The Geno Smith era arrived for the Seahawks in big opening win

Geno Smith surpassed many expectations in the Seahawks win over the Broncos. He did exactly what Pete Carroll expected, though, and led the Hawks to a big win.

Don’t get your knickers in a twist, now. I’m using the term “era” with my tongue firmly in my cheek. I fully expect the Geno Smith “era” will last at most, 34 games. It could be over much sooner than that, to be sure.

But it’s hard to say that Smith didn’t give the Seahawks exactly what Pete Carroll wanted in their hard-fought 17-16 win over the Broncos.

Don’t discount that this was a big win for Seattle. All the hype was about Russell Wilson coming back to Seattle. Very little was made of the fact that Geno Smith was the number-one QB for the first time in eight seasons. Well, very few positive comments were made. But Smith showed that he has what it takes to lead a team to the win column, and not just against the Jags.

Geno Smith did what the Seahawks needed to win

Now, did Geno Smith play a perfect game? Far from it. He was close to perfect in the first half, as he made two beautiful plays to escape trouble and make big completions. Those are the plays we’re used to seeing Russell Wilson make. Smith was a ridiculously good17-18 for 164 yards and two scores. In the second half, he came back to earth. The Hawks QB connected on six of ten passes for only 31 yards. No 12s, that is not a typo.

Clearly, 31 yards passing in a half will not win many games. But when your defense is balling out like the Seahawks were and you’ve built a lead, it can be enough. Smith only made two bad plays on the night and got away with both.

He made one ill-advised throw across his body but escaped unscathed. As we’ve seen too often, he also fumbled on a sack, but rookie Charles Cross was there to scoop up the ball and avert disaster. It was the least he could do, as he was beaten by Broncos linebacker Bradley Chubb on the play.

So is this really the Geno Smith era in Seattle? Okay, maybe not. But he played virtually mistake-free football, exactly what Pete Carroll wants. Yes, he’s a game manager, but at least on this night, he was a game manager that outcooked his predecessor and helped the Seahawks to sole possession of first place in the NFC West.