4 winners and losers from Seattle Seahawks to Bengals in Week 6

Loser No. 2: Quarterback Geno Smith

Not a good game for Geno Smith. He's had a bad rap for not being a good finisher to a game since he stepped in for former Seattle QB Russell Wilson for three games in 2021. Whether that reputation is warranted or not can be debated as he was credited with three game-winning drives and two fourth quarter comebacks in 2022, but in 2023 the issue isn't so much Smith not finishing games well (though he clearly didn't in Week 6), but in his leading the offense to finish drives.

Many times this season, the offense seems to crisply move down the field before they reach the 25-yard line of the opposing team. And then...the drive just seems to stop. Against the Bengals, the offense got inside the red zone five times, however, but only came away with one score. Losing by 4 points and going 1-5 in the red zone? Yeah, there's a connection.

A big problem for Geno Smith in Week 6 was that he took a bad sack on second down on one drive when he had time to throw the ball away instead of being tackled for a loss and on another drive he threw an interception when he tried to pass to a clearly not open Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The sack made the next play third-and-long with little chance of picking up the first, and the interception cost Seattle at least 3 points which might have changed the way the game was played near the end.

After the game, Smith - who was 27 of 41 for but no touchdowns and 2 interceptions - took responsibility for the loss, but Smith, unfortunately, simply cannot play the way he did and hope that his team wins. The Seahawks are a good team, but have little margin for error. Smith's multiple errors against Cincinnati were the reason the team lost.