Giants blitz everyone but Lawrence Taylor at Geno Smith. Again he, Seahawks don’t blink
The New York Giants didn’t believe.
They wanted to test, really find out, whether this fairy tale that is Geno Smith leading the Seahawks from forgotten to fantastic was actually real.
The 6-1 Giants blitzed Smith more than any defense had this season. Twenty times, in the quarterback’s estimation, New York sold out at him with no safety in the field’s middle, all-out “zero” coverage.
“Probably the most I ever had in my life,” Smith said.
Yet the Giants found out what the Broncos, Lions, Cardinals and Chargers learned the equally hard way: This isn’t the 2013, ‘14 — or ‘15 through ‘21 — Geno Smith.
Pete Carroll just shook his head side to side and threw up both hands about Smith after the previously discarded quarterback’s latest surprise, another resounding victory for the NFL’s passing percentage leader 27-13 over the Giants.
The third straight win for the Seahawks (5-3) keeps them in first place atop the NFC West entering their game next weekend at last-place Arizona (3-5).
“He’s the real deal. He’s real. This is the real...we are seeing it,” Carroll said of Smith.
“There’s no mystery, or ‘Oh, he’s going to run out of gas,’ or something. He’s not like that. He knows exactly what he’s doing, and he shows you week in and week out, throw after throw after throw.”
Smith’s value replacing traded Russell Wilson as Seattle’s quarterback after seven years as an NFL backup for four teams continues to be well beyond the numbers. And those are stellar.
Smith completed played through multiple dropped passes by his receivers early in the game to complete 23 of 34 passes for 212 yards, touchdown throws to Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf — and, yet again, no turnovers.
By the end of the game, it was inside Lumen Field Sunday as it was during the opening win over Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos Sept. 12: Chants of “GEE-no! GEE-no! roaring through the stadium.
Smith’s Seahawks through eight games have scored the most points in the NFC (210) and the second-most in the NFL to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ 223. Seattle is second to the 7-0 Eagles in the NFC in points per game (26.8 to 26.1).
As Carroll said last week when the Seahawks took over first in the West: “Who would’ve thunk it?”
Giants try to rattle Geno Smith
Smith got pressured the most times in a game in his career (19) Sunday.
Risk-taking Giants defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale is known for blitzing and exotic looks designed to confuse quarterbacks. Sunday, he blitzed everyone except Lawrence Taylor at Smith. New York showed the fastest, most aggressive defense Seattle had seen this season.
The Giants were able to do what the Saints, Cardinals and Chargers failed at since Rashaad Penny went out with a season-ending knee injury for Seattle: stay with Seahawks rookie running back Kenneth Walker through his lightning, lateral jump cuts. They did for 3 1/2 quarters, anyway, until Walker’s game-breaking, 33-yard touchdown run late.
Yet Smith kept producing. And he keeps winning.
“Geno is a true competitor. He stayed in the weeds, stayed humbled, stayed ready, and when he got his shot, he pounced,” tight end Will Dissly said (he co-leads the team with three touchdown catches from Smith this season).
Smith would have had four touchdown passes and the Seahawks would have had at least 35 points if Lockett had gotten his second foot down inbounds in the end zone on Smith’s accurate throw in the first half, and if Lockett hadn’t dropped Smith perfect throw to the goal line in the third quarter.
For the season, Smith has completed a league-best 72.7% of his passes for 1,924 yards. He has 13 touchdowns, just three interceptions and a passer rating of 107.3. That rating is first in the NFC and third in the NFL, behind only Tua Tagovailoa and Patrick Mahomes.
“There’s nothing for us to hold him but in the highest of expectations really,” Carroll said. “What a thrilling story for the kid. He just hung in there so tough and outlasted it, and now he’s enjoying all the fun of it.”
The two touchdown passes Lockett missed would have had Smith above 130 in rating Sunday. The 31-year-old Smith’s career passer rating is 81.4.
His career touchdown passes-to-interceptions margin have gone from minus-5 entering this season to plus-5 now (45 to 40).
It’s more than that.
Geno Smith’s decisions
Smith consistently is getting his offense out of bad plays, into better ones. Often, they go unnoticed. But they save drives, and often points.
Ten minutes remaining in Sunday’s game. The Giants had just tied it at 13. Smith checked at the line of scrimmage out of what looked to be a run call by offensive coordinator Shane Waldron into another all-out, zero blitz by the Giants. Smith’s audible was to a one-step throw outside left to Marquise Goodwin. He changed to a safe, quick throw to beat the blitz. A 6-yard gain. Modest, but way better than second and 10 or more.
Two plays later, after a first down, Smith and Lockett noticed New York’s Adoree Jackson “squatting” on a stop route at the line to gain, 10 yards off the ball. Lockett signaled to Smith he was doing a double move instead, a stop at 10 yards then a go to the end zone. Jackson was more static than a telephone pole. Lockett stopped then ran past him. Smith’s pass hit Lockett in stride for the go-ahead touchdown, 20-13 Seattle.
Smith said that was a product of locker-room adjustments mid-game.
“We talked about it at halftime that if they’re going to give us that much space and go zero, it’s basically one-on-one with the corner and he’s 10 yards off,” Smith said. “Again, it was just a play where we noticed they were in zero and we had an answer for it.”
Down the middle or to the sidelines. To wide receivers, tight ends, running backs. Even taking off running when nothing is open. Smith continues to make all those plays and more — with almost no mistakes.
“The guy took command of the offense,” Dissly said. “And we are all playing for him right now.”
Smith continues to sound like this, the most surprising story in the NFL through two months, is no big deal. Like this is October. Like he expected this — and there’s still nine games remaining in the regular season.
Like he hasn’t done anything yet.
“Man, we just got A win today. We only got a chance to play one game today, and we won it,” Smith said. “We’ve got to continue to play hard throughout the season. Every single game is going to be a test. We know that.
“We always talk about each game being a championship opportunity. And so we’re just going to continue to focus on it day by day, not get caught up in the outside noise — and just do what we do.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2022 at 7:16 PM with the headline "Giants blitz everyone but Lawrence Taylor at Geno Smith. Again he, Seahawks don’t blink."
