The Seattle Seahawks have started out the season 3-0. Their latest victory comes at the expense of the Miami Dolphins, who came to town today and left with a 24-3 loss. If you're looking for someone to give the game ball too, you could pick from any number of defensive players, but we'd take head coach Mike Macdonald, as it's the total effort of this unit, especially the pressure game that's impressed so much thus far in 2024.
They needed the defense to come through today, because starting quarterback Geno Smith wasn't exactly on his A game, despite a couple of highlight throws. While the Seahawks were dominating the Dolphins in their backfield, Smith was under a fair amount of pressure himself from Miami's defense. Smith took three sacks, seven quarterback hits and made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes when he was feeling the heat in the pocket.
In the first quarter, Smith was backed up in his own end zone when he tried to dump the ball off to Zach Charbonnet before he could be tackled for a safety. The throw was way off-target and Charbonnet could only get a hand on it. The ball bounced right into the hands of Dolphins DB Kader Kohou for Geno's second interception of the season.
In the third quarter Smith blew it again when he stared down one of his receivers and had his pass deflected at the line of scrimmage and then caught by Dolphins defensive lineman Zach Seiler. Pick number three in three games. Smith also threw a couple other risky throws that may have been called turnover-worthy.
Geno Smith Week 3 grade: C-
That isn't to say it was all sloppiness from Geno. He still managed to complete 26 of 34 pass attempts for 289 yards, one touchdown and an 86.5 rating, his lowest of the year. It may have only been two mistakes on a lot of dropbacks, but they were costly enough to earn Smith is first poor grade of the season. C-.
Combined with the A grade from Week 2 and the B- from Week 1, Smith is somewhere between a B- and a C+ right now. We expect him to raise that grade going forward, though.
