Geno Smith: from literal NFL punching bag to the Seahawks’ renaissance man

The quarterback's career stalled badly after a painful end to his time with the New York Jets. But he is thriving after replacing Russell Wilson in Seattle

Geno Smith, for most of his career, had been synonymous with the NFL's most piercing curse word: bust. Heading into this season, even as he had quietly shown maturation on the field, no one bought into the Seattle Seahawks as a competitive franchise. There were several reasons - sloppy game management and unknowns at corner, among them - but mostly it was rooted in few outside Seattle viewing Smith as a legitimate NFL quarterback.

He continued to prove the doubters wrong on Sunday, leading the Seahawks to a 48-45 shootout win over Detroit on the road. Smith was electric. He annihilated the Lions' poor defense, throwing dimes to DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Will Dissly. All told, Smith was 23-of-30 for 320 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also added 49 rushing yards and a score on the ground. Smith achieved back-to-back 300-yard passing games for the first time in his NFL career, a testament to Pete Carroll's growing faith in his quarterback's abilities.