It was the players’ off weekend, but Geno Smith was busy.
The Seahawks’ quarterback was reviewing film Sunday. It was three days after Seattle lost its third consecutive game, to division-rival San Francisco. He’d just gotten back from Oregon. The night before he’d watched his cousin, Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, star in an epic college game inside rockin’ Autzen Stadium in Eugene.
In the middle of Smith’s preparation for Seattle (3-3) playing at NFC South co-leading Atlanta (4-2) Sunday, his phone rang. It was DK Metcalf.
His teammate and top target called to tell him Smith’s interception in the fourth quarter of a 23-17 game Thursday against the 49ers was his, Metcalf’s, fault.
“Yeah, that was definitely my fault,” Metcalf said Wednesday, adding he was trying to turn a 15-yard route into an improvisational, 80-yard touchdown. “I was drifting up the field. Saw open space. Trying to do too much, and let the DB undercut the route. And I should have been staying flat.”
Thanks, Smith said.
But no, thanks.
“Yeah, it just speaks volumes to the type of person he is, the amount of character he has. Honestly, he didn’t have to say that,” Smith said Thursday. “Obviously, I’m happy that he took accountability and said that. But it’s on me as well for throwing the ball. So it’s not just on him, it’s on both of us. It’s on all of us as an offense.”
Smith also said: “I’ll say: I’ve never seen a stat sheet where it says ‘receiver interception.’”
Seahawks offensive coordinator and play caller Ryan Grubb said Smith and Metcalf both called him last Friday, the day after the interception and Seattle’s sixth straight loss to San Francisco.
“Those guys are awesome...they’re awesome,” Grubb said Thursday. “That’s what they’re like. That’s who they are. That’s how they’re wired. They’re not going to duck those punches. They know what happened, and that’s the kind of ownership those guys have. I’m not surprised at all.
“Both those guys reached out the day after the game. But that’s what they are. Those guys will own it. They want to get better. They want to be elite.”
Geno Smith’s time to throw
Smith is the NFL’s leader in passing yards (1,778), completions (173) and attempts (251) through six games. But he also has the second-most interceptions in the NFL (six).
And with all the throws, Smith is just 19th in the league in yards per pass attempt (7.1). Detroit’s Jared Goff is first (8.9). Goff completed all 18 of his passes in the Lions’ 42-29 win over the Seahawks that started Seattle’s three-game losing streak.
Smith’s interceptions, the lack of consistent protection — and the lack of a running game (29th in the league) — are why the Seahawks’ offense is only 13th in the NFL in scoring despite leading the league in passing.
“I think we’re really good at throwing the ball. I just don’t want to be predictable on that,” Grubb said. “And we’ve got to keep focusing on that, because we’re a talented team as far as throwing the football. But we’ve got to be way better in the run game to create that.”
Smith acknowledged that the time he took to throw to Metcalf on the game-ending interception against the Niners may have contributed to the game-changing turnover.
This season, Smith has taken an average of 2.62 seconds to throw. That’s only the 18th-fastest in the NFL.
On his interception San Francisco cornerback Renardo Green undercut Metcalf’s changed crossing route, Smith held the ball with his feet chopping inside the pocket for 3.6 seconds before throwing.. That was longer than all but 4% of all throws in an NFL game this season.
Had Smith thrown on time, in his usual full second earlier, Green likely would not have undercut the crossing route. Metcalf thus likely wouldn’t have changed his path to deep behind Green, off script.
And Smith would have had a 15-yard, or more, completion towards taking the lead instead of a game-ending interception.
“it is always going to go on the quarterback. I have to be on time, at all times,” Smith said. “I’ve got to throw the ball and put our guys in the right spots to be successful. And I got to make sure that I’m throwing on time so that they can feel the rhythm of the plays and feel good about what we practice carrying over to the games.
“I’m taking ownership of all that. I got to be a lot better. And I will be.”
Yet Smith and Grubb don’t want to take improvisation and off-script play out of Metcalf’s and Seahawks receivers’ games.
They can’t.
With Seattle’s iffy offensive line struggling in pass protection at all five positions, broken and off-script pass plays routine. Smith is the league’s fourth-most pressured quarterback through six games. NFL advanced statistics show he’s been pressured on 39.9% of all drop backs.
The league’s median rate is 33.6%.
All the pressure has affected Smith. His passer rating under pressure is 58.7. That’s 18th in the NFL.
His overall passer rating is 87.0. It was 92.1 last season. It was 100.9 in 2022, when the 12th-year veteran made his first Pro Bowl and first career postseason start for Seattle.
Smith knows he will likely continue to be scrambling away from pressure. Receivers will continue to change to improvisational, off-script routes.
“Yeah, that’s our offense, man,” Smith said.
“And we do have the freedom to, if we see something, adjust, based on the coverage. And it’s never like we’re just going out there just doing anything. There’s stuff that we practice, and we talk about in meetings. So when it comes down to it, there is a fine line to it.
“We all got to be on the same page, not just me and DK, but the entire offense. We all got to be on the same page, but that was an instance where we weren’t. ...
“For me, quarterback to receiver, just knowing that we’ve got to be on script, we’ve got to be on time in rhythm. And then when things break down, we’re great enough to make those plays.
“And we will.”
Geno Smith and DK Metcalf
Through it all, Smith says he’s committed to the hulking Metcalf as his main man.
“DK is such a special player. He wants to make the play at all times,” Smith said. “And when you have a guy like that on your side, I’m going to live and die with that guy — no matter what happens out there.
“I got his back. I know he’s got mine. And we’re going to go out there and make a bunch of great plays moving forward.”
Smith concluded: “Sometimes there are tough moments like that, and there are things that we all can improve on. But from my perspective, he’s been great. He’s been outstanding. And he’s going to continue to get better.
“And it’s my job to help him get there.”
