Take 5: Rapid Reaction to Seahawks @ Cowboys
Your 5 Take, Rapid Reaction to the Seahawks 27-26 road loss to the Dallas Cowboys
1) Drew Lock loses the quarterback battle
On a night where Drew Lock had to completely outplay Geno Smith, the quarterback threw away the sliver of Seahawks QB competition he had left.
Given the bulk of the offensive reps, on 10 drives Lock went 13-24 for 171 yards, 1 touchdown and three interceptions. Like his disastrous, own-fault sack fumble in Pittsburgh, Lock’s trio of turnovers tonight is completely at odds with Pete Carroll’s all-about-the-ball philosophy.
“It’s a huge statement, taking care of the football you know?” Carroll said in his post-game press conference.
“It’s really hard to win when the ball’s flying in their hands, so we got to do a better job on that.”
The first interception was thrown late on 3rd and 9, even if Dee Eskridge should have worked back to the football. It was also preceded by a risky 2nd and 9 throw where Lock did not seem to see the underneath defender in coverage.
The second was one of the worst interceptions I have seen. It was a stick concept into basic as heck cover 2—drop 8 but the extra defender was into the low hole nowhere near the trips combination which Lock looked to work.
Lock was sped up at the line of scrimmage trying to get the snap off, even if the clock had a lot of seconds on it, and this may have contributed to his mistake.
His stick route to the #3 receiver, the innermost, was wide open with the Cowboys’ linebacker dropping deep as the middle run thru defender.
Lock instead tried to throw the out route of his #2 receiver Penny Hart—notable given the pair appear to have a connection. It even looked like Lock had a moment of hesitation before throwing the pass right into the cover 2 cornerback outside.
Lock’s third pick was to a butt naked Aaron Fuller who should have caught the pass. Nevertheless, Lock’s throw was errant and snatched; it was not the most friendly of footballs.
Lock also added to his risky, interceptable throw total tonight.
In contrast, Geno Smith has turned the ball over zero times and thrown zero dangerous passes this preseason.
Smith’s drive stalled after a holding penalty brought up 2nd and 20, and then Smith took a sack to get into 3rd and a mile. On that sack, Smith was given what was basically a one-read quick game concept into cover 2 made up of a go route outside and an out route from the slot.
The quarterback could have thrown the out route instantly, but his decision to not throw it after that moment proved smart. This would have been a certain pick, and likely for six. Smith did stare down this side of the coverage, perhaps considering a tricky angle throw to the honey hole go route. He then tried a backdoor escape and was sacked.
Not the best play-call, not the best alertness from Smith who, on top of not striking rapidly, should have thrown the ball away rather than trying to escape via the backdoor. Thankfully, the quarterback was able to pick up a quick strike on 3rd down to get the Seahawks back in field goal range, Jason Myers converting the 53-yard attempt.
While tonight was more a case of Lock condemning himself rather than Smith impressing on his one drive sample size, the tape from Smith’s first two preseason games remains encouraging. It was also nice to see Smith connect twice with Tyler Lockett—a glimpse of what is to come. Smith finished the night 3 for 6 for 43 yards. And his 3 incompletions were all drops on catchable targets.
“Geno was solid In his outing and Geno’s gonna start, you know he’s gonna start the opener,” said Carroll. “And he’s earned it, he’s won the job.” Smith did that through “his consistency and performance,” per Carroll.
“Throughout the whole time, I’ve let you know that he keeps getting the next chance to be the first guy and the first guy because he just keeps earning it,” Carroll said of Smith’s competition. “We really put him up against the competition. And Drew took a shot at him all the way throughout.”
As for what this looks like in the real 2022 offense? “Geno, he knows our stuff and he does really well and he understands it and he can manage everything that we’re doing and he’s good about the football,” stated Carroll. “He’ll give us the chance to be playing great football right off the bat.”
2) Cornerback looks promising if uncertain
The Seahawks’ starting perimeter cornerback duo remains murky, yet that’s for exciting reasons.