The Seattle Seahawks are now 1-1 on the year following a “humbling” loss to the San Francisco 49ers after beating Russell Wilson and the Broncos to open the season.
Seattle is still getting used to quarterback Geno Smith leading the charge, and growing pains are evident even with the veteran at the helm. Over the first two outings, Smith has completed 81% of his passes, but for a total of only 392 yards and two touchdowns.
Coach Pete Carroll was asked Monday morning whether or it’s time to open things up.
“We don’t need to hold him back at all. I think Geno’s got his game ready to go,” Carroll told host Mike Salk and Brock Huard during his Seattle Sports radio hit. “We need to trust him and we need to maybe give him a few more opportunities and stuff. We’ve been pretty solidly conservative, counting on running the football, and when we didn’t run the football, then OK, we didn’t have much of a mix that we needed.”
Through the first two games, Smith has connected on 47 of 58 pass attempts. Decent enough, but it’s time to see what Smith can do if he’s really turned loose.
“We can do better with that,” Carroll said of the conservative playcalling. “And whether that’s right or wrong, that’s not the point. The point is that we need to keep expanding. We have too many explosive avenues to go to, and we’ve got to make sure that these guys show up.”
