Russell Wilson may be gone, but the Seahawks are keeping their late-game magic alive
SEATTLE – Among the many questions facing Geno Smith when he replaced Russell Wilson as the Seahawks’ starting quarterback before the 2022 season was whether he could replicate his predecessor’s flair for the dramatic.
Even though for many of his years as Seattle’s QB the Seahawks were one of the best teams in the NFL, Wilson was often called on to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat.
And more often than not, he did.
Including playoffs, Wilson led 36 winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in his 174 games as a Seahawk from 2012-21, tied for the most in the league in that span with Matthew Stafford.
While Wilson may be gone, the dramatic finishes have lived on.
Smith threw a 5-yard TD pass to tight end Colby Parkinson with 57 seconds left Sunday to beat the Tennessee Titans 20-17.
It was the fifth time this season Seattle has won a game in which it scored the go-ahead points in the fourth quarter or overtime – the most of any team in the NFL.
It was the fourth comeback win for Smith as the QB, with Drew Lock also leading one a week ago Monday against the Eagles.
Smith also had three winning drives in 2022, meaning the Seahawks have eight fourth-quarter/OT comeback wins in 33 games (including playoffs) since Wilson departed.
During his radio show Tuesday on Seattle Sports 710 AM, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll admitted he takes pride in the fact the team’s late-game success has lived on in the post-Wilson era.
“I think for years Russell was fantastic in those situations,” Carroll said. “He had the same indoctrination. And so I’m really proud of that because it does show that the coaching makes some sense here because it carries over into the most crucial situations.”
Every NFL team emphasizes late-game situations since so many games are decided at the end – Seattle was one of five teams this week to win a game with a score in the final 2 minutes.
After Sunday’s game, Smith – who also played for the New York Jets from 2013-16, the Giants in 2017 and Chargers in 2018 – said he thinks Carroll may place even more of an emphasis on it than other coaches.
“I think we do a lot more than a lot of teams,” Smith said of practicing 2-minute situations. “Guys coming from other places, they mention that. I think there’s a reason why we’ve been able to win games. I mean, just over the course of coach Carroll’s career here we’ve been able to win games late in the fourth quarter in those game-winning drives. So that speaks volumes to the preparation and the coaching. The players obviously got to go execute, but it feels like we’ve been in those situations a million times.”
Smith has also proven pretty good at this throughout his career – as a rookie with the Jets in 2013 he led five winning drives for a team that finished 8-8, tied with Tom Brady for the most in the NFL that year.
Carroll also noted Tuesday that “Drew looked pretty good (too)” when he had his one shot to pull off a late-game comeback and seemed to indicate the success of Smith and Lock only adds to the evidence that the time Seattle spends on those situations is working.
“I don’t mind saying it because Geno is validating it,” Carroll said. “I know if you asked Russ he would tell you the same thing, that all of that time accumulated puts us in a real groove in those situations and we feel really confident there.”
This year, it’s been the difference in the Seahawks holding their destiny to get to the postseason – win the final two games and Seattle has a spot – or being on the outside looking in.
Seattle is 5-2 this season in games when the winning points were scored in the fourth quarter or overtime, the two losses coming in road defeats at Dallas and against the Rams in Los Angeles.
Turn just one of those games the other way and the season would look quite a bit different.
Here are the five games this year in which Seattle has scored the go-ahead points in the fourth quarter or overtime.
Detroit, 37-31 in overtime
What happened: After Detroit scored on the final play of regulation on a 38-yard field goal by Riley Patterson to force a 31-all tie, the Seahawks won the coin toss and drove 75 yards in nine plays for the winning score, a 6-yard pass to Tyler Lockett on a third-and-2 play at the 5:41 mark.
Cleveland, 24-20
What happened: The Browns, who led 20-17 entering the fourth quarter, might have needed just one more first down to seal the game when they lined up for a third-and-3 at their 41 with 2:04 left and the Seahawks having just two timeouts remaining. Not only did the Browns not get the first down, but P.J. Walker’s pass intended for Amari Cooper bounced off the helmet of a blitzing Jamal Adams and into the hands of safety Julian Love at the Seattle 43. The Seahawks needed just six plays to drive 57 yards for the winning TD on a 9-yard pass from Smith to Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 38 seconds left.
Washington, 29-26
What happened: In a back-and-forth affair, Washington scored twice in the final eight minutes to tie the game. Each time, the Seahawks responded with a go-ahead drive. The second one came after Washington’s Dyami Brown scored on a 35-yard pass from Sam Howell with 52 seconds remaining to tie the game at 26. Smith then completed 4 of 5 passes for 50 yards to move Seattle into field-goal position and Jason Myers hit a 43-yarder as time ran out. The key play came when, on a third-and-4 from their 31 with 33 seconds left, Smith hit DK Metcalf for a 17-yard pass to the Seattle 48.
Philadelphia, 20-17
What happened: With Seattle trailing 17-13, Lock and the Seahawks got the ball back at their 8-yard line with 1:52 left. That came after the defense got a stop of the Eagles at midfield following two first downs. Lock hit 5 of 10 passes to take the Seahawks on what was to that point their longest drive of the season, capped with a 29-yard TD pass to Smith-Njigba with 28 seconds left. Seattle faced two third-and-10s on the drive and converted both, including the TD. Lock hit Metcalf for 34 yards on the other.
Tennessee, 20-17
What happened: In a game in which the lead changed hands three times in the fourth quarter, it was the Seahawks who got the last laugh. After the Titans drove 75 yards in 15 plays (aided by two key Seattle penalties) to take a 17-13 lead with 3:21 left, Smith drove Seattle 75 yards – in 14 plays and also helped by two key defensive penalties – and tallied the winning score on a 5-yard TD pass to Colby Parkinson with 57 seconds remaining. Seattle had to convert three third downs and got them all, including an 18-yard pass to Smith-Njigba on third-and-14 and the TD, which came on third-and-goal.
If there’s any lesson to be learned there at all, it’s the importance of converting third downs. Seattle was 8 of 8 on third down on those winning drives, compared to a season percentage of just 35.58%, 26th in the NFL.