Seahawks Week 13 MVP: Geno Smith stars in escape from L.A.

Seahawks won a critical division game behind the arm, feet, and most especially, the brain of Geno Smith. Seattle saw a lot of great play, but Geno led the charge.

I suppose it’s a bit hackneyed to say every game is critical when you’re 6-5, but – every game is critical for the Seahawks. There’s truly only one game left on their schedule bigger than this past Sunday’s visit to Los Angeles. That will be the rematch vs the Niners on Thursday night in Week 15. Yes, every game counts, but the Hawks had slipped from the playoff picture after two straight losses. Beating a division rival, the defending Super Bowl champs at that, would go a long way to righting the ship.

Granted, the Rams are barely a shadow of the team that won it all last year. But we’re all quite well acquainted with injuries in Seattle. Our starting strong safety was out for the season after just 15 snaps. Our starting running back went down in week five, and the Hawks turned to their fourth-string back for much of the game. And he (Tony Jones) couldn’t even see clearly after losing his contacts. Ten other players are on injured reserve, so it’s not as if the Seahawks have been blessed with health either. Despite that, they won with a wealth of great play.

Geno Smith adds another chapter to his Seahawks saga

Before I get to the greatness that is Geno Smith  – now there’s a phrase no one expected to read in 2022 – I have to mention some of the other outstanding performances we were treated to Sunday. Tariq Woolen nabbed his sixth interception of the season, breaking Richard Sherman’s franchise rookie record. Wollen also allowed just one of four targets, credited with three pass defenses and seven tackles. His passer rating allowed was 11.5. Yes, you read that correctly; that is eleven point five. Wow.

Uchenna Nwosu added two sacks to bring his season total to nine. He had three more quarterback hits, a tackle for a loss, and forced a fumble, although the Rams did recover the ball. On the offensive side of the ball, Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf turned in near-identical performances with just one yard separating their receiving totals. Each scored a touchdown, Metcalf the game-winner with just 36 ticks left on the clock.

Still, the man of the hour was Geno Smith. Yes, the stat sheet shows he threw an interception. No one except a few myopic officials thought that was a pick. As I discussed earlier this week, I can’t be too mad at Bobby Wagner. He made a great play, and it’s not his fault the officials couldn’t figure out just what he did. By the way, two sacks, three QB hits, two tackles for a loss, seven tackles, and whatever that play was… BWagz still has it.

But the guy who really has it is number 7, Geno Smith. Even with the so-called interception, Smith’s passer rating was 116.1. As Geno continues to write his story on the field, this was one heck of an addition. 367 yards, three touchdowns, and a signature last-minute game-winning drive made for the most exciting chapter yet. The Hawks had several of their stars come up big in their win over the Rams, but none were better than Week 13 MVP, Geno Smith.