Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has promised to give Geno Smith more freedom on the field and allow him to take the lead. Smith helped the Seattle Seahawks get a surprise 17-16 victory over the Denver Broncos, but his team suffered a disappointing 27-7 defeat in Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers.
In both of those games, Smith had an excellent pass completion percentage, and with 81%, he has the highest completion ratio in the NFL. However, he has only thrown 196 yards per game. In coach Carroll’s mind, that meant Geno should start taking more risks with his passes. As far as the coach was concerned, Smith “got his game ready to go,” and it was time he started taking the lead.
Seahawks Need to Make the Most of Each Offensive Play
Speaking after the 49ers game, Pete Carroll said that Smith had all the support to start playing a more expansive game, and the Seahawks would not hold him back.
However, for Smith to notch more passing yards, his team need to be on offense. Unfortunately, the Seahawks haven’t done that as often as they would have wanted to and are currently rock bottom in the NFL with only 48 plays per game.
What that means is that Smith will have to make the most of the offensive opportunities he gets, something he and his teammates have failed to do so far. In fact, the last time the Seahawks offense scored was in the second quarter of that Denver Broncos victory.
But coach Carroll knows what his quarterback and offensive players can do, and they have his full support. Carroll said that the team trusted Geno and they would maybe give him more opportunities.
The Offense Needs to Show Up
Carroll admitted that they had so far relied on a more conservative form of football where they ran the football but didn’t have “much of a mix.” So, he felt the Seahawks could improve in that department.
Coach Carroll also outlined his desire to see more balls going to the Seahawks’ explosive wide receiver DK Metcalf. In fact, if the Seahawks unleash Smith, chances are that move will also help them get the most out of Metcalf.
Carroll added that the team had to make sure tight ends were involved too, as everyone was aware that they had the offensive options, but so far, that component, as coach Carroll says “hasn’t really shown up.”
The Seattle Seahawks offensive line will get that chance to “show up” in Week 3 when they host the Atlanta Falcons. It will be interesting to see whether the Hawks will open the game with a more expansive style of play and if Smith, Metcalf, and Co will get the offensive plays they are hoping for.
