Seahawks' Sam Darnold excels while NFL analysts suggest 'benching' Raiders' Geno Smith

Sure, Sam Darnold has had two bad plays for the Seattle Seahawks. But their former quarterback - Geno Smith - had had four bad games for the Las Vegas Raiders.

With each passing week, it confirms that Seahawks' general manager John Schneider made the right decision last offseason in choosing Darnold over Geno. Despite his costly crunch-time turnovers that have led to both Seahawks' losses, Darnold is playing at a level that has most experts hailing him at an elite level. Smith, meanwhile, is one of the NFL's biggest early-season busts in Las Vegas.

The Seahawks are 3-2; Raiders 1-4.

MORE: Advanced stats say Seahawks' Sam Darnold is having one of NFL's best QB seasons

At the start of the season, some NFL experts had Darnold and Smith bunched together in their quarterback rankings. But now the separation is big, clear and great news for the Seahawks.

Darnold, whose Seahawks play at the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, is coming one of the best passing days of his career in which he completed 82 percent of his throws for 341 yards and four touchdowns. Smith, meanwhile, threw two more picks in last week's embarrassing 40-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Now with a league-high nine interceptions, Smith was seen throwing his helmet in disgust on the Raiders' bench. The pressure for Geno to live up to his two-year, $75 million contract is on. And his seat his getting hot.

MORE: Sam Darnold's good day ruined by bad mistake in Seahawks' loss to Buccaneers

In its list of players, coaches and NFL executives under the most mounting pressure, Smith is ranked No. 1 by Bleacher Report.

No. 7 on the list is the man who traded away a third-round draft pick to get Geno ... Raiders' general manager John Spytek. But at the top is Smith himself.

Writes B/R: "Wholesale changes may have to wait until the offseason, but quarterback Geno Smith could be benched immediately—and he should be, if only for his own sake. Smith simply isn't meshing with his supporting cast and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. He's moved the ball well at times but has also thrown an NFL-high nine interceptions. Las Vegas should be interested in seeing what it has in Kenny Pickett or testing the trade market anyway. The version of Smith we've seen through five weeks isn't the long-term answer."

More Seahawks on SI stories