ARLINGTON, Texas — Seahawks coach Pete Carroll insisted all week that there was still a scenario where Drew Lock could overtake Geno Smith for the starting quarterback job.
But at first glance, the performances of Smith and Lock in the Seahawks’ 27-26 loss Friday against the Dallas Cowboys in the preseason finale seemed to only strengthen Smith’s hold on the starting job.
Smith wasn’t asked to do much, starting the game but playing just one series in a game in which no Dallas starters played and few for the Seahawks — mostly on the young offensive line.
Smith was effective in his short time on the field, completing 3 of 6 passes for 43 yards — two to Tyler Lockett for gains of 17 and 18 and another to Dee Eskridge for eight — with his incompletions appearing catchable. Smith took a sack on second down after a holding penalty negated a Travis Homer run to the 1-yard line, with the drive ending in a field goal.
Lock came on and played most of the rest of the game, with Carroll adhering to his promise that Lock would play substantially after missing last week’s game against the Bears — which he was scheduled to start — after testing positive for COVID-19.
While Lock led the Seahawks to two touchdowns and three field goals in his 10 drives he also threw three interceptions.
Only one may have been definitively Lock’s fault, with another occurring when Aaron Fuller let a pass glance off his hands to a Dallas defender, and another occurring when Dee Eskridge didn’t appear to come back for a pass as strongly as Lock might have thought.
But another — a pass thrown straight to a Cowboys defender — was undoubtedly his fault.
The upshot was a shaky game and preseason stat line for Lock that included a lost fumble to end the preseason opener against the Steelers.
Lock finished 13 of 24 for 171 yards one TD and the three interceptions against Dallas, and for the preseason was 24 of 39 for 273 yards, three TDs and three interceptions, leading four TD drives on 15 possessions, with three others ending in a field goal along with four punts, three interceptions and a fumble.
Smith finished the preseason playing 12 full series (as well as another at the end of the half). They ended in eight punts, one touchdown, two field goals and one missed field goal. Smith completed 23 of 39 passes for 256 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 78.6.
While the stat lines of the two QBs were largely similar, the interceptions and turnovers are glaring.
Lock worked in the first half behind the starting offensive line other than second-team center Kyle Fuller taking over for Austin Blythe, and with Lockett as one of the receivers for a series.
It didn’t take long for the adventures to begin. On Lock’s second pass he tried to hit Eskridge on a come-back route. Lock appeared to think Eskridge would come back further than he did, which allowed Cowboys safety Israel Mukuamu to pick the pass off instead.
But Lock’s second interception late in the second quarter appeared to be solely his fault as he threw it right to Cowboys cornerback Nahshon Wright, who had the coverage inside of receiver Penny Hart.
That gave Dallas the ball at the Seattle 35, and the Cowboys drove for a touchdown.
In Lock’s six drives in the first half working behind an offensive line with three starters, he was 7 of 15 for 92 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. His six first-half drives ended in a touchdown, field goal, two punts and the two interceptions,
Lock played behind the backup offensive line in the second half. And misfortune hit again quickly on his second series of the third quarter when a pass to a wide open Fuller that would have converted a third-and-5 instead glanced off his hands and went straight to Dallas safety Markquese Bell.
Even if the not all of the picks were his fault, the plays only perpetuated the idea that Smith will be the safer, uh, pick for the Seahawks to open the season against Russell Wilson and Denver on Sept. 12. Lock tied for the NFL lead in interceptions in 2020, his one season as Denver’s primary starter, and has said repeatedly that cutting down on turnovers was one of his biggest goals in trying to revive his career in Seattle.
Seahawks fans don’t need reminding of the importance Carroll places on avoiding turnovers — it’s all about the ball.
In between his first two interceptions Lock made the kind of play that has tantalized Carroll at times in the preseason, lofting a perfect pass to Hart for a 35-yard TD.
Lock also used his feet to roll out to complete a pass later in the second quarter to convert a fourth down that set up a field goal, though only after he had passes to Hart and Eskridge in the end zone that each were close to being TDs.
Hart couldn’t hang on to the first one and on the second one Eskridge couldn’t control the ball before going out of bounds.
The Seahawks then went with a backup offensive line for the second half. Lock’s first drive of the third quarter ended in a touchdown — but it was mostly because of the running of DeeJay Dallas who had eight carries for 50 yards on an 11-play drive that was kept alive by a roughing-the-passer penalty on third down.
After Lock’s interception in the third quarter, he led two more drives that ended in field goals, and he left with Seahawks ahead 26-20. Dallas drove for a go-ahead TD, and Jacob Eason took over. On his second possession, and with a chance to win the game, Eason and center Dakoda Shepley were not on the same page about the snap. Eason was not ready for the ball, and it bounced off him for a fumble that the Cowboys recovered.
That doomed the Seahawks to an 0-3 preseason and now 16 days to get ready for the regular season.
This story will be updated.