Can Geno start playing well against good defenses?

renofox

Well-known member
Joined
May 10, 2009
Messages
4,218
Reaction score
3,536
Location
Arizona
Seahawks have played three top 10 defenses this year (1-2):

DEN #2 DVOA, #2 yds/gm, #2 pts/gm
W 17-16, 23/28, 195, 2/0, 119.5

SF #9 DVOA, #1 yds/gm, #6 pts/gm
L 27-7, 24/30, 197, 0/1, 80.2

TB #7 DVOA, #7 yds/gm, #5 pts/gm
L 21-16, 23/33, 275, 2/0, 115.1

Games against lesser defenses (5-2):

ATL #29 DVOA, #31 yds/gm, #27 pts/gm
L 27-23, 32/44, 325, 2/1, 99.2

DET #26 DVOA, #32 yds/gm, #32 pts/gm
W 48-45, 23/30, 320, 2/0, 132.6

NO #16 DVOA, #11 yds/gm, #29 pts/gm
L 39-32, 16/25, 268, 10.7, 3/0, 139.7

ARI #21 DVOA, #26 yds/gm, #31 pts/gm
W 19-9, 20/31, 197, 0/0, 82.3
W 31/21, 26/34, 275, 2/1, 106.9

LAC #17 DVOA, #17 yds/gm, #30 pts/gm
W 37-23, 20/27, 210, 2/1, 105.5

NYG #25 DVOA, #21 yds/gm, #9 pts/gm
W 27-13, 23/34, 212, 2/0, 104.0

I see a lot of #28-32 defensive rankings against teams we've played so far. A couple of defenses like that left to face, but overall the defenses in the future look stronger than the defenses already played.

Remaining defenses to play:

LV #32 DVOA, #28 yds/gm, #28 pt/gm

LAR (x2) #13 DVOA, #9 yds/gm, #17 pts/gm

CAR #28 DVOA, #22 yds/gm, #23 pts/gm

SF #9 DVOA, #1 yds/gm, #6 pts/gm

KC #23 DVOA, #20 yds/gm, #20 pts/gm

NYJ #6 DVOA, #8 yds/gm, #8 pts/gm

Geno will need to up his game against LAR (x2), SF, and NYJ. He'll also have to ball against KC because their offense will probably shred our D.

That's 5 very challenging games remaining out of 7. Can Geno impress us and start playing well against the better defensive teams we face?

I hope so.
 
Last edited:

BASF

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
3,780
Reaction score
2,371
Location
Tijuana/San Diego
Three things:

Receivers have to get open to be able to get them the ball.

Oline has to not be held by the defensive line to be able to pick up stunts.

Oline has to not be held by the defensive line to be able to run block.

Smith can not control these things.
 
OP
OP
renofox

renofox

Well-known member
Joined
May 10, 2009
Messages
4,218
Reaction score
3,536
Location
Arizona
I actually thought he did pretty well once we adjusted. Ran out of time. When the D does nothing to stop Brady and company it makes it more difficult.
He did end the game playing well. You can lay some blame on coaching for the poor start, but Geno did not start well - he looked lost and confused for far too much this game.
 

DarkVictory23

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2021
Messages
1,165
Reaction score
1,776
He did end the game playing well. You can lay some blame on coaching for the poor start, but Geno did not start well - he looked lost and confused for far too much this game.
There was only one drive he played poorly and then had two specific mistakes (not running on third and 2 and that fumble) outside of that drive.

Granted those were big mistakes in terms of impact on the game but they're still only two and shouldn't overly color his performance.
 

SNDavidson

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 29, 2009
Messages
2,685
Reaction score
610
That fumble was troubling, the antithesis of poise, but, I think Geno has the cajones to battle a good defense, I am going to let that screw up be an aberration for now.
 

Scout

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 30, 2021
Messages
1,268
Reaction score
1,555
Fortunately not many teams that are playoff caliber are going to have a top ten defense in the playoffs. But the Bucs may be able to squeak in with a divisional win. So, at some point Waldron, Geno and the rest of the staff need to figure out a game plan against defenses that are going to crowd the LoS and dare to throw early and often.

TB's game and philosophy has always been stopping the run on early downs, so they can rush the passer in third and long situations. To beat that the Seahawks should just pass to open up the run and force teams like TB to go to nickel on early downs.

Look at how TB ran at ease because the Hawks went to nickle to quickly on the early downs.
 

knownone

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 7, 2010
Messages
5,272
Reaction score
2,207
I'm baffled.

Geno had nearly 300 yards and 2 TDs with 70% completions. He didn't play a perfect game. But once the offense got rolling, Tampa's defense wasn't stopping them.
 

Rainger

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2011
Messages
3,847
Reaction score
2,111
Location
Brisbane OZ Down Under Hawk
Every player is allowed a few mistakes and be off in any particular game. That loss was more on the D and not stopping the run or getting to Brady , also some questionable early play calling by Waldron then it was on Geno. But he didnt have a smooth game. Some great stuff and a few not so.
 
OP
OP
renofox

renofox

Well-known member
Joined
May 10, 2009
Messages
4,218
Reaction score
3,536
Location
Arizona
Every player is allowed a few mistakes and be off in any particular game. That loss was more on the D and not stopping the run or getting to Brady , also some questionable early play calling by Waldron then it was on Geno. But he didnt have a smooth game. Some great stuff and a few not so.
I agree the loss was more on the D (and much more on the gameplanning) than it was on Geno.

But, overall, Geno played average this game. Take away the 2 mistakes (not running on 3rd and 2, fumble) and he would have had a good game. He did spend quite a bit of time looking lost and confused, though

I want to see Geno step up his game and play very good against stronger defenses. Plenty of chances coming up.
 

