Seattle Seahawks starting quarterback Geno Smith put forth one of the better performances of his career in Sunday’s 23-20 Week 2 overtime victory over the New England Patriots. Smith completed 33-of-44 passing attempts for 327 yards and one touchdown. He currently ranks fourth in completions and completion percentage, sixth in passing yards, and seventh in QB rating among all quarterbacks.
Those aren’t the only statistical categories that Smith has accumulated elite numbers in. The analytics-based categories also reflect well on Smith through two completed contests. Seattle’s signal caller currently ranks seventh in Expected Points Added (EPA), according to data collected by Football Insights.
EPA per play through week 2 pic.twitter.com/3bb6QM0GaM
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) September 17, 2024
It’s also worth noting one of the quarterbacks ahead of Smith is Malik Willis, who’s started just one contest. If you’re unfamiliar, EPA is a play-by-play evaluation that calculates how a team’s expected points scored were adjusted via particular sequences. Down and distance, field position, and other factors are taken into consideration. Positive plays help further the team’s EPA, and negative plays lessen total number. Using EPA can help us evaluate team and player performance.
Those are some elite quarterbacks Smith is rubbing shoulders with in EPA, including Buffalo’s Josh Allen. He’s also currently ranked ahead of Patrick Mahomes, CJ Stroud, Brock Purdy, and Lamar Jackson, to name a few, in EPA. Smith is playing high-level football for the 2-0 Seahawks right now and all of the data proves that.
