Geno Smith: Seahawks Game Winner
Last Sunday saw Seahawks QB Geno Smith complete his first "game-winning" drive since December 2014. The tape and pressers show this is *the* franchise quarterback moment for Smith in Seattle:
Last Sunday, Geno Smith had an “all-time comeback drive”, in the post-game words of Pete Carroll.
Down 20-23 with 3 minutes 56 seconds remaining, Smith quarterbacked the Seahawks down the field with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. It left the Rams needing a score with just 36 seconds and 2 timeouts remaining. Seattle broke their losing streak with a valuable road W.
“Some really exciting things happened, you know, on our side,” Carroll reflected, immediately identifying the drive. “The way we finished, on both sides of the ball. Particularly to see Geno to go have a chance to take the team down the field and do it. And just execute his tail off.”
This was Smith’s first game-winning, fourth-quarter, go-ahead drive since December 14th 2014. “Honestly I’ve been aware that, you know, he needs that,” Carroll described of Smith’s moment. “You know he needs one of those chances to do it. It just hasn’t worked out quite right.”
On that day eight years ago, Smith’s 2-12 New York Jets defeated the 3-11 Tennessee Titans 16 points to 11, Chris Ivory running in the decisive score with 3 minutes remaining. “It’s just good to have that behind him, it’s been a while,” Carroll admitted on Monday. “He [Smith] was aware of that, so it just adds to it.”
In 2022, Geno is leading a Seattle team with a very different outlook: they are deep in a playoff hunt.
“I think it puts it to rest that, okay, he has done that, he’s come from behind, and led the final drive—like he’s going to have the opportunity, I’m sure, in the next few weeks sometime,” Carroll said on Monday.
The Seahawks have had game-winning chances in games this year, but fallen short for one reason or the other. “I also felt like, during the season, we had some opportunities where we could have done the same thing but might have fell short,” Smith recognized in his post-game presser. “And so, as we continue on late into the season, you know you want to show improvement and I think that’s what it showed. A lot of grit, determination.” Seattle, and Geno, finished!
I try to keep things evergreen-ish at Seahawks On Tape. And, while this tape breakdown of Smith’s game-winning drive in Los Angeles is somewhat time-sensitive, Smith’s comeback will be worth revisiting time and time again.
Perhaps as Geno’s MVP time capsule. Or an All-Pro confirmation. Certainly as his Pro Bowl status. Beyond the post-season honors Smith is a leading candidate for, this drive is something we can return to in the offseason. A chip his agent—thanks for reading Mr Chafie Fields—can slide across the table to Schneider and company. Yeah, this drive was the further proof: Geno is the Seahawks’ present and future at quarterback, their new franchise signal caller.
“We needed, wanted to see him do it,” Carroll said afterwards at SoFi stadium. “And have a chance to make a heroic finish like that. It’s what these guys do when they’re great. And he did one today.”
Play 1
The “heroic finish” started with the Seahawks running a mesh concept out of a 3x1 set. This was an excellent call for the cover 3 buzz zone concept that the Rams called in.
Geno checked the backside safety and saw him rotating down into the weak hook, the buzz rotation. So the quarterback checked deep and out first, for the one-on-ones on the perimeter, before coming down to the mesh of his two crossing receivers.
“I think Geno has done a great job of really understanding the defense both pre-snap and then reacting to some of the post-snap stressful looks that defenses throughout the year have provided to us,” offensive coordinator Shane Waldron praised of his quarterback on Thursday.
Geno said in his Thursday media appearance that he learned a lot of his defensive diagnosis from working with Philip Rivers in San Diego: “Yes, a lot. Just his command of the offense, total control, and understanding the offense like an offensive coordinator, understanding the defense like a defensive coordinator, being 10 steps ahead knowing what the guy is going to do before they do it. He is the master at playing quarterback and I learned a lot from him.”
Here, Smith could have hit Lockett, but the first read was Metcalf and he hit the receiver in the zone hole after the hook defender on that side, #53 Ernest Jones, had expanded with Smith’s first glances out that way.
This 9-yard gain was the perfect drive-starter. “We have just been efficient,” Carroll said on Wednesday about the importance of the Seahawks getting first downs to stay on the field. “We have done a lot of good things, and it has to do a lot with Geno managing the whole thing. There is better efficiency that keeps you going, and you need it. We looked improved in that regard.”
Though this wasn’t a first down, Smith taking this available opening to Fant on-time, rather than forcing the ball downfield out-of-structure, is a great example of the efficiency Carroll identified.
“When the chances have come to throw the ball down the field, he has taken those opportunities,” Waldron continued on Thursday. “When the defense might play it deep to short, he has done a really good job of taking completions throughout the course of a game, and really not put the ball in the peril where there might be a look that is not perfect.”
This was deep to short defensive play dissected.
Play 2
Seattle went fast into the 2nd and 1, trying to maximize the available time before the two-minute warning. Geno got the offense aligned right and once more recognized the post-snap safety rotation into a cover 3 buzz look.
His flat route to Noah Fant broke open from Jones in the outside underneath zone of the cover 3 as Smith’s back foot hit on his drop. The quarterback hit his tight end in stride for the 7-yard first down conversion. Credit Fant’s nasty stem on the play, which maximized the room outside.
Play 3
Seattle again went no-huddle and fast, after Fant was unable to get out of his bounds on his catch—instead choosing to go down and secure the ball.
The Rams called in a 3-deep, 3-under fire zone blitz of Bobby Wagner with buzz safety rotation once more, the idea being to keep the running back, Tony Jones, in pass pro while letting Wagner rush. Seattle, though, had the right protection called in. The big-on-big scheme allowed them to play 5 across and release their back still.
Smith’s first idea, a soft pump to DK Metcalf’s out-n-up double move on the outside against Jalen Ramsey, was heavily collided. (And Seattle did gain a first down and 5 yards after Jalen Ramsey was flagged for illegal contact on this.)
Smith moved up in the pocket, due to the way left guard Damien Lewis was rushed inside by #91 Greg Gaines. At this point, the quarterback tried to find Tyler Lockett. Lockett’s nestled route down the seam of the defense had been open earlier in the down. Lockett had found the hole of the coverage with #14 Cobie Durant, the seam-curl-flat defender matched up on the receiver, playing far off and outside.
But by the time Smith moved to Lockett, Durant was closing and so he decided against the throw. Plus the buzz, middle hook safety was lurking. Smith tried to find the checkdown of the releasing Jones late.
Play 4
On the resulting 1st and 10, Seattle was able to huddle up and get one more play off before the two-minute warning.
Here, the Rams called in their best play of the drive. It was a nasty four-man creeper that got their second-level rusher, #24 Taylor Rapp, one-on-one with the Seahawks’ running back, the new Tony Jones.