With under two minutes remaining in Sunday’s game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New York Giants, Geno Smith and company took over possession on their own 34-yard line, trailing the visiting Giants 23-20.
They needed just one play to get into field goal range for kicker Jason Myers.
That play? A 32-yard scramble by Smith that saw the Seahawks get into New York territory, and set up for a 1st and 10 on the Giants’ 34-yard line.
A major reason Smith was able to gain so much yardage? That was due to a heads-up play by wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Smith-Njigba aligns on the left side of the formation on this play and runs a deep crossing route working from left to right. With the Giants in Cover 2 Man coverage, Smith has a defender trailing him across the field. As Smith-Njigba gains depth, a safety breaks on his route, putting two defenders in position over the receiver.
As Smith breaks the pocket, Smith-Njigba sees that and continues to race downfield, pulling the pair of defenders with him. At one point the wide receiver even throws up his arm, selling the duo of Giants on the threat of a deep throw, which provides his quarterback even more room to run. At one point Smith-Njigba even looks skyward, as if he was tracking a pass thrown in his direction:
Here are a few more angles of Smith-Njigba on this play, and you can see how at one point Adoree’ Jackson swipes at the wide receiver’s arm as Smith-Njigba looks up with his arms raised, the cornerback anticipating a throw that never came:
The play was highlighted during the broadcast by the CBS Sports broadcast team of Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber, and Jason McCourty. Earlier on Monday the broadcast angle of the play was shared by user @SharpClarke on social media, and now we have the All-22 angle as well.
While the Seahawks’ attempt at a game-tying field goal was blocked thanks to an incredible play from Isaiah Simmons, the fact they were in field goal range to begin with was due to Smith’s big scramble.
And Smith-Njigba’s heads-up play.
