Seattle 17, Denver 16
Q. Was that first touchdown exactly as planned, or can you take us through that play there to Will?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, that wasn't planned. We actually were trying to get that to Marquise. Their defense played a good job at staying on top of him. A guy slipped through there. I was able to get away from them.
Then really it was just playing with my eyes up, maybe get a chance to scramble. Will popped and made a great catch and went down and scored. That got it started for us. It was awesome.
Q. How important was it to start that way with the momentum, the crowd? Everything was in your favor to start the game.
GENO SMITH: So important. The league, NFL, you never know when the momentum is going to shift, but any time you're at home, any time, you want to start out that first drive and go down there and score. Especially if you get the ball first because statistics say that if you don't, wins aren't in your favor.
Just going down there and getting the crowd excited, getting the score, getting the momentum, having our defense with a seven-point lead. All of those things I think just in a culmination were great. I feel like all those things helped out towards the end of the game as well with the momentum and the crowd.
Q. To ESPN after the game you said they wrote you off, and you didn't write back. What does that mean, and what did this game mean with you in your career with everything that you have been through?
GENO SMITH: I think when people say what I've been through, I think that's a stretch, man. I'm in the NFL for ten years, so to say what I've been through is kind of funny.
Then to say people wrote me off, I've just been working. That's what I mean by "I never wrote back." I don't listen to stuff like that. I just work. I know what I have inside of me. God has blessed me with talent and also a passion and a drive.
As far as worrying about naysayer or anything like that, I don't get into that type of stuff. People can write you off, but life is about what you make it. I've just been blessed enough to be in the NFL for ten years and been working my butt off. It's a team game, and we got a win tonight as a team.
Q. When you are hear the fans chant your name after the touchdown, end of the game, the long run you had, just hearing that.
GENO SMITH: Just brings me back. Something with those lime green jerseys. Brings me back to that game last year, and the fans were great tonight. They were loud. I think they caused maybe a few penalties on them, a couple of delay of games, a couple of false starts.
That's what we're going to need all year. We're going to need our fans to be with us, and we have to give them something to cheer for. I think tonight was just electric and just to see how it ended up, but it was great.
Q. Pete has been talking up the tight end group all training camp and preseason. How important was it to step up tonight given the talent on this defense, particularly their secondaries?
GENO SMITH: One of our matchups was our tight ends on their linebackers and safeties. You never know who is going to make the play. That's the interesting thing about offensive football in the NFL. It could be a tight end, running back, receivers. Tonight the tight ends stepped up. The receivers played great. Running backs were in the passing game as well.
I think everyone contributed to this win. When you talk about our tight ends, man, I don't think there's a better group in the league.
Q. Pete talked about the quarterback position as a point guard and distributor, and that doesn't eliminate big plays, because you get them, but what does that mean to you and how much of you when he talked about that philosophy and how you bring it onto the field?
GENO SMITH: When he says that, it just means to facilitate. I think us as quarterbacks, our QB room, we have some scoring point guards. We can go score the ball as well.
When you have DK and Tyler and the tight end group that we have, the running backs that we have, Marquise, Dee Eskridge, all those guys, Dareke, you put the ball in their hands and watch the magic happen.
For me early on my thought process was get the ball out of my hands, get it into the hands of the playmakers, protect our young tackles as well as just get the chains moving. I think that helped us out.
Q. The last Denver drive, what was that like for you watching on the sideline, how all that played out?
GENO SMITH: It felt like one of our walk-throughs at practice, me just watching Russ do that. For so long I watched Russ go down -- even here just go down and win those games.
It was a surreal moment seeing him on the other side up against our defense going for one of his vintage comeback wins. We stood up tonight, and I was happy about that.
Q. Pete said he was mad at you for taking that hit on the 14-yarder. What's the balance there? You're trying to make a play, but you should probably take care of yourself too.
GENO SMITH: Most of the time I don't put my head in there, but I was so zoned in, so locked in, just playing to win. That was a crucial situation. We needed that first down in a backup situation. I was just trying to go for it. I definitely will try to stay away from that type of stuff.
Q. The designed run, third and two, can you tell us about that?
GENO SMITH: That was sweet. That was sweet. People forget I can run. So it was sweet to just have that added dimension there.
The over/under on that play was for 5 yards, so I think I was under on that one. It was a great play-call. Shane did a great job all night at calling terrific plays. Kept me in rhythm. That one was pretty good.
Q. Speaking of being zoned in, locked in, you completed your first 13 passes. I think that's what I counted. Can you just talk about how you came focused in early on throughout the game?
GENO SMITH: That's something that I think it's happened maybe once or twice, but honestly, I'm just trying to complete every pass. You call a pass play, you're trying to find a completion out there.
What they were doing was playing top-down and shell defense, so I had to dump the ball off a couple of times, which contributed to that. Weren't taking many shots.
Any time you can get a completion, it puts pressure on the defense to tackle. It was good to start out that way. Wish we would have continued it.
Q. Looked like you and Russell talked real quick maybe before the game a little bit. Did he say anything, or did you say anything to him?
GENO SMITH: Just a lot of love. I got a lot of respect and love for Russell. Being here with him for three years I learned a lot, got to know him really well, got to understand why he is the man that he is, the way that he is and what makes him special.
Russell will always be my brother. I love him to death, and I just wish him the best.
Q. What was it like seeing Marshawn and Sherm and all those guys there today?
GENO SMITH: It was like a reunion, like a Seahawks reunion out there. Those guys are always around. Sherm comes out to practice and helps out with the DBs.
I think that's the special part about this place is you have guys like that coming back, and they really feel like this is a family. Like this is a place that they can always come back to. Coach does a great job at that. The organization is special in that way. I think that whenever those guys are around, it just brings good mojo.
Q. ESPN wrote you off, and you didn't write back. How long have you sitting on that?
GENO SMITH: That's off the dome right there. That's straight bars off the dome right there. Yeah, just in the spur of the moment.
Q. The second touchdown where you feathered it over the linebacker, was that your first read, or what was the design of the play and how you went there?
GENO SMITH: Yeah, he was the read. We had a couple. I'm not going to tell you all the plays, but he was in the read. The way they played it, the safety ended up vacating the post, and then the linebacker had to basically carry the seam. There was really no one back there, so I had a good spot back there that I could find with him. Colby is a 6'7" tight end, so you can't miss him if you put it high.
Q. The offense was humming pretty well in the first half, but the team dried up a little bit in the second. Any thoughts on that?
GENO SMITH: We have to be better in the second half. That's all I was thinking about honestly. I felt like in the second half -- obviously their defense, give credit to their defense. They stood up and played well, but we've got to finish games better.
It's great to get a win. Our defense went out there and did what they had to do, but we could have put up more points and given ourselves an even more cushion to have a better shot in that game.
Q. What do you think this win says about what the 2022 Seahawks can do this year?
GENO SMITH: It's one win. We can celebrate it tonight. We have a short week. We have to get ready for a division opponent in San Fran. We're happy. We feel like we can win a lot of games if we play like that, complete team football, but for me it's just one win. It's just one game. We have to be ready for 16 more.
Q. We asked Pete Carroll if this was a validating feeling. Do you feel validated?
GENO SMITH: Not at all. Not at all. Not that I don't feel validated. I've always felt validated, so this win won't do it for me.
It was just another win, great win, with the team. I love the way our guys stood up. I love the passion we played with, and we just have to keep that going.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports