Geno has not regressed!

[Rainger]

Many think the true Geno has "returned" but maybe all the bad play is not on him.

Geno Smith is out of the spotlight but he hasn’t played any worse

At the peak of the season, Geno Smith was king of the NFL and the Seattle Seahawks were on top. Now, they struggle to play, we struggle to watch, and the Seahawks have slipped down the standings...

www.fieldgulls.com

 

[Jerhawk]

Geno has done an outstanding job all season. He's taken care of the ball, he's shown a real knack for leadership for this young team.

Once they get a more consistent running game behind him, it will open up the rest of the offense. K9 had 100 yards vs KC and Geno greatly benefited from that.

I can't wait to see what he does for this team going forward. It's a great time to be a Seahawks fan.

 

[nwHawk]

If anything I’d say the Guard and Center play the past 6 weeks has been rough. When Geno had time and confidence to step up in the pocket he was on point. Teams have figured out that pushing the pocket into Geno is the way to beat this Hawk team. Please UPGRADE the iOL!

 

[DarkVictory23]

If anything I’d say the Guard and Center play the past 6 weeks has been rough. When Geno had time and confidence to step up in the pocket he was on point. Teams have figured out that pushing the pocket into Geno is the way to beat this Hawk team. Please UPGRADE the iOL!

This issue is also on our play calling, really. We keep trying to force our run game in ways that it has not worked all year. Never, at a single point, has just gut punching inside handoffs multiple times early in offensive series worked for us. Not when our run game was on fire and not now.

But now we are obsessed with trying to 'make our run game work' by forcing the run game in this exact manner. Then, when we inevitably end up in third and long, we go 'Ok Geno, can you save us real quick?' But what do defenses do on third and long? They blow offensive lines the f-up, that's what they do, and ours is no exception.

We are a pass first offense, our running game working off a successful pass game, not the other way around. But we are going back to what we did to try and protect Russell Wilson, which is the exact opposite of what Geno needs. Geno isn't the type of QB who's going to get beat by two-high safety looks or quarters coverage. He very happily will take those underneath routes all day long. He doesn't need us to pound the rock over and over to try and bring the defense in in order to drop a moon ball. That's Russ's game, not Geno's.

This, unfortunately, smacks of Pete Carroll panic-interfering in the offensive game plan. We had a few games where we tried to get the 'run game going', it had the results I mentioned above, and then we got more and more locked into trying to make our run game work. I mean, after all, we got so many yards from Penny and Walker earlier on--something must be going wrong!

Yeah, what went wrong is we missed the fact that Penny and Walker's best runs early in the season were playing off defenses that had spread out to stop Geno. Some of our best runs were audibles at the line when Geno simply read that the box was light. We weren't a great running team because we were imposing our will from the offensive line and never were.

 

[hawkfan68]

It depends on what context you are defining as his regression. He's probably played the best football of his career this season. That is true. However, in the context of this season, his play the past 5 games hasn't been as good as it was the first 10 weeks. He's made some questionable decisions and throws the past few weeks. After week 11, he was sitting at 4 INT total for the season. As of now, he has 9 INTs total. Of course it's just not him. The whole team is playing crappy as of late. Geno was playing much better earlier in the season than he is now. He was terrible against the Panthers but the Seahawks defense was even worse so it gave him an escape.

 

[knownone]

Geno's season grades out similarly to Dak & Kirk's career averages. And both are good baseline comparisons because they've proven to be near-elite QBs when they have the supporting cast around them. Geno is no different. He's #2 in the league in CMP% when throwing from a clean pocket. Yet, unfortunately, he's been pressured the 4th most of any QB. Despite that, he's still 8th in CMP% under pressure. Similarly, much like Dak and Kirk, he's at his best when the running game is effective, and he's not playing from behind, ranking 3rd in CMP% off of play action and 7th in adjusted yards.

The sample size is small, but it's easy to see why Seattle might believe they can build around Geno. And considering what the Niners and Eagles are doing at QB, I think it's a fair gamble. They need to fix this defense and hope the tackles improve with experience.

 

[Rainger]

It depends on what context you are defining as his regression. He's probably played the best football of his career this season. That is true. However, in the context of this season, his play the past 5 games hasn't been as good as it was the first 10 weeks. He's made some questionable decisions and throws the past few weeks. After week 11, he was sitting at 4 INT total for the season. As of now, he has 9 INTs total. Of course it's just not him. The whole team is playing crappy as of late. Geno was playing much better earlier in the season than he is now. He was terrible against the Panthers but the Seahawks defense was even worse so it gave him an escape.

I think you should read the article. Is he playing lights out like the beginning?? NO, but his play right now is still top tier QB play. The D the OC the lack of running are all contributing to his play dropping slightly, but as the article points out he is still a top QB in the league.

Pretty good to be in the company of Josh Allen with a much lesser team.

 

[Maelstrom787]

He's regressed a bit.

I think the vast majority of it is him pushing to make a play because he has very little help from his supporting cast, but it's regression all the same.

He's being failed right now. He's going to continue getting the lions share of blame despite being one of the best players on the field game in and game out.

 

[hawkfan68]

I think you should read the article. Is he playing lights out like the beginning?? NO, but his play right now is still top tier QB play. The D the OC the lack of running are all contributing to his play dropping slightly, but as the article points out he is still a top QB in the league.

Pretty good to be in the company of Josh Allen with a much lesser team.

I did read the article. This is what was quoted in the article "A month in, Geno Smith was the second best quarterback in the NFL by DVOA. After three straight losses including Sunday to the Kansas City Chiefs? He’s sixth." That sure seems like a bit of regression to me.

