The Seattle Seahawks missed superstar running back Kenneth Walker in Sunday’s 23-20 Week 2 overtime win over the New England Patriots. Walker sat with an injury, thrusting Zach Charbonnet into the featured role. Charbonnet rushed for just 38 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries against a tough Patriots defensive front, averaging just 2.7 yards per attempt.
The Seahawks rushed for just 46 total yards of offense. The inefficiency from the ground game placed a ton of pressure on Geno Smith. Smith responded with arguably his best performance in a Seahawks uniform.
Smith completed 33-of-44 passing attempts for 327 yards and one touchdown. It was more completions than Smith had in any single game last season, and would’ve been his fourth-highest passing yards total of the 2023 campaign. To achieve that in Week 2 captures how comfortable Smith is in Ryan Grubb’s offense.
Smith had two receivers surpass 100 receiving yards (DK Metcalf, 129, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba 117). Metcalf dropped two passes, but Smith still targeted him 14 times. Smith-Njigba saw a game-high 16 targets. With Tyler Lockett playing through an injury, it was Seattle’s other two receivers that handled the volume.
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And Smith’s passing chart proves he was targeting the entire field. Grubb’s playbook is wide-open to Smith, who played with confidence. Next Gen Stats displayed the following.
Once the Seahawks forced the game into overtime, the Patriots won the coin toss, giving them an opportunity to win the ballgame. But Mike Macdonald’s defense forced a 3-and-out, and Smith promptly led a game-winning drive following the punt. Smith continues to display franchise QB tendencies, and the Seahawks are fortunate to have him. After all, he is, quite literally, now one of the Top 5 quarterbacks in franchise history.
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