On a beautiful Halloween afternoon in Seattle, the Seahawks would face off with the Jacksonville Jaguars in a game that would end any playoff aspirations if they couldn’t find a way to win. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence and head coach Urban Meyer have struggled this season so far. Lawrence’s struggles have been on the field leading the league in interceptions while Meyer’s have been with an off field incident. Geno Smith would get his third straight start in place of Russell Wilson who the Seahawks hope to get back maybe as soon as after next week’s bye. Smith, who had late turnovers in Seattle’s previous losses, was poised to get his first victory as a starter and it started on the first score of the ball game. A 28 yard touchdown pass in the first quarter actually turned out to be a 27 yard reception. After being stuffed on 3 straight plays from the 1 yard line, Geno Smith called his own number on 4th down and took a leap of faith over the top giving Seattle a 7-0 lead in the 1st.
It didn’t take long for the Seahawk defense to take advantage of the rookie quarterback’s inexperience. Most of the Jacksonville offense was short passes that didn’t move the chains efficiently. When Lawrence tried pushing the ball down the field, Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs made him pay with his third interception of the season. Once the offense took over, it was Geno’s time to shine. Smith was throwing the football with confidence and precision finding and exploiting Seattle’s two most explosive offensive weapons. Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf went to work on the Jacksonville secondary. Smith found Metcalf down the right side for his first touchdown giving the Seahawks a 14-0 lead. The defense pitched a shutout in the first half all while Geno Smith was playing the best half of football in his career. Smith went 14-15 for 137 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
Smith didn’t slow down in the second half. Continuing to throw accurately and on time and even mixing in a double pass to Lockett that set up DK Metcalf for an 8 yard touchdown reception for his second of the game. This time on his former teammate Shaquille Griffin. The defense made life miserable for the rookie Trevor Lawrence. Even though they weren’t getting the sacks, they were getting the pressures and hits making it difficult for them to execute anything on offense. It wasn’t until the 4th quarter that Jacksonville found themselves with an opportunity to even get on the scoreboard for the first time. Jacksonville would not go home empty handed and the Seahawks were denied the shutout when Lawrence finally got his team on the scoreboard with a short touchdown pass making the score 24-7 but Travis Homer sealed the victory when he took an onside kick attempt back for a 48 yard touchdown.
Seattle excelled in every aspect to pick up this much needed victory over Jacksonville. They have a bye week next week in which guys can get healthy and rested. Geno Smith definitely quieted some of his critics with this latest performance. The plan is to get Russell Wilson back after the bye, but the coaching staff may feel more confident should Geno have to start one more week. Smith finished the game 20/24 with 195 yards and two touchdowns.
