Geno Smith has carried Seattle to the cusp of playoff contention, surprising many who pegged the Seahawks as a rebuilding club, but coming off one of his worst games of the season, the quarterback said he needs to tone down the aggression.
“We’ve been out there going after it, really being aggressive, and to me, I think I have been too aggressive as of late,” he said, via the team’s official website. “So I have to get back to what I was doing early on, which was taking what they give me and allowing us to have a complementary football team where we all play together and not feel like we are just trying to push the envelope or trying to push our limits to see what we can do. We know what we can do, but we have to stay on schedule.”
Smith had his first two-interception game of the season in Sunday’s 30-24 loss to the Carolina Panthers, turning the ball over on his first play of the game. His second INT came on what he thought was a free play, but the refs didn’t throw a flag.
In Week 14, Smith earned a season-low 58.3 completion percentage but threw three touchdown passes, his seventh consecutive game with 2-plus TDs.
The quarterback wasn’t the main reason Seattle dropped its third game in four tries. The defense’s inability to stop the run and the lack of a rushing attack on offense made for an imbalanced outing.
Still, as he’s done all season, Smith shouldered the blame for recent struggles — as a good leader would.
“No specific reason, I’ve just been playing to win,” he said of his aggression. “Obviously, we were down early in that game, so part of that was my mistake early on. When you are trying to get back into a game, you don’t want to throw a check down and feel like you are giving up, so you are trying to make a big play or get things going, get some momentum. For me, again, I have to get back to what I was doing, which I haven’t really changed much, but I have been a little more aggressive than usual, so I have to be smarter.”
On Thursday night, Smith will have to play his smartest game of the season against a San Francisco 49ers team that boasts the NFL’s top defense, ranking No. 1 in total yards allowed and scoring and tied for fifth in turnovers forced.