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The Seattle Seahawks faced an important game against the Bears in a Thursday night battle. And while quarterback Geno Smith seemed to be laser-focused on the opponent, he is not the long-term answer at quarterback for the Seahawks.
The Seahawks haven't been eliminated from the postseason. However, they no longer control their own destiny after two straight losses. They need a Rams loss to the Cardinals to get their hands back on the wheel. And they also need to come away victorious against the slumping Bears.
For the season, Smith has thrown for 3,937 yards, which seems reasonable. However, his 17-to-15 touchdown-to-interception ratio is hideous.
Seahawks QB Geno Smith is fading out of starting status
It took Smith a long time to become a viable NFL quarterback. He made 29 forgettable starts in his first two seasons in the league with the Jets. Then he floated around for six years before finally getting a starting gig with the Seahawks in 2022. He earned AP comeback player of the year that season and captured his first-ever Pro Bowl bid.
Smith followed up with a Pro Bowl season in 2023, but things haven’t been steady in 2024.
First things first, Smith is 34 years old. It’s one thing to have a guy like Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers at that age and consider the quarterback position solid. But Smith doesn’t have enough of a good history to carry that same amount of leash for the Seahawks.
It looks like his best quarterback days came in the last two seasons. And if the Seahawks want to get back to the Super Bowl, they likely need someone other than Smith at the helm.
Mike Macdonald likes Smith leading team
Fortunately for Smith, he seems to have head coach Mike Macdonald in his corner, according to nytimes.com. In the 27-24 loss to the Vikings, Macdonald said Smith “played good enough to win the game.”
Macdonald added that Smith did “some really great things,” according to seahawks.com.
“You know, if we get a stop when we're up four at the end of the fourth quarter, we're having a different conversation right now,” Macdonald said. “Everybody wants to talk about the interceptions and rightfully so, and those are things that we're working through, but I mean, one of the reasons that we're here with life, like I said last night, is I really felt that Geno has helped put us in this position. So, I thought he played a strong game.”
Macdonald expressed that belief despite Smith’s game-ending interception that may — or may not — have been Seahawks receiver D.K. Metcalf’s fault.
“We’re not pointing fingers,” Macdonald said. “We’re not playing the blame game. You can’t operate like that. You go back, you assess the tape and what the play design is and all that. We just need to be better in that moment (executing) what we’re going to get to in those chunk situations, where the ball needs to get to. It just all needs to be better. From the route being run to the ball, play design, all that type of stuff.”
Geno Smith is too expensive for his production
Smith enters the offseason with a 2025 cap hit of $38.5 million (according to Over the Cap). Also, he apparently wants a new contract ahead of the final year of his deal.
But perhaps Macdonald thinks the Seahawks should fork over the dough to reel in Smith. He called Smith “one of the most diligent workers I’ve ever seen.”
“He makes it go,” Macdonald said. “It’s really simple. We put a lot on his plate, and rightfully so. He’s earned the right to have a lot on his plate operationally.”
However, digging into the deep numbers doesn’t produce a rosy picture for Smith. According to TruMedia via nytimes.com, Smith has been pressured at the third-highest rate in the league yet been sacked on just 19.4 percent of those pressures, which ranks 19th among qualified quarterbacks. He’s 29th in touchdown rate (3.2 percent), ninth in interception rate (2.8), 12th in sack rate (7.9) and 20th in dropback EPA, one spot below Russell Wilson and above Aaron Rodgers. Smith has taken play-action dropbacks at the second-lowest rate in the league (behind Cousins) while operating an offense that ranks 30th in designed rush rate.
Smith’s interceptions stand out like a sore thumb
“We don’t want to turn the ball over; of course we don’t,” Macdonald said. “Those are decisions that we dissect and go back. But you want your quarterback to be confident back there, trusting what he sees, working through his stuff and throwing the ball on time. Definitely don’t want to turn the ball over, for sure. He knows that. We’ll just keep attacking it, man. Keep attacking those decisions and the process that goes behind it.”
Perhaps Smith can turn things around in the Seahawks final two games. Certainly if the Seahawks manage a late rally and win the NFC West, it will help Smith’s cause to get a new contract.
But if the likely scenario plays out and the Seahawks miss the playoffs, it’s hard to imagine the organization throwing piles of cash at a quarterback whose career has been far more journeyman than a star.
