Why the Steelers are the unchecked box on the Geno Smith revenge tour

Fate works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it?

Last year, Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks Geno Smith notched nothing but wins against his three previous teams, culminating in the mathematical elimination of his original team, the New York Jets. He followed that up with a season-extending overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams, whom he played his first non-garbage time snaps against in place of the injured Russell Wilson back in 2021.

This year, again with the playoffs on the line, the Smith revenge tour has one more stop to make. In the penultimate week of the regular season, Geno will face the Pittsburgh Steelers, the same team whom he faced in his first Seahawks start on Sunday Night Football.

The eventual glimpse into the post-Wilson era was not promising. A bizarrely pass-heavy 1st half saw Smith throw for just 8/14 for 63 yards, with 0 points scored and only 3 first downs achieved. The pass-run ratio was 80-20 for no particularly good reason.

First-year offensive coordinator Shane Waldron changed things up at halftime, opting to establish the run to the Nth degree. The late Alex Collins stormed out of the gates with 56 rushing yards on 8 carries, fittingly scoring Seattle’s first touchdown. He would finish with 101 yards on 20 carries, the final 100-yard game of his career.

The next scoring drive was all about Geno and tight ends Gerald Everett and Will Dissly.

An interception bouncing off of Jamal Adams’ helmet opened the door for Pittsburgh to retake the lead at 20-17, setting the stage for Geno’s game-tying or game-winning drive. It was apparent that Seattle leaned towards the field goal, although DK Metcalf’s incredibly risky attempt to score a touchdown almost wrecked the entire mission.

In overtime, Geno had two chances to lead Seattle to an unlikely road win in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, TJ Watt got in the way.

Current Seahawks linebacker Devin Bush corrected himself to run the right way on the fumble recovery. Game, set, and match. Geno’s only “turnover-worthy play” on the night was an actual turnover, and it essentially lost the game.

“I hate coming up short,” Smith said after the loss. “We can’t keep coming up short. I can’t keep coming up short. I put that on myself. Back to back weeks, our defense gives us a chance to go out there and score. Give me the ball and we don’t get it done. That’s solely on me, and I vow to be better.”

Smith finished 23/32 for 209 yards and a touchdown, with an average depth of target at 4.1 yards, the second shortest of all of his Seahawks starts. The plan was safe and conservative—the four screen passes went for -1 yard—perhaps indicative of both Geno as the then-backup and the state of Seattle’s offensive line. These were the Seahawks’ starters that day:

Left Tackle: Duane Brown
Left Guard: Damien Lewis
Center: Kyle Fuller
Right Guard: Gabe Jackson
Right Tackle: Brandon Shell
Extra Offensive Lineman: Jamarco Jones

Geno was sacked 5 times on 11 pressures.

Not only is Lewis the only starter still with the Seahawks, he’s the only one who’s even on an active NFL 53-man roster. Brown just went to IR on the New York Jets, Fuller is in the USFL, Jackson is on the Carolina Panthers practice squad, Shell retired, and Jones is unsigned. What a difference two years makes.

The 2023 edition of Steelers vs. Seahawks is sort of a playoff eliminator for Pittsburgh and a must-have for Seattle in order to stay in a wild card spot. It’s Geno’s chance to even the score and put his team one step closer to another postseason berth. Ideally, for a change, a last-minute drive will not be required to win. If that’s what it comes to, I think Smith has shown enough in his two seasons as a starter to indicate that he’s capable of delivering in the clutch.