ATLANTA -- Geno Smith hadn't even finished his drop when he saw pressure off the right edge, where Arnold Ebiketie had blown by rookie right tackle Michael Jerrell after timing up the shotgun snap.
The Seattle Seahawks quarterback planted his back foot, ducked his right shoulder underneath the Atlanta Falcons outside linebacker, stepped up in the pocket and hopped to his right to find a clean throwing lane. His over-the-shoulder throw to running back Kenneth Walker III resulted in a 17-yard touchdown.
The play that gave the Seahawks a 10-point third-quarter lead on Sunday also provided a good illustration of the kind of day it was for Smith, whose legs and pocket presence again proved critical behind Seattle's shaky offensive line.
"I felt like the guys fought a battle out there," coach Mike Macdonald said postgame when asked about the Seahawks' pass protection. "... Geno was able to move and groove in the pocket if they were able to get immediate pressure. It's something to build on, for sure."
Indeed, the Seahawks can take some pride in only allowing one sack during their 34-14 win after allowing 19 over the first six games, the fourth-most in the NFL in that span. But their quarterback's mobility had a lot to do with that.
Consider: Smith was pressured on almost 47% of his dropbacks against Atlanta, per ESPN Research. That was the third-highest figure in Week 7, and only one QB has been pressured at a higher rate through seven games.
Help is on the way, though, with right tackles George Fant and Abraham Lucas nearing their returns to practice. And the Atlanta game was another illustration of how Smith and the Seahawks need them back.
The Seahawks rank 28th in pass block win rate at 52.2%, and their performance in Week 7 came against a Falcons defense that has the NFL's most anemic pass rush, having entered that game with a league-low five sacks over the first six weeks.
Seattle also started a fourth-stringer at right tackle. Jerrell started in place of Stone Forsythe (hand), whose status for this week's game against the Buffalo Bills is still in question. Forsythe had started the past five games after Fant suffered a knee injury that would later land him on IR. Seattle signed Fant over the offseason as a hedge for Lucas, who was coming off knee surgery and remains on the physically unable to perform list.
Jerrell, a sixth-round pick from Division II Findlay, had been a healthy scratch for the first five games and had yet to play an offensive snap in the NFL when he started against Atlanta. The fill-in for the fill-in's fill-in allowed the lone sack of Smith, was flagged for a false start and finished with a PBWR of 80.8%, 44th among 57 qualifying offensive tackles in Week 7.
"He played really hard," Macdonald said. "There were just a couple of plays where he lost the reps, and that's going to happen. But the guy played hard. The game wasn't too big for him. I am just really pleased with his effort, frankly, and his finish on a per-play basis. I think he has earned the opportunity if it shakes out at right tackle -- we have some moving parts going on there right now -- but if he was the guy again this week, we would be really confident in him."
Fant was eligible to come off IR last week and could come back this week, though Macdonald wasn't ready to declare on Monday that he'd be back at practice on Wednesday, nor did he know yet whether Forsythe is ready to play after having a procedure on his left hand.
Lucas' long-awaited return to practice could come as early as Wednesday, but based on Macdonald's comments, he may not be game-ready until the Seahawks play the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 17 after their bye in Week 10.
"There is a situation where he could come back and start practicing this week, but we haven't finalized that yet," Macdonald said. "But it's looking good ... with Abe. When he does come back, there is a process to get him ready to play. So even if he could start to practice, I think you're looking at a good chunk of practice time to get him ready to go play a game."
The Seahawks continued their rotation at right guard against Atlanta, with Anthony Bradford again starting and rookie third-round pick Christian Haynes working in. Bradford, a 2023 fourth-round pick, played 45 of 60 offensive snaps and finished with his second-best PBWR of the season at 94.4%.
The Seahawks would prefer to have one player emerge at that spot so he could build continuity with the rest of the offensive line, but Macdonald expects the atypical arrangement to continue.
"I thought both guys took a step in their game," he said. "I think that competition right now is what's best for both of them and probably what's best for the team."
Seahawks general manager John Schneider has often characterized the team's O-line shortcomings as reflective of a league-wide shortage of quality players up front. That makes it hard to imagine Seattle finding an obvious upgrade before the Nov. 5 trade deadline.
Most likely, improvement will instead have to come from the young guards developing on the fly, and their injured right tackles getting back on the field.
In the meantime, Smith, who leads the NFL in total passing yards this season (1,985), will have to continue to step up -- both in the pocket and in a figurative sense.
"It's big time," Macdonald said of the quarterback's ability to move, "because you can't just live in quick game and when you are in your drop-back situation trying to get the ball to move down the field, if Geno can buy an extra click for the routes to develop and sit in there and make a great throw like he's been doing, really helps you get the ball down the field."