The Geno Smith to DK Metcalf connection was a dud
Please read that carefully, 12s. I mean, those of you who actually read the articles, instead of just glancing at the headline. Thanks for reading, by the way. Now I'm not saying that Geno Smith was a dud. He's certainly had better games, He had far too many underthrown passes. The interception he threw should have been a completion to Tyler Lockett, but Smith simply threw the ball too late.
The broadcast team gave their game ball to 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward for his three pass breakups. Two of those were so badly underthrown that I could have shut the plays down. Well, I could if I could run. And jump. All without collapsing in a sweat. But, you get the idea.
I can't exactly call Smith a dud, either, as he made some terrific throws, too. Plus he picked up two long gains for the Hawks with his legs when nothing was open. Add that he stayed dialed in, despite falling behind 24-3. He gave his team a chance - a small chance, granted, and only briefly - but he hung in their, despite the pain in his throwing arm. He wasn't a stud, no, but he certainly wasn't a dud, either.
I won't call DK Metalf a dud for his performance in this game, either. Yeah, he only caught three of his nine targets, and that would typically warrrant a nomination as a dud. But again, he didn't always get the easiest targets. One ball he certainly should have brought down was the deep ball that DK caught, but just caught the sideline with his left foot as he took his second step. Had that been Tyler Lockett, we all know that would have been a huge pickup, instead of an incompletion. And he had that bad drop, too. Hmmmm... maybe Metcalf was a dud, after all.