keep in-house in our situation, there, and keep those guys competing and knowing that by the time we get to that first game we will be ready to roll.”
When do the coaches want this decision decided?
“Denver,” Waldron said of the opening game Sept. 12 against Wilson’s — and Lock’s former — Broncos at Lumen Field.
He was joking.
We think.
“Yes,” the play caller said, “we do have a plan, though.”
This story was originally published August 2, 2022 at 6:15 PM.
