He knows when to walk away

I don’t know whether Sam Darnold is going to be the guy to take the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl.

What has happened the first 12 weeks of this season shows why I trust John Schneider to make that decision, though, but before I start praising the restraint of the Seahawks president of football operations, I would like to point out how much better the Seahawks looked this week.

This is not a commentary on Seattle’s performance in Tennessee, either. Don’t get me wrong, the Seahawks played pretty well in a 30-24 victory that was not as close as the score indicated and Jaxson Smith-Njigba is a nuke who can be deployed from seemingly anywhere in the formation.

But did you see what the Rams did to the Buccaneers on Sunday night?

Each of Los Angeles’s first three possessions resulted in a touchdown. The Rams scored every time they got the ball in the first half. Perhaps most tellingly, they gained 11 first downs with 10 minutes left in the first half. Compare that to last week when the Seahawks allowed just 12 first downs in the 60 minutes it played in Los Angeles the week before.

I’m not saying the Seahawks should have beaten the Rams or that Seattle was the better team that day.

What I am saying is that the Rams are playing the best football of any team in the NFL right now—on both sides of the ball—and Seattle stood toe-to-toe even as its quarterback kept giving the ball away.

📉 On the downside …

The Rams’ victory over the Bucs could turn out to be pivotal should Seattle and Los Angeles finish in a tie because record vs. common opponents is one of the league’s tiebreaker criteria and the Seahawks previously lost to the Bucs.

The NFL criteria for breaking ties within a division goes:

1. Head-to-head record

2. Division record

3. Record vs. common opponents

4. Conference record

5. Strength of victory

6. Strength of schedule

The Rams are 7-1 vs. teams that also face Seattle with games left against Atlanta, Carolina and two against Arizona. The Seahawks are 6-2 vs. teams that also face Seattle with games left against Atlanta, Carolina, San Francisco and Indianapolis.

🖕A bird with the hand

As Geno Smith jogged off the field after the Raiders’ home loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, he wiggled a single digit in the direction of some fans who were (presumably) expressing their displeasure with his performance.

He was not indicating they were No. 1.

A few hours after that, the Raiders announced they had fired Chip Kelly, the offensive coordinator.

Now, perhaps Kelly and his offense are the reason that Smith has been picked off 13 times this season, tied with Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa for most of any QB this season.

Or perhaps Kelly’s dismissal should be seen as a reflection of Smith’s performance especially when you consider that Ryan Grubb, Smith’s offensive coordinator in Seattle last year, was fired after one season with Smith as his quarterback.

I know it sounds like I’m celebrating Smith’s demise. I assure you, I am not.

What I will say, however, is that Seattle’s decision to trade Smith illustrates what is perhaps John Schneider’s single biggest strength as a football executive: He doesn’t overcommit to quarterbacks.

It is the one thread that runs through his 16 seasons in charge of the Seahawks roster, and the thing I believe has kept the franchise from ever bottoming out during that time. It’s also something to keep in mind as people start to talk about what Seattle could or should about Sam Darnold’s future.

Schneider has never bet the farm on the hope that a touted quarterback will turn out to be the chosen one. He didn’t trade for Kevin Kolb back in 2011. He didn’t trade up in the draft order to pick Robert Griffin III in 2012. He has never mortgaged the future to avoid uncertainty at that position.

It’s hard to overstate just how rare this is in the NFL where teams are so desperate for a franchise quarterback that they’re constantly convincing themselves that good quarterbacks are actually great and incoming rookies might be even better.

Smith was a good quarterback for Seattle. If Seattle had signed him to an extension last offseason there would have been plenty of people who would have applauded it, myself included.

Schneider thought Smith was good, too. It’s why Seattle tried to re-sign him, but Smith was so underwhelmed with the offer that he didn’t even counter. At this point, the Seahawks had three options:

1. Improve the offer so Smith would accept it;

2. Stand pat and insist Smith play the final year of his existing contract;

3. Trade or release Smith.

That last option meant starting over at quarterback, and I’m not sure how many other NFL teams would have been willing to do that. Then again, I’m not sure how many other NFL teams would have traded Russell Wilson three and a half years ago no matter how much the quarterback wanted to be dealt.

Schneider has never been afraid of turning the page, though.

He let the team’s starting quarterback walk as a free agent back in 2011. That was Matt Hasselbeck. I’m not sure the Seahawks were better off for that move, but they didn’t get worse.

Schneider has traded two other starters (Russell Wilson and Smith). Each time, there was a strong chorus of people who worried the Seahawks were about to experience a nosedive. In each instance, they were better off for having made the switch.

It’s possible to look at this and conclude that Schneider has a golden touch at that position. I don’t think that’s true, however. He traded for Charlie Whitehurst. He signed Matt Flynn as a free agent. He thought highly of Drew Lock.

Schneider is not perfect when it comes to picking quarterbacks. He is, however, exceptional at limiting how much he’s willing to bet on his own forecasts at that position. If the price gets too high, he’s not afraid to move on even if that means introducing uncertainty at that position.

This is something to keep in mind as Seattle moves forward with Darnold.