Geno Smith named NFC Offensive Player of the Week

Sunday the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions faced off in a game that turned out to be one of the highest scoring games in league history, with Seattle leaving Ford Field on the highs of a 48-45 victory.

Some will downplay the scoring outburst by the Seattle offense, which put 41 points on the board, with rookie cornerback Tariq Woolen adding the final seven points on a pick-six of Lions quarterback Jared Goff on the opening play of the third quarter. However, that was just the opening salvo in a second half that would see the teams combine for 47 offensive points, with Seattle quarterback Geno Smith leading the offense of the Hawks to its first two second half touchdowns on the season.

Those second half touchdowns were far from all that Smith did on the day, finishing the game 23 of 30 for 320 yards with a pair of touchdown passes for a passer rating of 132.6 and a QBR of 91.3. In addition, he added seven rushing attempts for 49 yards and another touchdown with his legs. That was enough for Smith to earn recognition as the top offensive player in the NFC in Week 4.

And there it is, a player of the week award for a quarterback most fans had written off, while Smith was too busy honing his craft to write back to those fans.

In any case, Smith will likely need to be on his game again in Week 5 when the Seahawks take on the New Orleans Saints and a much tougher defense, though with the Saints offense posing less of a challenge for the Seattle defense, hopefully another 48 point performance won’t be required.