Geno Smith is playing himself into a contract extension with the Seahawks

In terms of pure quarterback performances, Geno Smith's Sunday in Foxborough is one of the best I've seen from a Seattle Seahawks quarterback. With a banged-up offensive line that could be best described as a five-man turnstyle, and without their lead back with Kenneth Walker sidelined with an oblique injury, Seattle made the almost 2,000-mile flight for a 10 am PT bout with the scrappy New England Patriots.

And when all else failed, Smith put the entire team on his back and willed Seattle to victory.

In a game without their starting running back, Seattle tried to lean on second-year man Zach Charbonnet. Charbonnet, more of a one-cut power back, simply isn't as elusive as Walker, who juked and jived his way to 103 yards and two touchdowns in week one. Behind an offensive line that allows run-stoppers in within a second of each snap, Charbonnet struggled to get anything going. Charbonnet finished his Sunday with only 38 yards on 14 carries.

Geno Smith is playing like he deserves a contract extension from the Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle defense, who stifled Denver in week one, showed some vulnerability on Sunday. Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett was avoiding sacks and hitting his receivers in stride all day, including tight end Hunter Henry (who I genuinely thought had retired), who had eight catches for 109 yards. In the second half, Rhamondre Stevenson and the New England run game were marching down the field with ease.

To make matters worse, the Seahawks' pass catchers could not hang on to the ball. En route to five total drops in the game, Seahawks receivers and tight ends were on the receiving ends of perfect balls from Smith, only for them to fall incomplete. Noah Fant was responsible for two, of his only two targets, while DK Metcalf dropped two, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba dropped one. Any quarterback would have been frustrated, and rightly so, but not Geno Smith.

Instead, Smith continued firing off darts. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb tried his hardest to establish Charbonnet and the run game, but nothing was doing. His receivers were dropping balls like crazy, but Smith kept firing at them. This brings up the question of if anyone else was quarterbacking the team with zero run game and receivers unable to catch a cold, would they have won? We've seen that story with Russell Wilson before. When the run game isn't productive, neither was Wilson.

The point is Seattle was able to falter on all aspects on offense, but still rely on Geno Smith to complete 75 percent of his passes, despite the five drops, for 327 yards. The most impressive aspect of this monster performance is that midway into the first quarter, it was evident to everyone, including the Patriots, that the Seahawks wouldn't be able to run the ball. The fact New England knew Smith was going to have to throw it makes this performance so masterful.

With Seattle trailing by three points with just over four minutes to go, Smith led Seattle all the way down the field to tie the game. Completing four out of his five attempts, Smith threw for 40 yards on that drive alone, which allowed Jason Myers to tie the game and force overtime. In overtime, after a defensive stop, Seattle started on their own 16-yard line and needed three points to win the game. Smith, once again, was fantastic.

The first play was a five-yard dart to Smith-Njigba, who had a career day. The second play was a ten-yard dime to Metcalf. The third play was a shot to Tyler Lockett, who was able to draw a defensive pass interference. The fourth play saw Geno hit JSN again for four yards, then on 2nd and 6, his pass fell incomplete. On a massive 3rd and 6, Smith swung a perfect ball to Charbonnet, who was able to fight for the first down. By that point, they were nearing field goal range for Jason Myers.

On 1st and 10 from New England's 38-yard line, Smith took the snap, felt immediate pressure, expertly navigated out of the pocket, extended the play by rolling left, and fired a perfect pass to Lockett for 16 yards. After a nine-yard run by Charbonnet to the left hash, Myers went out for the game-winning 31-yard field goal and snuck it inside the left upright. Smith finished the overtime drive completing five of his six attempts for 62 yards.

Let me make it clear - the Seahawks do not win this game without Geno Smith. I don't know if the Seahawks win that game with anyone else not named Patrick Mahomes behind that brutal offensive line and non-existent run game. The fact Smith was able to put up 327 yards on 75 percent completion despite five dropped balls is nothing short of magnificent.

It was reported Smith's camp reached out to Seattle requesting a contract extension prior to week one. At that time, Seattle may have felt pretty hesitant about committing to Smith for more than they already are, but now, it seems like a pretty good idea for John Schneider and company.

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