Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald steadfast in belief in Geno Smith, which could have broad implications

Geno Smith has made a habit of shouldering the blame when the Seattle Seahawks come up short, as was the case during his postgame news conference following their 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald has regularly championed his quarterback after losses, and that was again the case Monday afternoon following a film review of Smith’s performance. As Seattle’s season hangs in the balance ahead of a road game against the Chicago Bears on Thursday, Macdonald is doubling down on his support of Smith.

“He played good enough to win the game,” Macdonald said.

The coach’s assessment might sound surprising, considering Smith’s last pass Sunday was an interception that ended the game. But Macdonald has consistently contextualized Smith’s turnovers this season – he often calls interceptions a “team stat” – and chose to do the same after the pass Smith intended for receiver DK Metcalf with less than one minute remaining ended up in the hands of safety Theo Jackson.

During his weekly KIRO-AM radio appearance Monday morning, Macdonald declined to say whether Metcalf ran the wrong route, instead saying the team needed to execute better.

“We’re not pointing fingers, we’re not playing the blame game,” Macdonald said. “You can’t operate like that. You go back, you assess the tape and what the play design is and all that. We just need to be better in that moment (executing) what we’re going to get to in those chunk situations, where the ball needs to get to. It just all needs to be better. From the route being run to the ball, play design, all that type of stuff.”

Macdonald does not view quarterback play in a vacuum. That’s notable in the short term – as Seattle fights to keep its postseason hopes alive – and long term, as Smith enters the offseason with a 2025 cap hit of $38.5 million (according to Over the Cap) and a desire for a new contract ahead of the final year of his deal.

The Seahawks (8-7) can make the playoffs only by winning the division. The simplest path to an NFC West title would be to win their remaining two games against the Bears (4-11) and Los Angeles Rams (9-6), who would need to also lose to the Arizona Cardinals (7-8) at home Saturday night. If Seattle and Los Angeles finish 10-7, the tiebreaker would likely favor the Rams due to strength of victory.

Macdonald’s review of Smith’s play against Minnesota within the context of Seattle’s entire offensive operation mirrors many of his comments throughout the season. He twice mentioned the play design in his answer about the game-ending interception. He also mentioned Metcalf’s route. Macdonald didn’t excuse Smith’s decision, but he also didn’t allow the quarterback to take all the blame.

Macdonald took a similar approach when assessing what he felt was the worst offensive play of the game: Smith’s sack on first-and-10 when Seattle trailed by three at Minnesota’s 37-yard line with 3:04 remaining. Seattle gained 1 yard in the next two plays before Jason Myers missed a 60-yard field-goal attempt short.

“As a whole offensive operation, that’s the one where we’ve got to be better in that moment,” Macdonald said of Smith’s sack. “Everybody involved.”

Smith completed 31 of 43 passes for 314 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. His first turnover led to a Minnesota field goal. His final touchdown was a 4-yard toss to tight end AJ Barner that gave Seattle a 24-20 lead with 4:21 remaining. Smith completed all five of his passes and scrambled for 8 yards on that drive. Macdonald kept possessions like that in mind when judging Smith’s performance. If Seattle’s defense hadn’t given up a touchdown four plays later, Macdonald noted, Smith would have added a fourth winning drive to his 2024 resume.

Macdonald referenced that perspective when asked on the radio to explain why he has stood by Smith’s side this season. He called Smith “one of the most diligent workers I’ve ever seen,” described the quarterback as an elite competitor and lauded his arm talent, ability to operate under pressure, poise in the pocket, accuracy and proficiency in two-minute drills.

“He makes it go,” Macdonald said. “It’s really simple. We put a lot on his plate, and rightfully so. He’s earned the right to have a lot on his plate operationally.”

Smith’s raw statistics reflect an uneven season from the 34-year-old quarterback. He ranks third in passing yards behind Joe Burrow and Jared Goff. But he is 19th in passing touchdowns (17), sandwiched between Kirk Cousins and Brock Purdy. Smith has thrown 15 interceptions, second most behind Cousins (16), who was benched last week for rookie Michael Penix Jr., and is third in sacks taken with 45 (tied with Sam Darnold).

Now for the advanced numbers (all stats provided by TruMedia unless stated otherwise). Smith has been pressured at the third-highest rate in the league yet been sacked on just 19.4% of those pressures, which ranks 19th among qualified quarterbacks. He’s 29th in touchdown rate (3.2%), ninth in interception rate (2.8), 12th in sack rate (7.9) and 20th in dropback EPA, one spot below Russell Wilson and above Aaron Rodgers. Smith has taken play-action dropbacks at the second-lowest rate in the league (behind Cousins) while operating an offense that ranks 30th in designed rush rate.

Many of these numbers explain the lens through which Macdonald views Smith. Seattle’s offensive line allows a lot of pressure, the team doesn’t run the ball much (or well) and the quarterback is often in pure passing situations without any misdirection or run threat.

Macdonald said criticizing Smith for throwing interceptions is fair but reiterated that he’s the “same guy that is putting us in position in a lot of these games to go win.”

“We don’t want to turn the ball over; of course we don’t,” the coach said. “Those are decisions that we dissect and go back. But you want your quarterback to be confident back there, trusting what he sees, working through his stuff and throwing the ball on time. Definitely don’t want to turn the ball over, for sure. He knows that. We’ll just keep attacking it, man. Keep attacking those decisions and the process that goes behind it.”

Macdonald has shown he’s willing to be a tough critic. He has called out rookies for being out of shape and given frank assessments of other players while benching and jettisoning those who aren’t performing to their standard. Macdonald could have given Sam Howell the benefit of the doubt for his poor showing in relief duty in Week 15 but chose to say the backup quarterback didn’t play well. This suggests Macdonald’s opinion of Smith is genuine and not just typical coach-speak.

This might create an interesting offseason for Macdonald and general manager John Schneider.

This past offseason, Smith’s agent broached the topic of a contract extension this offseason, to no avail. Smith’s average annual base salary of $25 million per year ranks 19th among quarterbacks, and his 2025 cap hit is scheduled to rank 12th, according to Spotrac. Smith has indicated he wants a raise.

The morning after his winning drive against San Francisco in Week 11, Smith said on a podcast interview with former cornerback Richard Sherman that he feels he’s “up there with the top-tier quarterbacks.” He added, “My numbers speak for me. My film says it, too.” Smith said he loved Seattle, and his focus was on winning their remaining games.

Sherman then suggested Seattle “pay the man his money” and advised the Seahawks to “get him an offensive lineman or two in the draft.”

Smith laughed and said, “You might need to be my agent, man.”

Macdonald is doing his part to advocate for Smith, whose play over the next two weeks will be critical.

The coach sidestepped multiple questions about his team’s run-pass splits – the Seahawks have the fourth-highest early down pass rate in the league, according to RBSDM.com – and said their focus is more on efficiency than simply running it more often. That likely means Seattle will continue to lean heavily on Smith’s arm to try to capture its first division title since 2020.

If Macdonald has his way, the Seahawks might rely on Smith’s arm beyond this season, too.