After throwing for 363 yards and three touchdowns, Geno Smith began his postgame press conference with an apology. Because in addition to those big numbers, Smith also threw three interceptions, one of which was returned 103 yards for a touchdown, a trio of turnovers that played a vital role in the Seahawks 26-20 overtime loss to the Rams.

Never mind that the interceptions were only partially the fault of Smith—one should have been caught by Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but instead was deflected for a pick, one came when Smith was hit in the arm as he threw, and one happened when the intended target, tight end AJ Barner, appeared to have been held—the fact remains, as Smith sees it, that he threw those passes, so the blame ultimately falls on him.

"First of all, I want to start off by apologizing to my teammates, really, and to the city, to the organization," Smith said. "They put a lot of trust in me with my decision-making, and when they put the ball in my hands, when my teammates play the way they played today and to give us a shot to win the game, I've got to make sure we do. The things I did today, mistakes that I made, they affected us negatively and really cost us the game today. Me knowing myself, I know how much this is going to hurt. I'm going to step it up, though. That's how I feel about it. I'm going to step it up."

Smith elaborated that he was taking his performance so hard because the turnovers helped undo a lot of positives he saw on Sunday, from the play of receivers Smith-Njigba, who had a career-high 180 yards and two scores, and Cody White, to the play of the defense, to the noise and energy the fans brought.

"All those situations just led me to think, 'Man, we've got to get it done, I've got to get it done for my guys and for the city,'" he said. "I really feel like I let everybody down today. I really do."

Smith's coaches and teammates, of course, recognized that, as accountable as Smith is after losses, it's never on one player. And while Smith wishes he could have had those throws back, he was also under constant pressure, getting sacked seven times, was able to make a ton of big plays, including to lead the game-tying touchdown drive late in regulation, and, as mentioned earlier, not all of those interceptions were entirely, or even mostly his fault.

"He made some big-time plays for us," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "It's not easy, didn't have a lot of time back there. They had a good rush plan. We've got to protect him better. And I'm sure he's going to tell you that he's going to take ownership of the three picks. We've got to make smarter decisions in that way. We've got to finish drives. We've got to take care of the football. You guys see it. We see it. We have to be better if we're going to win."

Smith-Njigba added he had "total confidence" in how his quarterback would respond to some adversity.

"He's done it again, and again, and again, honestly," Smith-Njigba said. "Every time we take the field, get in the huddle, I know we're going to give our best effort. I know if we give him time, we run the right routes, we do what we're supposed to do, he's going to put the ball where it's supposed to be, and that's all we can do. But yeah, we have total confidence when we go out there, we've just got to stop beating ourselves, honestly."

Smith's second interception proved to be the most costly, with a potential Seahawks scoring drive instead turning into a 103-yard, go-ahead touchdown for rookie safety Kamren Kinchens, and came when Smith, trying to throw the ball away on first down, instead had his arm hit as he released the ball, causing it to flutter short to Kinchens.

"I was trying to throw it out of bounds in the back of the end zone," Smith said. "A guy hit my arm. There's no excuses to be made. I can throw that away, get it out sooner. Be faster in my decision-making. Trying to make a play down there, held it a second too long and it didn't turn out well."

On the next red-zone interception, this one on a short pass intended for Barner, the rookie tight end got tied up at the line of scrimmage, or, arguably, he got held, meaning he wasn't in position to catch the timing route, leading to Kinchens' second pick.

"Just trying to get the ball to AJ, thought he was going to slip through there and it didn't happen," Smith said. "I thought he got grabbed. Again, that's not an excuse. The ball's in my hands. I get the chance to make a decision and ultimately my decisions affect everybody, not just myself. And so I've got to be better. I'm not just saying that to say it. I really know that I can be better. And so it hurts me. It hurts me that I wasn't able to get it done today."

For his part, Barner said, contact or not, he needed to get free to make the catch.

"I felt like there was probably a hold, but I'm not going to make excuses for it," he said. "I should've gotten through there and I should've been able to make the catch. It's completely on me and I'm going to learn from it and be better from it."

"I tried to jump and avoid him by hopping through there. And when he grabbed me, I didn't really have that much momentum. So if I stayed on my feet, I feel like could've run through the contact."

But at the end of the day, however you want to distribute the blame, the fact remains that there were three interceptions in Sunday's game, two in the red zone, and in a game that went to overtime, those turnovers made all the difference. Smith knows the game and the position he plays requires that he move past this loss and, after the bye, turns his attention to the 49ers, Seattle's Week 11 opponent, but following a performance full of big highs and lows Sunday, Smith knew this loss would sting for a bit.

"It's the way the game is," he said. "You've got to have a short memory. Playing quarterback, there's a lot that goes on back there, and if you focus on what happened previously, it's only going to affect you negatively. Just moving on to the next play and focusing on what's the right decision to make at this time. I know it's extremely hard to do. It's not easy to do. But I've been in this league long enough. I've seen a lot. And I've been through a lot. And I think that helps me, helps me move on. But as long as we've got a shot, as long as I've got a shot, I'll keep fighting. That's the way I am. That's how I'm wired. I don't know any other way, and I'm really hurting."