Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith had another rough game against the 49ers defense last night. He was held out of the end zone, threw an interception, was sacked six times and couldn’t even pass for 200 yards.
When it was over, Smith told the media the team is working hard but has to work harder. He also singled himself out, suggesting that he might need to start working 24 hours a day.
#Seahawks’ Geno Smith: “We’re working hard. We have to work harder.”
Says he feels he’s been working 20 hours a day lately.
“Maybe I gotta work 24.” pic.twitter.com/tYJD1oYgr5
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) November 24, 2023
It’s the right thing for a quarterback to say after a loss, but the truth is what these Seahawks need is to work smarter, not harder. Three teams have managed to beat the 49ers this season – so they’re not invincible. The hard truth is that this team just doesn’t match up well with them right now and the front office needs to figure out why. It’s on them, not Geno.
While Smith struggled, he really doesn’t deserve the blame for this particular loss. There are only a handful of quarterbacks on the planet who can sustain drives against a defense like that and he’s just not one of them. While this Seahawks team could probably surprise somebody in the playoffs, they’re not going to win this division until either the Niners fall off or they find themselves a serious upgrade to a rare, top-five type talent at QB.
Until either one of those things happens, the coaching staff needs to make some serious adjustments the next time they face San Francisco. At the top of the list, Pete Carroll has to learn to abandon his zones when the pass rush isn’t getting any pressure. On the other side of the ball, Shane Waldron has to manufacture some answers for obvious passing situations, because there’s simply too much talent on offense for them to struggle on third down the way they have.
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