LickMyNuts

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
987
Reaction score
367
I think the bigger worry is his decision making under pressure. He needs to throw the ball away when it isn’t there.

I’ve not seen too many plays where his options are covered and he scrambles and makes a good throw.

He needs to take one from Tom Brady and just chuck it out of bounds if everything is covered.
 

Sun Tzu

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 28, 2016
Messages
602
Reaction score
712
Location
Corvallis
Are we certain our offense's poor performance against good defenses is a Geno issue?

Early in the game, I thought we struggled due to poor playcalling and getting beat in the trenches. Later in the game, I think it was Geno keeping us in it. Geno made some incredible off-balance throws, throws on the move, and extended plays when nothing was there. However, he also seemed to be holding onto the ball slightly longer than usual for him. My hunch is that the receivers were not getting open.

As always, I think multiple things can be true:

I think Waldron has put together a good offensive system and is mostly a good play-caller. I also think Waldron has not handled the pressure of going up against top defenses well.

I like the potential of our OL and I think this is a future strength. I do not think our OL is ready to go toe to toe with a good DL yet.

Our skill-position players are collectively slightly above average. Our skill-position players outside of DK and K9 are not elite, and that gets exposed against good defenses. In general, as fans, we tend to overrate our own players. This is especially true of skill-position players. Most Hawks fans overrate our WRs, TEs, & RBs.
 

Spin Doctor

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
5,235
Reaction score
2,158
I agree the loss was more on the D (and much more on the gameplanning) than it was on Geno.

But, overall, Geno played average this game. Take away the 2 mistakes (not running on 3rd and 2, fumble) and he would have had a good game. He did spend quite a bit of time looking lost and confused, though

I want to see Geno step up his game and play very good against stronger defenses. Plenty of chances coming up.
I think the biggest issue was the playcalling. They were obsessed with setting up the run and the pass plays were long developing until the second half. We took too long to pivot towards Geno and a quick passing attack.
 

Sun Tzu

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 28, 2016
Messages
602
Reaction score
712
Location
Corvallis
I think the biggest issue was the playcalling. They were obsessed with setting up the run and the pass plays were long developing until the second half. We took too long to pivot towards Geno and a quick passing attack.
This is exactly how I saw it.
 

Maui12thman

Member
Joined
May 15, 2022
Messages
67
Reaction score
95
Seahawks have played three top 10 defenses this year (1-2):

DEN #2 DVOA, #2 yds/gm, #2 pts/gm
W 17-16, 23/28, 195, 2/0, 119.5

SF #9 DVOA, #1 yds/gm, #6 pts/gm
L 27-7, 24/30, 197, 0/1, 80.2

TB #7 DVOA, #7 yds/gm, #5 pts/gm
L 21-16, 23/33, 275, 2/0, 115.1

Games against lesser defenses (5-2):

ATL #29 DVOA, #31 yds/gm, #27 pts/gm
L 27-23, 32/44, 325, 2/1, 99.2

DET #26 DVOA, #32 yds/gm, #32 pts/gm
W 48-45, 23/30, 320, 2/0, 132.6

NO #16 DVOA, #11 yds/gm, #29 pts/gm
L 39-32, 16/25, 268, 10.7, 3/0, 139.7

ARI #21 DVOA, #26 yds/gm, #31 pts/gm
W 19-9, 20/31, 197, 0/0, 82.3
W 31/21, 26/34, 275, 2/1, 106.9

LAC #17 DVOA, #17 yds/gm, #30 pts/gm
W 37-23, 20/27, 210, 2/1, 105.5

NYG #25 DVOA, #21 yds/gm, #9 pts/gm
W 27-13, 23/34, 212, 2/0, 104.0

I see a lot of #28-32 defensive rankings against teams we've played so far. A couple of defenses like that left to face, but overall the defenses in the future look stronger than the defenses already played.

Remaining defenses to play:

LV #32 DVOA, #28 yds/gm, #28 pt/gm

LAR (x2) #13 DVOA, #9 yds/gm, #17 pts/gm

CAR #28 DVOA, #22 yds/gm, #23 pts/gm

SF #9 DVOA, #1 yds/gm, #6 pts/gm

KC #23 DVOA, #20 yds/gm, #20 pts/gm

NYJ #6 DVOA, #8 yds/gm, #8 pts/gm

Geno will need to up his game against LAR (x2), SF, and NYJ. He'll also have to ball against KC because their offense will probably shred our D.

That's 5 very challenging games remaining out of 7. Can Geno impress us and start playing well against the better defensive teams we face?

I hope so.
That’s why they call them top ten defenses.
 

scutterhawk

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
9,806
Reaction score
1,759
Whats the Geno that "we all know"???
He's throwing shit against the wall...Until someone calls him on it.
I can speculate the livin' crap out of ANY GAME, but the fact of the matter, "it's a team sport", and top to bottom, the Flub-up's were NOT just on Geno Smith's play.
How many holds BY THE BUC's went uncalled ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL in this game?????
 

Maelstrom787

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
11,819
Reaction score
9,521
Location
Delaware
I'm afraid Geno is going back to the Geno we all know. Good thing is that he'll be cheaper until we can get a franchise QB.
The Geno I know has this team at 6-4, largely due to his top-10 quarterback play thus far. Priors are poisoning the discourse around him. Every single quarterback makes bad decisions and throws. Mahomes and Allen this year alone have had some jaw-droppers. Difference is, they don't get the "SEE! THAT'S GENO! I AM VERY SMART" treatment that Geno does every time. The negatives are amplified, but there really haven't been many.
 
Top