Geno Smith is on the verge of setting a new Seahawks franchise record

It was a filler line in a Week 17 predictions article on another site, but it caught my attention.

(Geno) Smith is 114 pass yards shy of 4,000 for the season, which would make him the second quarterback in Seahawks history to reach that mark (Russell Wilson).

In an era in which 4,000-yard seasons are common, and 5,000-yard seasons seem like the goal for ‘elite’ quarterbacks, it’s easy to forget that a Seattle QB has passed the 4,000-yard mark only 4 times.

Let’s take a quick stroll down memory lane and look at the best seasons by the best quarterbacks in Seahawks history . . .

Jim Zorn’s career high was 3,661 yards in 1979.

Dave Krieg topped that mark 5 years later . . . by 10 whole yards.

Warren Moon bested Krieg by 7 yards in 1997. Moon had topped the 4,000-yard mark 4 times before that, twice with the Oilers and twice with the Vikings, but his high-water mark with the Seahawks was 3,678.

Matt Hasselbeck set a new franchise record when he threw for 3,841 yards in 2003, and then topped that mark and flirted with 4k in 2007 before settling in at 3,966.

Enter Russell Wilson, the first (and so far only) Seahawks quarterback to top the 4,000-yard mark - a feat that he accomplished 4 times:

• 2015: 4,024 yards
• 2016: 4,219 yards
• 2019: 4,110 yards
• 2020: 4,212 yards

Stroll over!

It’s time to look at THIS season.

Entering Week 17, Geno Smith sits at 3,886 yards, leaving him 333 yards shy of tying the Seahawks franchise record for the most passing yards in a single season.

But simply tying the record isn’t the goal, is it?

Three hundred thirty-four yards - that’s the goal here.

And Geno has two games to reach it.

Given that he’s averaging 259.1 yards per game, Geno setting the franchise mark this year seems inevitable.

The fact that he could set the franchise record against Gang Green, the team that he started his career with, is serendipitous.

Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Note: That photo is from his first career start on September 8th, 2013.

To be fair, and perhaps temper expectations a little bit, Geno has only thrown for 334+ once this season - against the Rams in Week 13. He’s topped the 300-yard mark four times though, so I wouldn’t rule it out.

More realistically, Geno is looking at setting the mark in Week 18 against the Rams.

Which, YAY!

Watching Geno etch his name in the franchise record book in a game against a hated division rival is a great way to spend the final week of the regular season.

Either way, Geno should end the year with the best single season performance, yardage-wise, in franchise history.

If you ask me, that’s one heck of a way for Geno to write back!