The good news is the Seattle Seahawks came away with a critical win at the last second. The bad news is that it took them till the last second to win. The Hawks should have put this game with ease, but a season-long issue cropped up again.
Certainly, there's much more good news to discuss after a win than a loss. I don't know about you, but I feel just a smidge better after Week 10 than I did after Week 9. Yes, these roller-coaster Seahawks games aren't exactly easy on the heart, but they beat the heck out of whatever the Ravens game did to all of us. That was the best news of all: that the Seahawks could bounce back from a complete loss in all phases of the game and win a thriller like this.
As we've seen in so many games this season, the Hawks ran very very hot for a while, then just seemed to shut down. Sometimes I think this team has a WiFi-connected thermostat, and the opposition keeps hacking the system. "Hey, watch this; I'm dialing it down to 62." And sure enough, Seattle goes in the tank for the next three or four drives. Then Pete checks the thermostat, cranks it back up, and Hawks win! I know that's not what's happening - but it makes as much sense as anything else with this team.
The Seattle Seahawks got good news: Geno Smith can quarterback
It may come as a surprise to you, but there's been some discussion that Geno Smith may not be the right quarterback for this team. I'm addressing those 12s who've been in complete isolation since, oh, December of last season. That's when Smith began his decline, not into a bad quarterback, but certainly not a Pro Bowler, either. For some 12s, that meant that Drew Lock had to step in. Asked what evidence there is to support the idea that Lock would be better, one titan of football knowledge replied, "eyesight and brains." A regular quarterback whisperer, that guy. Thanks for the cogent analysis.
Happily, Smith looked much more like the quarterback we all know he can be. Somehow, some 12s have forgotten how well he played for most of the 2022 season. That Pro Bowl version of Geno Smith returned for the second half of the Commanders game. He was nearly perfect on the Hawks last two drives, missing just one completion. Note to the Geno detractors - you can't really count a spiked ball to kill the clock against him. Will Smith have his moments of locking in on a receiver too soon, of trying to extend a play far past the point of no return? Oh, I'm sure he will. But as long as he minimizes those and maximizes the plays we saw on the last two drives, the man is good news indeed,