All credit to Drew Lock for helping the Seattle Seahawks amazing Week 15 win, but take a closer look at his game. This was absolutely a team win and not one player carrying the team on his back. Please don't mistake one for the other.
For the record, I was very happy the Seahawks brought Drew Lock back as their backup quarterback for 2023. While he was still inconsistent in the preseason, when he was good, he was really good. After the Hawks win over the Vikings, I wrote "Lock made a few mistakes, sure, but when he was sharp, he was really sharp." He didn't have Lockett or Metcalf as his targets, either. Lock came into the season knowing the system and his role. That's an advantage several NFL teams wish they had.
Having said that, I have never been a fan of the senseless outcry to move Lock ahead of Geno Smith on the depth chart. As detailed in that article, Lock was abysmal in limited relief of Smith. Happily, he improved against the Niners. He was far from great, but Seattle could not stop San Francisco when they had the ball. Lock had two touchdown passes, but his two interceptions in the fourth quarter snuffed any chance the Hawks had to come back in the game. In both cases, Lock tried to force the ball to DK Metcalf, was off-target, and cost his team.
The Seattle Seahawks can't depend on Lock's luck to hold up
Lock played even worse against the Eagles in Week 15, but somehow no one seems to remember that. Yes, he led an incredible 92-yard drive to secure the win. But how many of his five completions were pinpoint passes? One, perhaps? Somehow, those clamoring for Lock to step in forget that he only completed two passes of more than 10 yards in the first half. When the Hawks finally started picking up chunks of yards in the passing game, it was much more a function of their receivers making great plays after the catch.
As for the Hawks' incredible final drive, has anyone actually watched those passes? On second down and five to go, he forced DK Metcalf to drop to the turf and reach back for the ball. DK had beaten Eagles corner James Bradberry but had to catch the ball against his hip to make the play. It was a ridiculously great catch. A great pass? Not so much.
WHAT A CATCH BY DK METCALF! 🤯
— HawkMania (@hawkmania4) December 19, 2023
[🎥: ESPN/Seattle Seahawks] #Seahawks vs #Eagles pic.twitter.com/tp749bloDu
Lock followed that miraculous play with a pair of incompletions. Facing third and 10, he connected with Metcalf again, this time of a spectacular 34-yard gain. Metcalf made an incredible play on the ball. So incredible, in fact, that according to the league, the chance of the completion was just 15.1 percent.
That ranks as the tenth least likely completion of the year. Then of course we have the beautiful touchdown catch by Jaxon Smith-Njigba. JSN stretched all 72 inches of his frame to catch the ball on his fingertips. I won't dispute that Lock finally threw a great pass, but he could have made it a much easier catch. Smith-Njigba left Bradberry behind on a route that rookies simply shouldn't be able to run.
So if you want, sure, give Lock credit for that pass. But you cannot seriously ignore that his receivers bailed him out, not just on that drive, but for most of the night. You can't ignore that he missed a wide-open Tyler Lockett that would have tied the game at 17-all for Seattle in the third quarter. The warm glow from the win - okay, maybe more like a solar flare after a month of losses - seems to have cooked more than a few brain cells.
Once again, I'm not saying Lock played poorly. What I am saying is that the narrative that he was dropping dimes all over the field in no way matches the reality of his play. If he has to step in for Smith again, I won't be as concerned as I was earlier in the season. Lock is a fine backup, and I'm glad the Hawks have him. But don't lose sight of the fact that if Julian Love had been suited up for the other side, Lock would have likely had two more picks and the Seahawks would have wondered what was next after their fifth straight loss.