THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Can Geno really slow the game down?

Joe Montana made it sound simple.

During a documentary that followed Montana’s career from high school to Notre Dame to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Joe was asked how he managed to make so many big plays under pressure.

Montana replied: “I can’t explain why or how it would happen, but the game slowed down for me.

“When there was chaos and players running full speed all over the field, somehow I could see it in slow motion — so I could make the right play.”

That gift, the magic of seeing everything without feeling the madness, is common to the best in every sport.

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said he wasn’t looking at the next pass, or the one after that, but the pass after THAT — which obviously meant he could envision where all the other skaters would be.

And none of it was rushed.

A common joke about Montana was that he looked like he could play quarterback in a comfy leather chair, watching everyone else go crazy while he decided where to throw the perfect pass.

It’s a talent common to the very best.

WE DON’T see many Joe Montanas, or Wayne Gretzkys or Magic Johnsons.

Their skills belong to our imagination.

However, there are elite players in all sports right now.

They have some of the traits that make you watch and say, “Hall of Fame.”

Patrick Mahomes, for instance.

How can he possibly make some of those plays?

The point in this column, however, isn’t about Montana or Mahomes or athletes with those unique gifts.

No, it’s about the next level down — capable professionals who can make the big play when it matters.

Winners.

That leads us to a question that matters pretty dramatically to the Seahawks.

Is Geno Smith a quarterback who can win a game?

Not just a good thrower, or a decent leader.

Is Geno a guy who can be the difference between victory and heartbreak?

Sure, almost any quarterback good enough to play in the NFL can be on the winning side — perhaps because the talent around him was dazzling that day, or the defense came up with four turnovers and dominated the game.

This is different.

We’re talking about a quarterback who can grab a close game by the scruff of the neck, who can make everyone in the huddle feel unbeatable, and who then comes up with the winning play.

Is Geno Smith THAT kind of quarterback?

There was already considerable doubt about that issue, but now, after he had several great chances to beat Cincinnati and managed to walk off with a 17-13 defeat, nerves are twitching seriously.

As Smith and the Seahawks botched play after play in a game they SHOULD have won, I thought about that quote from Joe Montana — how the game slowed down for him.

I hate to say this, because Geno Smith is a great guy who has carved out a remarkable career comeback.

But.

Geno failed repeatedly in Cincinnati, and it looked as though the problem was the same.

The game got faster instead of slowing down.

IT FELT that way on some of his throws, which looked like the product of panic.

Same thing on failing to spot open receivers.

Same on bailing out way too quickly and taking needless sacks.

Most of all, it seemed like Geno didn’t have a picture of what was happening.

Even on the last drive of the game, when a touchdown could have won it, Geno never looked like he could make it happen.

Did YOU think they were going to score?

I’ll bet you didn’t.

During those last frantic plays in the shadow of the Bengals end zone, I remember thinking: “The good quarterbacks finish it here, but Geno won’t get it done.”

Yes, I know.

Geno Smith can really throw the ball.

He can spin the thing 50 yards, dead on target.

When the Seahawks are out around midfield and there’s lots of grass for his outstanding receivers to find, he can step up into a clean pocket and throw a perfect pass.

Down in the red zone, though, things got frantic.

Geno didn’t seem to feel a blitz and adjust protection.

When the pressure came, he lost track of his receivers – which is a shame, because Seattle has some great ones.

If space opened up, he didn’t run because he didn’t see the hole.

The whole package was broken.

It was hard to watch.

It’s also hard to believe that Geno Smith will get any better when a game speeds up.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”