Over the first month of the season, Geno Smith had done a decent job of surviving, sometimes overcoming, the loss of both tackles and intermittent other injuries along the Seahawks’ offensive line.

The Seahawks had few explosive passing plays and were terrible on third downs, thanks to playing so many backups on the line, but Smith had managed to avoid any big mistakes (just one interception).

But Sunday in a 17-13 loss in Cincinnati, he played probably his worst game since becoming Seattle’s starting QB and ruined a great performance by a resurgent Seahawks defense.  It cost the Hawks a chance to gain ground on San Francisco in the division.  

Smith got off to a fair enough start, driving the Hawks to a touchdown to open the game. But it was all downhill after that.

The offensive line got Charles Cross back but was still missing Abe Lucas and Damien Lewis. The depleted unit had its share of struggles, as usual, but it also gave Smith plenty of time on more than enough plays. He just failed to find receivers or throw the ball. He locked eyes on one guy at times, refusing to move to another read. He wouldn’t pull the trigger. And he threw two interceptions, one at the goal line to ruin a scoring drive.

Despite all of that, he managed to get the Hawks in position to win the game at the end, but he couldn’t punch it in and took a sack on fourth down to conclude the game – a predictable finish to a horrible performance.

Some people will point out that the line was under duress for big parts of the game, but that was to be expected against a good pass rush. Those are not the plays we are talking about. We’re talking about the ones where Smith had 3-5 seconds to find someone and DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba or another was streaking down the field open and Smith simply did not find them or did not let the ball fly.

Some will argue that Shane Waldron also had a bad day, not helping Smith out. But a small sampling of TV replays showed that Smith missed finding open guys a number of times. The lack of a running game certainly did not help Waldron or Smith, but there were enough chances for Smith to help win the game. He just didn’t do it, adding fuel for the fire of fan discontent that started late last season.

Smith admitted he played poorly, and Pete Carroll pointed out at least one big miss by the QB.

Pete on this play: "We had him wide open and that was a play we were really waiting on all game long. A couple guys flashed on (Geno) and he took off with the ball and ran with it. But, man, that was the touchdown to put us ahead right there. We missed that opportunity.” https://t.co/Wgt4h8rK8h

— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) October 16, 2023

While the defense seems to be coming together – almost completely shutting down Joe Burrow and company in the second half – Smith and the offense are still stumbling along. And this time Smith really cost them.

“The frustration comes from all of the opportunities we had to win the football game. We could have scored 28 points easy in the game – easily,” Carroll told Seattle Sports 710.

Carroll lamented the missed chance to make up some ground on the 49ers and Eagles, who both were upset Sunday.

“Shoot, the Niners go down, Eagles go down,” Carroll told Seattle Sports 710. “That was a great opportunity for us, and unfortunately we had to live with it.”

The Seahawks should handle Arizona next week, but then comes Cleveland’s great defense, which just shut down Brock Purdy and the 49ers, and a run of strong playoff contenders beyond that.

Some certainly will argue that Drew Lock’s mobility could come in handy here. If the defense keeps playing like it now is and Smith keeps wasting days like Sunday in Cincy, Carroll might have to consider Lock.