FOXBOROUGH—After the Seahawks defense got a stop to open overtime, the Patriots had to punt, giving Seattle's offense a chance to win the game with a score.

And as he has done so many times since becoming Seattle's starting quarterback two seasons ago, Geno Smith came through in that big moment, leading the offense down the field to set up Jason Myers' game-winning field goal that gave the Seahawks a 23-20 victory at Gillette Stadium.

That game-winning drive, Smith's ninth in the fourth quarter or overtime since the start of the 2022 season, came just minutes after he led the offense on a drive to set up a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation, and both showed the poise under pressure that has been one of Smith's best assets as Seattle's quarterback.

"Put the ball in 7 hands, that's my mindset," Smith said. "I always dreamed about these moments growing up. It's a dream come true just to be here. Whenever I'm in this situation and the game is on the line, I'm so happy and just excited for those opportunities. I look forward to them actually. I know it's going to happen more and more times throughout the season. The best quarterbacks always find ways to win. I want to be regarded in that light, so I just want to continue to be there for my team, do what's right, make the plays when they come."

To get the Seahawks into range for the game-tying score in regulation, Smith completed passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Zach Charbonnet, DK Metcalf and Metcalf again, going 4 for 5 for 39 yards. Then in overtime, Smith completed five of six attempts for 42 yards, the only incompletion being a perfectly thrown deep ball that Smith-Njigba acknowledged after the game was a pass he should have caught. The final completion of the drive featured Smith using his legs to buy time and improvise before hitting Tyler Lockett for 16 yards to set up a 31-yard attempt for Myers.

"I thought Geno played a dynamite game," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "I thought he was decisive. The ball was out fast. I thought we had a great plan. Yeah, we had a couple of drops, but we'll clean those up. I mean, I'm not sure what the numbers are, but they're probably pretty dang good."

The numbers were indeed pretty dang good, with Smith completing 33 of 44 attempts for 327 yards and a 56-yard touchdown to Metcalf, giving him a 103.1 passer rating. And those numbers would have been even better if not for multiple drops from a usually sure-handed group of pass catchers.

"I'm glad he's on our side," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "He's been the guy that he's been since we got here in February. There are some points where we communicate one way or another. He's right there in lock-step. This is a great example, this game. Hey, when the offense needs to pick the definite up, they did it. When defense could help the offense by getting a critical stop because we weren't able to get the ball out of negative territory, we got the stop. I have to play complementary football, and you need your leaders to show up in those critical moments and he did that."

Smith's teammates have seen enough of these clutch moments in recent years that, when it came down to crunch time, they fully expected him to deliver. And on Sunday he did so under some tough circumstances, playing a good Patriots defense while missing starting running back Kenneth Walker III, as well as the top two options at right tackle, Abraham Lucas and George Fant.

With the Seahawks managing just 46 rushing yards, eight of them from Smith, they needed the passing game to shoulder the load, and Smith was up to the challenge.

"He put the team on his back," said Metcalf, who had a team-high 129 yards on 10 catches. "We were down and needed a field goal or a touchdown to win, and he delivered."

Smith-Njigba, who had career highs with 12 catches for 117 yards, pointed to Smith's "Killer mindset. Go score, (he's) pushing us, motivating us. Just laser focused."

While running back Zach Charbonnet, who had a key third-down reception on the winning drive, added, "Geno had a great game. That's our leader. We were able to lean on him and depend on him this game."

Part of what has come through in so many of Smith's winning drives is the way that the confidence that Smith has in himself that helps him come through in those big moment also rubs off on his teammates, even those who play on the other side of the ball.

"I've never been around a quarterback who has as big of a chip on his shoulder as Geno," said safety Julian Love. "That was evident when I first got out here. I got to Seattle last year, and I'm like, 'Man, this guy, he has some swagger to him.' I've never been around that from a quarterback. He talks, he has energy, at halftime he was just fired up. The whole game on the sideline, he was bringing juice, and people feed off that. The offense, they go with him, and defensively, we try to fuel him as well. He's special, and I'm grateful to have him."