He's not the problem with the Seahawks (I never said he was). However, he isn't good enough overcome their issues. I believe that if Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes were QBs in Seattle, they would have at the minimum beat the Raiders and the Panthers. Those QBs are good enough carry their respective teams and win even when their teams don't play their "A" game. On paper, the Seahawks have a better WR/TE/RB depth than the Bills and Chiefs do. Unfortunately for Geno, he has to play near perfect for the Seahawks to even have a chance to win. He has not been close to that the past 5 weeks.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Yep, he absolutely has regressed. Still a good QB, but big money/the future at QB? No thx.
It's still a trip how much he gets excuses for average to bad play, over and over again.
But...but....completion percentage. And?

 

[hawks85]

I did read the article. This is what was quoted in the article "A month in, Geno Smith was the second best quarterback in the NFL by DVOA. After three straight losses including Sunday to the Kansas City Chiefs? He’s sixth." That sure seems like a bit of regression to me.

He's not the problem with the Seahawks (I never said he was). However, he isn't good enough overcome their issues. I believe that if Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes were QBs in Seattle, they would have at the minimum beat the Raiders and the Panthers. Those QBs are good enough carry their respective teams and win even when their teams don't play their "A" game. On paper, the Seahawks have a better WR/TE/RB depth than the Bills and Chiefs do. Unfortunately for Geno, he has to play near perfect for the Seahawks to even have a chance to win. He has not been close to that the past 5 weeks.

Bullseye.

 

[oldhawkfan]

Yep, he absolutely has regressed. Still a good QB, but big money/the future at QB? No thx.
It's still a trip how much he gets excuses for average to bad play, over and over again.
But...but....completion percentage. And?

Yes he has regressed. But he’s still better than most of the QBs in the league this season. Where does the regression stem from? Geno being Geno? Defensive coordinators figured out the deficiencies of this offense and how to beat Geno? Regressing offensive line play? Poor play calling? If the interior of the o line is fixed will that fix his regression?
The question I have for you, SoulfishHawk is do you see him as a viable option for next year and/or the next few years? He certainly gives this team more options than an untested rookie would in 2023.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

A year or two at a fair price, I would be ok with it. While grooming a draft pick at QB and letting him learn from the bench. Like many have done in the past. But I also would be fine if they moved on. He's not worth 30 mil a year, I don't care if it's the "going rate" etc.
His decision making is an issue. His ONE game winning drive, when he has had several chances, is also an issue.

 

[olyfan63]

I don't think Geno has truly "regressed", but rather other NFL teams have better figured out Geno and the Seahawks post-Russell offense, and other NFL teams have figured out the Seattle defense. Other teams (Tampa, Carolina, Raiders) realized they could gash our D in the running game, keep the ball away from Geno and give him fewer possessions to work with. The Seahawks playing from behind more often also makes the offense more predictable and Geno is pressured more frequently.

Geno feels the pressure to make something happen every possession, and he IS "pressing" and taking more risks because of the factors mentioned. I just don't see that as "regression" on Geno's part, simply that the hill he has to climb is now steeper than before.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

And he doesn't seem capable of adjusting. That's a problem. Compared to how he was playing when they were at 6-3? He absolutely HAS regressed.
The only argument people keep bringing up is his completion percentage. Check down charlie doesn't always = wins and losses.
He has lost 5 of the last 6 games. He lost all 4 games to the NFC South, and had TWO drives to get a game winning FG against the Raiders and failed.

Team AND Geno has regressed.

 

[Maelstrom787]

And he doesn't seem capable of adjusting. That's a problem. Compared to how he was playing when they were at 6-3? He absolutely HAS regressed.
The only argument people keep bringing up is his completion percentage. Check down charlie doesn't always = wins and losses.
He has lost 5 of the last 6 games. He lost all 4 games to the NFC South, and had TWO drives to get a game winning FG against the Raiders and failed.

Team AND Geno has regressed.

Your overall point isn't objectionable, but the "checkdown charlie" point doesn't make much sense when considering his depth of target and whatnot.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Fair enough. But he does check down a lot and/or throw a lot of short passes. I just think comp % is an overrated stat.
And I'd like to see him cut back on throws right to the defenders. He seems to be doing a lot more of that lately. Especially in the 1st half of games.
I don't care about padded stats in the 2nd half of games if he's got getting WINS.

 

[olyfan63]

Fair enough. But he does check down a lot and/or throw a lot of short passes. I just think comp % is an overrated stat.
And I'd like to see him cut back on throws right to the defenders. He seems to be doing a lot more of that lately. Especially in the 1st half of games.
I don't care about padded stats in the 2nd half of games if he's got getting WINS.

At least a couple of Geno's recent picks were either WR route problems (WR running route wrong) or uncalled defensive offsides where Geno believed he had a "free play" and took a shot.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

So, excuses for bad decisions. Got it.

 

[Rainger]

And he doesn't seem capable of adjusting. That's a problem. Compared to how he was playing when they were at 6-3? He absolutely HAS regressed.
The only argument people keep bringing up is his completion percentage. Check down charlie doesn't always = wins and losses.
He has lost 5 of the last 6 games. He lost all 4 games to the NFC South, and had TWO drives to get a game winning FG against the Raiders and failed.

Team AND Geno has regressed.

HE has not lost 5 of 6 games. HE has not lost 4 games NFC south.

The TEAM lost 5 of 6 and 4 to the south!