Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith Laments Red Zone Failures in Loss to Cincinnati Bengals: 'Didn't Finish!'

The Seattle Seahawks suffered a harsh defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals, and the offense's red zone struggles once again came to the fore.

The Seattle Seahawks will feel they let one slip away in Sunday's 17-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. In a game where the Seahawks gave as good as they got, the red zone issues again made the difference between a win and a loss.

The Seahawks entered the game ranked 13th in red zone efficiency, but they were again woeful on Sunday. Geno Smith's offense went 1 of 5 in the redzone, only scoring three points in four second-half trips.

For Smith, his thoughts on the game were that of many Seahawks fans.

“We didn’t finish in the redzone, I think that’s pretty obvious,” Smith said. “I thought we moved the ball pretty well, pretty much all day, but stalled out down there. We just didn’t finish, didn’t execute as good as we did in the open field.”

Smith is right. The offense managed to walk up and down the field, doing as they pleased and racking up 381 yards of total offense, but when push came to shove in the red zone, the offense stalled.

The Seahawks' failure in the red zone cost them in the 17-13 loss to the Bengals / Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Unfortunately, the red zone shortcomings fall on Smith's shoulders, and while the Seahawks drop to 3-2 on the season, all is not lost by any means.

But Smith feels Seattle did enough to win the game and praised his entire team for their efforts while acknowledging his shortcomings.

“The defense played a tremendous game, the offensive line played a tremendous game,” Smith said. “You felt Charles Cross out there when he got back. So proud of Jaxon [Smith-Njigba], the way he played. I’m so proud of DK [Metcalf], the way he fought and battled as well as Tyler [Lockett]. I felt like the guys deserved to win today. Obviously, I didn’t do my best job today to get that done. Those are things that I put on myself, and I look forward to the next opportunity.”

This loss will no doubt sting Seattle, as it did more than enough to come away with the win. The Seahawks face their division rival Arizona Cardinals in Week 7, and one can imagine that the red zone offense will be getting a thorough look this week in practice.

The Seahawks have been good value through their first five games, but the red zone issues continue to plague Pete Carroll's team.

If they can fix it, then there's no doubt that the Seahawks will be a tough proposition going forward. Until then, it is an ugly wart that cost Seattle an early-season game.