After career night, Seahawks QB Geno Smith leads NFL in passing yards

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith has a knack for putting up big performances against the Detroit Lions.

Monday night was certainly no exception.

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Smith completed 38 of 56 passes for a career-high 395 yards, one touchdown and an interception in Seattle’s 42-29 loss to Detroit, which marked the 11th-most single-game passing yards in franchise history. He also ran five times for 38 yards to finish with 433 yards of total offense, the sixth-most in franchise history.

And after Monday night, Smith moved atop the NFL’s passing yardage leaderboard. The 33-year-old veteran has thrown for a league-high 1,182 yards through the first four weeks of the season. He also ranks second in the league with a 72.3% completion rate.

“I thought he was poised. I thought he was accurate. I thought he played a heck of a game,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said. “I don’t know what the stats are, but I thought he played really well.”

This was the third time in as many seasons that Smith has gone to Detroit and torched the Lions’ defense in a back-and-forth shootout.

In 2022, Smith completed 23 of 30 passes for 320 yards, two TDs and no interceptions in a 48-45 win. Last year, he completed 32 of 41 passes for 328 yards, two TDs and no interceptions in a 37-31 overtime win.

This time, Smith and the Seahawks didn’t leave raucous Ford Field with a victory. But it certainly wasn’t for a lack of offensive production.

Seattle’s defense was missing a handful of key players due to injuries, which is not a good recipe for success against any opponent – especially when facing a one of the top Super Bowl contenders in one of the league’s most hostile environments.

But while the Seahawks’ injury-depleted defense struggled mightily against Detroit’s high-powered attack, Smith & Co. kept responding. Facing deficits of 21-7, 28-14 and 35-20 in the second half, Smith led three consecutive touchdown drives of 75, 80 and 70 yards to keep Seattle within striking distance.

“We don’t expect things to be easy,” Smith said. “Adversity is a good thing, especially early in the season. And so for us to come out the way that we did in the second half, you can see the fight that we have on this team, the resiliency we have on this team and just the type of men in that locker room – the way that they all fight for one another. We got ourselves back in the game and gave ourselves a shot at the end.”

Smith completed passes to 10 different players – with 24 completions to wide receivers, nine to running backs and five to tight ends. He led Seattle’s offense to 516 total yards, the 12th-most in franchise history. He helped the Seahawks finish with an astounding 38 first downs, which is tied for the sixth-most in NFL history.

And on a night when the game easily could have gotten out of hand, Smith kept Seattle alive until the final minutes.

“Our guys fought the heck out of that game,” Macdonald said. “They went down to the last second. And that’s what I’m most proud of right now and we’re gonna hold onto that. That’s a foundation that we’ve built here that we’re gonna push forward with.”

With strong start, where does Seattle Seahawks’ Geno Smith rank in QB hierarchy?

 

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