SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Geno Smith had that look in his eyes.

Laken Tomlinson has only been a Seattle Seahawk for seven months, but that’s more than enough time to learn how this current team feels about the San Francisco 49ers, his former club.

It was also enough time to realize how much a game like this meant to Smith, who came into Seattle’s game-winning drive on Sunday calm and collected, smiling as if he knew what was coming. Smith’s confidence and command of the moment contributed to the sense of belief that flowed through everyone in the Seahawks party at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

“I thought: this is it. We’re going to win this game,” said Tomlinson, Seattle’s veteran left guard. “He gets that look in his eye and he’s just going to do something special. If he gets that look, man, we can only support him.”

The situation called for greatness, and Smith and the offense delivered. Trailing by four points on the road against a division rival that had beaten them six straight, the Seahawks needed 80 yards in the final 2:38 to avoid a sixth loss in seven games, essentially putting a fork in would have set their game. season.

Smith has had standout late-game moments in his three seasons as Seattle’s starter, but on Sunday he checked a new box by leading a game-winning scoring drive against San Francisco, punctuated by his 13-yard scramble with 12 left seconds left to give the Seahawks a 20-17 victory.

GENO!!!! T.D @SEAHAWKS!!

📺: #SEAvsSF on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/ATSZeKJaOe

—NFL (@NFL) November 18, 2024

In the final series, Smith completed 7 of 8 passes for 54 yards and accounted for 29 yards in two runs, the latter being so cathartic that as soon as he extended the ball over the goal line he joyfully launched it into the air towards a bewildered crowd. 49ers fans.

“That was probably my best throw of the day,” Smith said with a grin at his post-game press conference.

It’s impossible to overstate the significance of this win for Seattle, which improved to 5-5 and third in the NFC West with two games against the division-leading Cardinals (6-4) over the next three weeks. The Seahawks came into this game with a 3 percent chance of winning the division The Athletics projection model. A loss would have kept them in the cellar of the division while putting them at a mathematical and psychological disadvantage against a 49ers team that had won its previous six meetings by an average of two touchdowns.

“Hearing the vibe from the whole team, I knew how much it meant to this team,” said Tomlinson, who signed a one-year deal with Seattle in April and spent five seasons with the 49ers from 2017 to 2021. these guys. I came in and did the best I could with these guys and feeling It. I’m here with them, so I feel it too.

Smith’s 45-foot scramble was partly an injection of adrenaline from those previous defeats. He was tied 0-5 against San Francisco before Sunday. On Thursday he said this match was personal. Two weeks ago, he apologized for costing his team its Week 9 game against the Rams. During Seattle’s Week 10 bye, Smith spoke with coach Mike Macdonald and vowed to atone for those mistakes.

“I told him I would do everything in my power to make it right,” Smith said. “Today was just a step in that direction. But we still have a long way to go.”

Smith also made mistakes in this game. He started the third quarter with a bad call on third down, which led to an interception. However, instead of giving up a touchdown that could have opened the floodgates, Seattle’s defense allowed just twelve yards on seven plays on the ensuing possession, and San Francisco settled for a field goal to take a 10–6 lead to take.

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Those kinds of defensive efforts were also why Smith was thinking about reconciliation on Sunday. Smith felt like he let the defense down in Week 9 and didn’t want another strong performance from his teammates to go to waste.

“If they come out and play like they did today, we deserve to win, and they deserve to win,” Smith said. “It’s my job as a quarterback to make sure that happens.”

Seattle’s defense put Smith in a position to make good on his promise by forcing a punt on San Francisco’s penultimate drive of the game. After the Seahawks offense turned the ball over on downs, the 49ers took over at the 37-yard line with 3:56 left. During a crucial three-play period, safety Coby Bryant tackled running back Christian McCaffrey for a loss of 1, cornerback Riq Woolen covered receiver Deebo Samuel and forced an incompletion on second down, then Bryant stopped receiver Jauan Jennings just short of the sticks in third place. and-11.

“As long as I gave the offense a chance, I knew they would take care of business,” Bryant said.

In this case, settling matters meant placing a heavy burden on Smith. He completed his first four passes on the final drive, including an 8-yard connection with receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on third-and-5 to the Seattle 44-yard line after the two-minute warning. A few plays later, he bought time in the pocket on third-and-3 near midfield and zipped the ball from linebacker Fred Warner into the hands of Smith-Njigba for another 15 yards.

After a first-down sack, Smith bought time again, scrambling 16 yards to the 21-yard line with 39 seconds left.

“I mean, that guy can run,” receiver Jake Bobo said. “Most people probably don’t know that, but he can run – and he can run fast.”

After an 8-yard completion for Smith-Njigba, taking second-and-2 at the 13-yard line with the clock ticking under 20 seconds, Smith once again alerted everyone. He dropped back, recognized a crease between Tomlinson and left tackle Charles Cross, held the ball out as if to attempt a pass, crossed the line of scrimmage and beat safety Malik Mustapha and cornerback Isaac Yiadom into the end zone.

“He was legendary, like I tell everyone,” said second-year center Olu Oluwatimi, who made his first start of the year following the sudden retirement of Connor Williams, which became official Saturday. “From the beginning of his career, people still call him that, and I always tell people that Geno is great. He’s a great player.”

That play and the entire final drive were a testament to the faith Seattle players and coaches have in Smith, who has 10 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime since becoming Seattle’s starter. According to Pro Football Reference, he has had seven such drives over the past two seasons, the most in the NFL during that span. This was his second game-winning drive of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a more important time.

The Seahawks still have long odds of making the playoffs (12 percent) and winning the division (8 percent), according to The Athletics model, but now they control their fate (mathematically) with seven games to go.

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“We get to decide how our season is going to be,” said Smith, who completed 25 of 32 passes for 221 yards. “The 49ers are a great team, hats off to them, a lot of respect to those guys. They have great players. But so do we.”

This game and the eleven-game winning streak that saved the season also further illustrated the chemistry between Smith and Smith-Njigba, who led the team with 10 catches for 110 yards and eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the second straight game, which proved reliable again. in crunch time. Smith-Njigba’s ability to find holes in the zone, stress the defense vertically and generate yards after the catch makes all the difference in the world when it comes time to win.

It’s why Smith texted former coach Pete Carroll and lobbied for Smith-Njigba on draft night in 2023. And it’s why those two spent so much time in offseason workouts around the country, so they could be informed when it mattered most.

“When we travel from place to place, those are the moments we talk about,” Smith-Njigba said. “To execute in these difficult times, the times we need, that’s the communication we have, and it’s coming forward.”

No one celebrating during the Seahawks’ postgame scene downplayed how much weight this win lifted from their collective shoulders. From rookies like AJ Barner to veterans like receiver Tyler Lockett, everyone admitted this was more than just a win. Barner said the Seahawks “want a bitter rivalry with these guys,” and they knew they couldn’t make that happen without walking into this building and winning for the first time since 2021.

And nothing speaks more to how sweet this triumph is than Smith roaring as he galloped through the end zone after his touchdown before borrowing Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry’s “night, night” celebration as he taunted the home crowd.

Geno Smith takes out the GTS 🙏 pic.twitter.com/LR25EIGcEL

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 18, 2024

“In the bay,” Smith said, “you have to do it.”

(Photo: David Gonzales / Imagn Images)

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