NEW ORLEANS — Geno Smith’s teammates don’t seem to understand how a narrative works.
They couldn’t grasp how the story of a back-from-obscurity quarterback leading the Seahawks to another win with his brilliance would have captivated the country. Heck, some of them couldn’t even grasp the football.
Mistake after mistake — some mental, some physical — overshadowed another Smith masterpiece in Seattle’s 39-32 loss to the Saints. The fans back home should have been chanting “Ge-no!” — but this time, far too often, it was “oh, no!”
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Saints 39, Seahawks 32
Act 1: The Dickson Debacle
With the score tied 10-10 midway late in the second quarter, the Seahawks faced a fourth-and-4 from their own 26, and appeared to call a fake punt that was blown dead due to a false start.
However, on fourth-and-9, it seemed as though they ran the same play, which resulted in punter Michael Dickson getting smashed by two Saints special teamers and going down on the 13. New Orleans scored a touchdown two plays later.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said after the game that it wasn’t a fake — that the team had been practicing the rugby-style rollout punt, and that Dickson simply didn’t think he had enough room to kick it away. You won’t see a comment from the punter here or anywhere else, though. He booked out of the locker room at Formula-1 speed.
Act 2: The DK Drops
It’s hard to say that Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf had a poor performance in Sunday’s loss given that he finished with 88 yards on five catches — including a 50-yard TD reception on the Seahawks’ opening drive. But with less than two minutes to go in the first half, Smith threw a rope that zoomed right through DK’s hands in the end zone, forcing Seattle to settle for a field goal.
Later, on the Seahawks’ first play from scrimmage in the second half, Metcalf fumbled on his own 31, leading to New Orleans’ recovery and then touchdown six plays later to go up 24-19.
Credit Metcalf for talking in the locker room after the loss. He doesn’t always do that. But when asked about the drop and fumble directly, he kept his answer to three words.
“I’m playin’ ball.”
Act 3: The Left Tackle’s Takeaway
Seattle offensive lineman Charles Cross was taken ninth overall in last spring’s draft and has played well through his first five games. But a third-down holding penalty against the rookie in the third quarter — when the Saints led by five — nullified what would have been a 32-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Metcalf. The flag moved the Seahawks (2-3) back to the 42, where they were forced to punt. New Orleans scored a touchdown on the ensuing possession to go up by 12.
Granted, it’s a bit hard to tell how guilty Cross was on the penalty. Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss did a fine job of selling the hold.
Said Cross of Elliss’ performance: “He should be an actor.” Maybe, but in this case, the seller made Seattle pay.
Act 4: The Safety’s Slip-up
Nobody has been more outspoken about Seattle’s defensive woes than Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs. But Sunday, Diggs had no choice but to direct that criticism back at himself. After Seattle running back Kenneth Walker III broke off a 69-yard touchdown run to put his team up 32-31 midway through the fourth quarter, Diggs missed a tackle that allowed Saints quarterback Taysom Hill to answer with a 60-yard scoring run of his own.
Quandre was complimentary of Hill after the game. He recognized the distinct skill set Hill possesses — one that allowed him to rush for 122 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries Sunday. But Diggs also knows he could have changed the outcome with a better tackling effort.
“I just gotta get him down,” Diggs said. “I take pride in my tackling — I missed him.”
This column should be about the Tinseltown-worthy tale that Geno Smith’s season is becoming. The man who had been a backup QB for the previous seven seasons entered the game with the NFL’s best completion percentage and the league’s fourth-best passer rating — then went on to complete 16 of his 25 throws for 268 yards and three touchdowns against no interceptions. That’s a rating of 139.7 with a dropped pass by Metcalf in the end zone.
Smith’s two TD tosses to Tyler Lockett were as picturesque as anything Russell Wilson ever threw his way, and his escapability was the impetus for the first-quarter touchdown pass to Metcalf.
This column isn’t about Geno, though. It’s about how mishaps derailed the Seahawks at the Superdome — mishaps that are unaffordable when you have one of the worst defenses in the league.
The problem clearly isn’t the quarterback. The quarterback is looking more and more like the solution.
But the game got away due to the aforementioned acts. If they don’t want the season to get away, too, they need to act fast.