Facing a critical 3rd and 3 near midfield inside a minute to play and trailing the San Francisco 49ers by three points, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith quickly took the snap and scanned the field looking for an open receiver.
Sensing pressure collapsing down on him up the middle, Smith stepped up into the pocket and moved to his right, keeping his eyes downfield. After buying additional time, the veteran fired a dart across his body to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who found a void in the defensive coverage on a sit route, narrowly sneaking the ball past the outstretched arm of 49ers linebacker Fred Warner for a 15-yard completion to extend the drive.
Four plays later, with another Smith-Njigba reception pushing Seattle into the red zone as the clock ticked under 20 seconds on the scoreboard, Smith took off from the pocket again. But this time, he kept the ball himself, beating a pair of oncoming defenders to the left pylon for a game-winning 13-yard rushing touchdown to clinch a hard-fought 20-17 win over San Francisco.
Understandably, Smith has received much of the acclaim in the 24 hours since the Seahawks snapped a six-game losing streak to their bay area rivals, as two long scrambles by the quarterback ultimately won the game. But those opportunities wouldn’t have happened without Smith-Njigba’s latest efforts in the clutch, as he caught four passes for 38 yards and a pair of first down conversions on the decisive drive, surpassing 100 receiving yards for the second straight week in the process…