SEATTLE — Geno Smith engineered final drive against the best defense in the NFL, capping it off with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 38 seconds left and the Seattle Seahawks rallied to beat the Cleveland Browns 24-20 on Sunday.
Despite struggling for most of the day, Smith looked phenomenal on the final drive. He completed on 4 of 5 passes, the last of which was a quick screen to Smith-Njigba. The rookie wide receiver used a terrific block from DK Metcalf to bounce outside and tightrope down the sideline and score the second touchdown of his career.
Seattle (5-2) got the ball back on an interception of Cleveland quarterback P.J. Walker near midfield with 1:57 remaining.
On third-and-3 at the Browns 41, Walker tried to throw a slant to Amari Cooper. His throw deflected off safety Jamal Adams' helmet, who came on an outside blitz, and the ball flew nearly 20 yards downfield, where Julian Love made a leaping interception.
With the ball at its own 43, Smith and the Seattle offense needed five plays to find the end zone.
Smith finished 23 of 37 for 254 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Cleveland's defense halted two scoring opportunities, picking off Smith first at the end of the first half with Seattle in position to get points. Then midway through the fourth quarter, Myles Garrett sacked Smith to knock Seattle out of field goal range with Cleveland leading 20-17.
Wide receiver Jake Bobo rushed for a 3-yard touchdown and Smith threw a 12-yard touchdown to Tyler Lockett as Seattle jumped out to a 14-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. But from that point on, the Seahawks’ offense struggled for most of the final three quarters.
Walker finished the afternoon 15 of 31 for 248 yards and threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to David Njoku in the first quarter. Most of Walker’s success through the air came on screen passes and the Browns (4-3) leaned heavily on it's run game.
The three-man rushing attack of Kareem Hunt, Pierre Strong Jr. and Jerome Ford combined for 137 yards on 33 carries. Hunt scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.
However, the Browns could only muster up field goals of 25 and 27 yards from Dustin Hopkins in the third quarter after having drives stall inside the Seattle 10.
Njoku finished with four catches for 77 yards and Cooper had six receptions for 89 yards.
Walker committed three total turnovers while making his second start in place of Deshaun Watson, who is still dealing with a lingering shoulder injury.
The Browns return home next Sunday to face Arizona.
Cleveland 7 7 6 0 — 20
Seattle 17 0 0 7 — 24
First Quarter Sea–Bobo 3 run (Myers kick), 8:53.
Sea–Lockett 12 pass from G.Smith (Myers kick), 5:30.
Cle–Njoku 18 pass from P.Walker (Hopkins kick), 3:22.
Sea–FG Myers 32, :59.
Second Quarter
Cle–Hunt 1 run (Hopkins kick), 4:40.
Third Quarter
Cle–FG Hopkins 25, 7:29.
Cle–FG Hopkins 27, 2:50.
Fourth Quarter
Sea–Smith-Njigba 9 pass from G.Smith (Myers kick), :38.
A–68,807.
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Cle Sea
First downs 23 17
Total Net Yards 385 362
Rushes-yards 40-155 17-114
Passing 230 248
Punt Returns 3-30 2-15
Kickoff Returns 1-15 1-24
Interceptions Ret. 2-0 2-0
Comp-Att-Int 16-32-2 23-37-2
Sacked-Yards Lost 3-27 1-6
Punts 3-47.333 5-54.8
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 4-25 7-43
Time of Possession 36:40 23:20
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Cleveland, Hunt 14-55, Strong 10-41, J.Ford 9-37, P.Walker 6-27, Goodwin 1-(minus 5). Seattle, Walker 8-66, Charbonnet 5-53, Bobo 1-3, G.Smith 2-(minus 3), Eskridge 1-(minus 5).
PASSING–Cleveland, P.Walker 15-31-2-248, Thompson-Robinson 1-1-0-9. Seattle, G.Smith 23-37-2-254.
RECEIVING–Cleveland, Cooper 6-89, Njoku 4-77, Moore 2-30, Strong 1-41, Hunt 1-12, Akins 1-6, J.Ford 1-2. Seattle, Lockett 8-81, Metcalf 5-67, Smith-Njigba 3-36, Fant 2-32, Bobo 2-23, Charbonnet 2-11, Walker 1-4.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
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