Three Studs and Duds from the Seahawks Week 2 victory over the Lions

The Seattle Seahawks won in another wild matchup versus the Detroit Lions. Thankfully we have far fewer duds this week, and there are no shortages of studs for the great week two overtime victory in Detroit.

Okay, 12s, I'll level with you. When the Seahawks win, I kinda don't even want to talk about duds. This was a thriller for sure, and we saw a lot of stud plays in this game. We witnessed one player make a spectacular redemption from his week one performance. We saw a tried-and-true Hawks legend in the making create another stunning performance. Best of all, we also saw one man redeem himself after a terrible play to go on and win the game.

Overall, Geno Smith played an excellent game. He was particularly sharp on the final drive in overtime. Oops, sorry, that's part of the good news. The bad news: at times Smith looked as if he had no idea where he was on the field. We'll get to another player who always knows exactly where he is on the field later. But I digress; back to Geno. It's the second quarter, the score is 7-7. On first down at the Lions 27, Tyler Lockett was covered like a blanket in the end zone. Normally, Geno would make the throw, knowing Lockett might make the play anyway. But he wisely threw the ball away. So not too terrible.

Seahawks QB Geno Smith made more than a couple of dud plays. But...

The problem here is that again, it was first down, and Geno had a lot of running room. He could have easily picked up five or six yards, setting the Hawks up for an easier conversion on the next play. Instead, Detroit stuffed Kenneth Walker on a run, then Smith threw the ball away on third down. Jason Myers missed a 45-yard field goal, and the Seahawks were still tied.

Later in the second, the Hawks had mounted a decent drive - all praise to Geno on this. It's the two-minute warning and the Seahawks are facing third down with six yards to go at the Lions 46-yard line. This time, Smith has virtually no running room but runs for the first down. He had to see there was no way he'd get close to making it; and of course, he didn't, as his run netted three yards. That wasn't even close enough for a field goal attempt, so the Hawks had to punt.

Again, nothing terrible. Unfortunately, he was saving his worst for last. Let me clarify once more that I am not a member of the "OMG why do we keep playing Geno Smith" club. But he did make a few poor decisions, and none worse than the final example. Thankfully, it wasn't his final play of the game. But on third and 18 at your own 20, how do you not throw the ball away to maintain some small semblance of field position? I get that he was trying to make something happen. If he had picked up the first down, we'd all be singing his praises, sure. But he cannot take a 17-yard loss in that situation. Dickson had to punt from the back of the end zone, and the Lions wound up with the ball at the 50. I suppose we should count our blessings that he didn't fumble on the sack.

I said all that to say this: Geno Smith certainly wasn't a dud in this game. He made a big mistake, but he was hardly the only player that made mistakes. The Seahawks allowed 25 first downs and 418 yards of total offense. Last I checked, Smith plays on the other side of the ball. Seattle committed nine penalties, so that wasn't the best situation either. But Smith more than made up for his odd decisions. The same cannot be said for the officiating crew.