He leads the league in interceptions, thanks to more near the goal line again.
He also leads the NFL in passing yards.
He’s led his team back from last place in the NFC West to first.
So, no, his Seahawks coaches are not changing from, giving up on or losing faith in Geno Smith.
“Look, he knows how important ball dominance is to us and to not turn the ball over. He knows that we can’t do that in those situations. And we know he can’t,” coach Mike Macdonald said Monday.
A day before, Smith threw his 12th interception of the season, a late decision and pass into the end zone against division-rival Arizona. Smith also held onto the ball a long time while getting sacked two times on third downs on the edge of field-goal range in the second half.
Those decisions plus the interception likely cost the Seahawks 13 points. Smith and the offense scored just six on Sunday.
“Something I’ve got to clean up,” Smith said.
But, as he did in beating the San Francisco 49ers the week before with an exquisite drive in the final minute, the 34-year-old veteran quarterback made the correct decisions and the big plays late when the Seahawks had to have them. Smith finished a 16-6 victory over the Cardinals at Lumen Field.
Its second consecutive NFC West win vaulted Seattle (6-5) ahead of the Cardinals (6-5), 49ers (5-6) and Rams (5-6) atop the division. The first-place Seahawks play Sunday at the New York Jets (3-8).
“It’s not like we’re losing trust in him or anything,” Macdonald said of Smith.
“We got his back.
“And a lot of the things that make Geno a great player is his play-making ability.”
Geno Smith’s plays
As he did soon after the Seahawks’ latest win ended, Macdonald on Monday reiterated Smith continues to make plays that do and sometimes don’t show up in statistical recaps and play-by-play logs.
The coach again mentioned how great Smith’s escape was from more Cardinals pressure, sidestepping linebacker Xavier Thomas, moving left to right in the pocket and then firing a pass to DK Metcalf stopping in the middle of the field. That was an 18-yard gain to midfield on third and 8 with 6 minutes left Sunday. The Seahawks led 13-6 at the time.
Three plays later, third and 4 from the Arizona 44-yard yard line, Smith noticed the Cardinals in a “zero” coverage and blitz, with no safeties in the field’s middle. He changed offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb’s pass play to a quick-hitting run by third-down back Zach Charbonnet through the left center-guard gap. Center Olu Oluwatimi and right guard Christian Haynes blocked two inside linebackers that were crowding the line. Left guard Laken Tomlinson kept Arizona defensive lineman Naquan Jones out of Charbonnet’s path.
The 6-yard gain got Seattle another first down and allowed the offense to grind the clock down to 2 minutes with the lead.
“They did call a couple cover zeroes, couple that cost them, ultimately,” Smith said.
If Smith doesn’t make those plays, Arizona is getting the ball back with a chance to tie the game. Instead, Jason Myers kicked a 50-yard field goal with 1:56 left to make it a two-score game and cement the Seahawks’ win.
“That was a huge drive for us,” Smith said, “especially we had driven the ball just the drive before and obviously made a terrible mistake down there — something I’ve got to clean up.
“But it was a big drive. We wanted to put the game ahead at least two scores.”
The Cardinals went in and out of coverages. They faked blitzes and dropped eight, nine and once even 10 defenders into covering receivers.
It was nothing the 12-year veteran QB hasn’t seen.
“Then they started to check out of the zero,” Smith said. “There is always the game of cat and mouse.
“That’s what I love about playing quarterback, is we get the chance make the right call at the right time and help our team.
“That was a big win.”
It’s Geno Smith’s season
There’s no doubt Smith, whose contract averaging $25 million per year ends after next season, is Seattle’s best chance to win the division. His moves within the pocket to extend plays for big pass plays and scramble runs have saved the offense and team through most of their six wins.
There’s also no doubt the Seahawks won’t win too many more games with him extending plays too long into sacks that cost points, or throwing more interceptions in the red zone.
Seattle’s schedule gets tough over the final six games: at Arizona, then home against Green Bay (8-3) and Minnesota (9-2) in succession in mid-December. Finishing on the road at Chicago (4-7) the day after Christmas then the Rams the first weekend of January.
“(Smith) arguably won us the game with zero-checks and extending plays and commanding the line and giving him autonomy to do what he feels he needs to do in that moment,” Macdonald said.
“So there’s a balance there. You never want to take the play-maker out of the player. So making some decisions to protect the ball in those moments, yeah, he could probably be a little more careful in those situations.
“But there’s a fine line there.”
