Seahawks' Geno Smith Reveals Offensive Motto vs. Panthers: 'Score Fast!'
The Seattle Seahawks came out of the gates fast against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Week 2. After the Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, head coach Pete Carroll wanted a response. Well, he got it.
Seattle got the ball first, and Geno Smith orchestrated an 18-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that took 7:56 off the clock.
The Week 1 embarrassment was gone, as the Seahawks eventually pulled off a 37-31 overtime road win against Detroit. For Smith, starting fast in games was always the priority.
“That’s our goal, to start fast every time, any time we get the ball, we want to score,” Smith said. “We want to try and do the best we can no matter what the situation is. That’s always going to be our motto, we just want to score points as much as we can and as fast as we can.”
On Seattle's next four possessions, though, it was tough to move the ball. The Seahawks went punt, missed field goal, punt, missed field goal, with their only points coming on the game's first drive.
© Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
But in the second half - in a polar opposite look to Week 1 vs. the Rams - Seattle scored 30 points (including the overtime touchdown to Tyler Lockett, which Carroll called a "classic" drive).
For Smith, the turn in fortune was simply taking what the Lions' defense gave him.
“That’s always our game plan, I’m never going to try and force the ball,” Smith said. “Just always try and make the right read and go to the right guy with the ball. For the most part, that works for us, so I’ve always got to be on top of that and make sure the ball is spread around based on what the coverage gives us, and it can be any given play, it can be any guy, and that’s a great part of our offense is that we’ve got so many talented guys that can make plays.”
Smith did spread the ball around as four receivers had four or more catches in the game and six players surpassed 30 yards receiving.
With Seattle's offensive weapons including D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Noah Fant, and running backs Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet, spreading the load around means defenses can't narrow in on a single player.
It worked well against the Lions, and now Seattle will have to back it up against a Carolina Panthers team looking for its first win of the season on Sunday at Lumen Field.
