Tyler Lockett, Seahawks back Geno Smith: ‘Regardless...man, we’re rockin’ with you’
Six turnovers in three games? His most interceptions in a three-game span in 10 years, since his rookie year with the Jets?
At age 33, Geno Smith has been through more than this spate of mistakes the Seahawks are mostly winning through.
And his teammates know it.
“The thing you learn about Geno is just, resilience,” co-captain and wide receiver Tyler Lockett said following the Seahawks’ rally in the final minute past the Cleveland Browns for a 24-20 victory Sunday.
“Regardless of what happens it’s like, ‘Man, we’re rockin’ with you. If it doesn’t work out, if you see the defense does a great job, we feel like ‘We’re movin’ on.’
“We’ve got to make sure that we have each other’s backs.”
Smith and the Seahawks offense are a lot of things right now. They are inconsistent. Promising. Mistake-filled. Mad. Resilient. One-dimensional.
The one thing they say they aren’t: Concerned.
“I feel like if I look at my game, being totally honest with you, take away two plays, three plays, and we’re talking about a really good game,” Smith said after he completed 23 of 37 passes for 254 yards, two touchdowns and two more interceptions against Cleveland. “But obviously you can’t eliminate those. Those things happened.
“Again, that’s something that I have been trying to be better at, not having those mistakes because those can hurt us.”
But so far, not kill them.
Being in first place heading in November isn’t exactly cause for alarm. That’s where the Seahawks (5-2) are after Smith’s three straight completions to begin a 2-minute drill then his 9-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the final minute of the game rallied Seattle past the Browns.
Pete Carroll sees ‘stuff’ to fix
Smith’s six turnovers the last three games is the opposite of the reason coach Pete Carroll chose him last year to replace traded Russell Wilson as Seattle’s franchise quarterback. Smith’s propensity for taking care of the ball, for being risk-averse, fit Carroll’s ideal for a QB.
He has five interceptions in Seattle’s last three games. Two of them have been wins, over the Browns (4-3) and a week before that over 1-7 Arizona. Smith hadn’t had five interceptions in three games since he led the NFL in interceptions his rookie season of 2013 as the New York Jets’ starter.
“He’s upset. He doesn’t like it,” Carroll said.
“I thought he figured out a way to get us started beautifully and we looked great (7 points and 178 yards in the first quarter against the Browns’ top-ranked defense). And then when it came down to it, we had to have it, he took us right down the field and we scored and we won the game.
“There is some stuff in between.”
Smith’s two interceptions against the Browns:
- a tipped pass over the middle by defensive lineman Maurice Hurt at the Seattle 39-yard line that handed the Browns the lead on a field goal in the third quarter.
- a miscommunication with Smith-Njigba on a coverage and route outside. The rookie wide receiver ran inside. Cleveland’s Martin Emerson was the only guy outside to catch that pass.
Smith could have — should have — had a third interception and second of the third quarter, and it would have been for a Browns touchdown. Smith and Smith-Njigba were not on the same page with throw and route. Cleveland’s Cameron Mitchell was in the clear at the Seahawks 30-yard line for a interception return for a touchdown and a two-score lead for the Browns, but the ball went off both his hands near the sideline.
Smith also threw a ball to wide-open DK Metcalf that skipped off the turf in front of the wide receiver’s feet. He threw behind other open receivers. After starting the game 8 for 11 passing while Seattle seized a 14-0 lead after two drives, Smith was just 7 for his next 15 with two interceptions.
“There is a couple passes that looked kind of off,” Carroll said. “He threw one to Jaxon; Jaxon stopped on the route and screwed it up, and looked like we threw the ball to the other guy. That was a miscue.
“But he’s got room to play better.
“I love the way he’s playing and leading us.”
Help for Geno Smith
There’s an obvious way Carroll and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron can help Smith.
Call more running plays.
Lead back Kenneth Walker got the ball on three of Seattle’s first five plays Sunday. His 17-yard run on a sharp cut at the line got the Seahawks across midfield to set up Jake Bobo’s 3-yard touchdown run and a quick early lead.
Walker then had as many rushes, three, from the 10:14 mark of the first quarter into the fourth quarter. Cleveland went from down 14 in the first quarter to up by three in that span early in the fourth.
For the game, Walker averaged more than 8 yards per carry. But he only ran the ball eight times. Zach Charbonnet had more than 10 yards per rush. He got just five carries.
Much of the game plan versus the Browns calls for run-pass option calls at the line by Smith. Many times, Smith changed would-be runs to passes. The winning touchdown came on a run-pass option. Smith and Smith-Njigba changed to a bubble-screen hitch route when they saw the nickel, slot defensive back blitzing inside.
Still, Smith is at his versatile and play-action best when the Seahawks are running Walker and Charbonnet. In his 1 1/2 seasons as Seattle’s starter, Smith is at his worst when the offense is one-dimensional and relying on him to make all the plays.
Thirteen carries by running backs in a one-score game from the middle of the first quarter on is one-dimensional, and puts Smith at his risky worst.
“Spotty,” Carroll said of his running game. “We had a couple big plays. Kenny had a big play. Zach looked really good at the end, I thought, when he had his opportunities.
“It’s there. It’s there. We haven’t really found it to where we can really rely on it yet, but it’s there. We just got to keep working it.”
That may have been a recording. From the last several Seahawks seasons.
Carroll cited another reason for abandoning the run against Cleveland: Seattle’s makeshift (again) offensive line allowed just one sack and three hits on Smith in 38 drop backs against sack demon Myles Garrett and the NFL’s top-ranked defense, “the most vicious-rushing team in football today,” as Carroll called the Browns.
“We took what they were giving us,” Carroll said. “We were protecting the passer better than we thought and, so we went with it and made some yards for us.”
Those yards, though came with more mistakes from Smith. Even with the defense again getting timely turnovers to set up the offense, it’s going to difficult for the Seahawks to win with that no-run, Smith-turnover recipe at the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens (6-2) this coming weekend.
Baltimore entered Sunday 13th in the NFL in rushing defense, allowing 95.7 yards on the ground per game. Then the 1-7 Arizona Cardinals rushed for 129 yards Sunday even though the Ravens beat them 31-24 in the desert.
Even with Smith’s turnovers, Seattle has won five of its last six games following its face-plant opener against the Rams when Smith and the offense got booed of their home field last month. The Seahawks’ only loss in that time was 17-13 at Cincinnati Oct. 15 when Smith threw two interceptions and failed to get a pass off on fourth down in the red zone twice in the final 2 minutes.
“I feel like our team is such a scrappy team. We find ways to win no matter what,” Smith said.
“I feel like if I can play up to my capabilities, up to my standard, who knows, like I said, where we can be? We’re one of the best teams in football, if we play right.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2023 at 7:11 AM.
