Pete Carroll has finally named the Seattle Seahawks’ starting quarterback Gino Smith.
“Gino will start,” Carroll said Friday night after Seattle’s 27-26 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in which Drew Lock threw three interceptions. “He’s going to start the opener, he won it, he won the job. He just ran out of time because of the time frame that screwed up for Drew.”
Missed at Rock After the Seahawks’ second preseason game due to COVID-19, Carroll wanted to give Lock a chance to get Smith out.
But Rock was as solid and unremarkable as usual with two interceptions in the first half against the Cowboys and another in the second half to take over after Smith. Even if the first intercept is not all on Lock, the second intercept is pretty bad. The third wasn’t his fault, although it wasn’t a perfect throw.
First interception at Rock, his first of the series, he didn’t get much help from expected receiver D’Wayne Eskridge, who didn’t come back for the ball. It’s still on Lock’s stats row, though.
The second is on Lock. He never seemed to see cornerback Nahshon Wright drop in the paint, and Lock’s pass was right for him.
In the last minute of the first half, he almost intercepted again on the third fall, when he
In the second half, Locke threw the ball in the middle, with Wide receiver Aaron Fuller is slightly behind. Fuller stretched and the pass flew off his pad and was blocked by Cowboys defensive back Marquese Bell.
Even if Locke was a little unlucky, you didn’t make a great statement 3 interceptions to be the starter.
Lock did have some highlights, most notably a 35-yard deep touchdown pass to Penny Hart. Maybe Lock shouldn’t have thrown the ball because the coverage was so narrow, but he did, shoving the ball to Hart for a decent score.
Lock played deep in the fourth quarter. His final line was 13-for-24 for 171 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 interceptions and a 51.2 passer rating.
Smith has held the No. 1 spot throughout the offseason, and he will continue to do so through Week 1. Maybe the Seahawks saw Locke’s strengths, ignored the mistakes, and handed him the job at some point. This seems unlikely. It had to be a little disappointing after Rock became part of Russell Wilson’s trade with the Denver Broncos, which the Seahawks will face in Week 1.
Smith took the job and he never did anything to lose it. Lock can’t say the same.
