Seahawks Rapid Reaction: Geno Smith Engineers Winning Drive in 29-26 Victory Over Washington
Staying atop the NFC West in thrilling fashion, Geno Smith engineered a seven-play, 50-yard scoring drive and Jason Myers split the uprights as time expired to lead the Seattle Seahawks to a 29-26 win over the Washington Commanders at Lumen Field.
Though Smith missed on a handful of throws in the first half as Seattle failed to find the end zone, the veteran quarterback orchestrated four scoring drives in the second half while throwing for a season-best 369 yards and two touchdowns. Rookie Devon Witherspoon generated four pass breakups, while Leonard Williams and Boye Mafe each registered a sack to lead Seattle's defense.
Here are five quick observations from the Seahawks sixth win of the season:
1. An uneven offensive performance winds up being good enough to squeak by.
Statistically, Smith had one of his finest games as a starter for the Seahawks surpassing 300 yards through the air and completing north of 65 percent of his pass attempts. With that said, however, those yards didn't turn into a ton of points, particularly in the first half when four separate drives sputtered and resulted in a trio of field goals. On the first occasion, Smith didn't take the snap quick enough on a fourth down QB sneak, leading to a delay of game penalty and Jason Myers' first field goal. Two possessions later, Smith threw behind Zach Charbonnet on third down, forcing them to settle for another field goal. Knotted at nine apiece, the veteran signal caller got flagged for intentional grounding just before half and a 10-second runoff sent both teams into the locker room.
After the half, the Seahawks finally found the end zone on Walker's long touchdown reception, but they still had yet another promising drive break down early in the fourth quarter when they could have busted the game open. Under immediate duress on a Cover 0 blitz, Smith got pressured on third down in the red zone and had to throw the ball away, leading to a fourth Myers field goal. Overall, the team finished with only four third down conversions on 14 attempts, once again struggling mightily to extend drives in critical situations.
But in the end, Seattle managed to overcome those woes by converting when it needed to most. Helping set up Myers' game-winning kick, Smith hooked up with Metcalf on a slant on 3rd and 4 for 17 yards to the Seahawks 48-yard line, extending the drive around midfield. Two plays later, he hit Metcalf again and the big receiver rumbled through tacklers for a 27-yard gain. Smith wisely waited until only three seconds remained on the clock to spike the ball, delivering in the clutch.
2. Ken Walker, Zach Charbonnet put offense on their back both as runners and pass catchers.
After being held to under 30 combined rushing yards between them against the Ravens last weekend, the Seahawks made a conscious effort to get Walker and Charbonnet involved early and found moderate success giving them the football in the first half. Receiving 10 carries before halftime, Walker rushed for 47 yards, while Charbonnet had 25 combined yards on four touches as a runner and receiver. Given their healthy production, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron made them an even bigger focal point with excellent results.
Coming out of the half, Seattle went three-and-out on its first series. But moments later, Walker took a quick dump off from Smith on a play action pass and did the rest, shrugging off a tackle attempt and slipping past quality lead blocks by Jake Bobo and Lockett, exploding down the sideline for a 64-yard score to give his team its first lead of the game. Then in the fourth quarter, Charbonnet ripped off back-to-back first down runs to get the Seahawks into field goal range, putting them up by seven with 12 minutes left to play.
Overall, Walker and Charbonnet combined to rush for 107 yards on 25 carries and also contributed five catches for 82 yards. This included two catches by Charbonnet on the game-winning scoring drive, though on one of those he forced Seattle to burn a timeout by not going out of bounds. Nonetheless, the two players proved vital to landing a much-needed win.
3. Washington's running backs nearly beat Seattle by themselves... in the passing game.
While the Seahawks did a great job getting their own running backs involved as receivers, coach Pete Carroll couldn't have been too thrilled by the inability to defend Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson out of the backfield. Less than three minutes after the opening kickoff, Sam Howell avoided safety Jamal Adams coming on a blitz, stepping up in the pocket and lofting a ball to Robinson along the sidelines after he beat Boye Mafe on a wheel route. Without any support behind him, the second-year back raced 51 yards for a score, giving Washington an early 6-0 lead with the PAT being missed.
Unfortunately, after halftime, the Seahawks continued to have major problems with coverage lapses allowing running backs to get wide open. After a three-and-out on offense, Robinson slipped outside on a swing route with defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones not noticing him and Howell again evaded pressure to dump it off to the back, who then raced 48 yards deep into Seattle territory. Gibson then got in the act in the closing moments, creating separation against linebacker Bobby Wagner in coverage and reeling in a ridiculous throw from Howell, who absorbed a hit from Mafe to hit his back in stride for a 19-yard touchdown to knot the score at 26. In total, Washington's pair of running backs caught 11 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns, nearly helping the road team pull off a major upset.
4. Led by Mafe and Witherspoon, young stars continue to shine on defense.
At the center of another stellar defensive effort - at least for three and a half quarters - the Seahawks continued to receive impact plays from rising stars drafted in the past two years. Making history early in the third quarter, Mafe exploded inside on a tackle-end-exchange stunt with Leonard Williams drawing two blockers and found his way to Howell on third down, wrapping him up to record a sack for a team-record seventh consecutive game and forcing the Commanders to kick a field goal. He later added another hit on Howell, though the quarterback managed to somehow get his pressured throw into the hands of Gibson for six points.
Away from Mafe's historic outing, first-round pick Devon Witherspoon continued to stake his claim to Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. On the first play from scrimmage, he swatted away Howell's pass attempt on a slot blitz. He later added three additional pass breakups in coverage, but his biggest play came in the third quarter when he alertly stripped the ball from the quarterback's hands at the tail end of a 15-yard run on a read option keeper. Managing to force the fumble before the ball carrier hit the ground as he rolled over safety Quandre Diggs, his efforts allowed teammate Riq Woolen to recover around midfield, thwarting a promising drive for Washington.
5. Coming through in pressure cooking situations, Jason Myers is back to All-Pro form.
Early in the season, on the heels of signing a new four-year contract, Myers struggled mightily and missed four of his first 12 attempts. But through those early struggles, Carroll maintained the utmost confidence in his kicker and the veteran has rewarded his coach's trust by going on a fantastic streak over the past five games. Since missing one of his two attempts against the Giants in Week 4, the two-time Pro Bowler hasn't missed on his last 11 attempts and was at his very best on a day where the Seahawks needed every one of his five field goals.
Splitting the uprights with ease in cool, wet conditions, Myers connected from at least 40 yards on four of his five field goals, including the game winner. Undeterred by Washington's freeze attempt burning its final timeout, he calmly nailed a 43-yard kick to send the fans into a frenzy in walk-off fashion, once again proving he belongs in the discussion among the game's best and he has fully moved past his early season swoon to round back into form as a viable special teams weapon.