ARLINGTON, Texas — After a game that appeared to confirm that Geno Smith as the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks heading into the regular season, coach Pete Carroll made it official.
"Geno's going to start," Carroll said after the Seahawks' 27-26 loss to Dallas in the preseason finale. "He's going to start the opener (against Denver, Sept. 12). He's earned it. He's won the job."
As Carroll noted, circumstance played a role.
The Seahawks hoped to give Drew Lock the start last week against Chicago. Lock tested positive for COVID-19 two days before the game. While he played the bulk of Friday night's game, Carroll said, "The time frames got messed up for us with Drew. He just ran out of time in making his bid for it."
Carroll told both quarterbacks of his decision and told the team in the locker room.
Carroll said Smith "gives us the best chance to play great football right off the bat."
It hardly needs to be stated how much the Seahawks would love to beat Russell Wilson in his return to Seattle.
"Obviously, I'm thankful for the opportunity and grateful," said Smith, who has not been a full-time starter since his second season in the NFL with the New York Jets in 2014. "But you know, I have a lot of work ahead of me. That was my mindset from the start, is getting ready to go out there and win games. So this is just step one in that process."
Smith, 31, has just five starts since the 2014 season, three last year in replacing an injured Wilson.
Lock admitted he was "disappointed" to hear he'd lost a battle for a starting job for the second straight year. Last season Teddy Bridgewater was named as Denver's starter after the two battled in the preseason.
"As a competitor, you're always disappointed, and I was disappointed," he said. "You want to be out there, you want to play with those guys. You wanna be able to step on the field and show what you can do and you're disappointed. But now it's my job to have his back and be the best teammate I can be and come on every day and find ways to make this team better and to make myself better."
Carroll made the announcement following a game in which Lock threw three interceptions in 10 possessions, finishing the preseason with four turnovers overall including a fumble at the end of the opener at Pittsburgh.
Smith had no turnovers in three games and 12 possessions in the preseason.
That might have been the difference right there.
"It's a huge statement, taking care of the football," Carroll said. "We've been one of the best teams in the NFL over the last bunch of years you know taking care of the football and owning it. And it was really hard to get it away from us, the fumbles and stuff like that, guys were fantastic at it. And the decision making goes along with that, treasuring the football also because it's so hard to win when you turn it over."
Only one of Lock's three interceptions Friday may have definitively been his fault. One occurred when Aaron Fuller let a pass glance off his hands to a Dallas defender, and when Dee Eskridge didn't appear to come back for a pass as strongly as Lock might have thought.
But another — a pass thrown straight to a Cowboys defender — was undoubtedly his fault.
Lock didn't try to pass blame, saying "there's three throws I definitely want back."
Carroll wasn't ready yet to assess blame for each, noting that "they're all different ones," and he hadn't talked to Lock about the specifics of each play.
But the picks might well have helped sway Carroll to make the decision final after he had said all week he might take until the week of the opener to make the call.
"It's really hard to win when the ball is flying in their hands," said Carroll of a day when the Seahawks had five turnovers. "We've got to do a better job in that."
Lock finished 13 of 24 for 171 yards one TD and the three interceptions against Dallas, and for the preseason was 24 of 39 for 273 yards, three TDs and three interceptions with a passer rating of 76.1. He led four TD drives on 15 possessions, with three others ending in a field goal along with four punts, three interceptions and a fumble.
Smith finished the preseason playing 12 series. They ended in eight punts, one touchdown, two field goals and one missed field goal with Smith completing 23 of 39 passes for 256 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 78.6.
Carroll said "I don't have any question" that Lock can play. "I really don't. I mean he's got all the athleticism. He's got the arm strength. He's got the talent, he's got creativity about him and all of that. I think he's going to be a fantastic football player soon."
But ultimately, it was Smith's consistency, ability to run the offense in his second year with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and taking care of the ball that earned him the nod.
Smith showed that during his one-series stint Friday, completing 3 of 6 passes for 43 yards — two to Tyler Lockett for gains of 17 and 18 another to Dee Eskridge for eight — with each of his incompletions appearing catchable. Smith took a sack on second down after a holding penalty negated a Travis Homer run to the 1-yard-line, with the drive ending in a field goal.
Lock came on and played most of the rest of the game, with Carroll adhering to his promise that he would play substantially after missing last week's game.
Lock worked in the first half behind the starting offensive line other than second-team center Kyle Fuller taking over for Austin Blythe at center and with Lockett as one of the receivers for a series.
In Lock's six drives in the first half working behind an offensive line with three starters, he was 7 for 15 for 92 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Lock played behind the backup offensive line in the second half. And misfortune hit again quickly on his second series of the third quarter when a pass to a wide open Fuller that would have converted a third-and-5 instead glanced off his hands and straight to Dallas safety Markquese Bell.
The game maybe fittingly ended in turnovers on the final two possessions — a botched snap from Dakoda Shepley to Jacob Eason, and then an Eason interception.
"It's really hard to win when you are minus one in the turnover ratio and we were down five today," said Carroll after the Seahawks finished the preseason 0-3.
And that, as much as anything, is why Smith is the Seahawks' new starting quarterback.
