The big news is Russell Okung's injury. We all hope that this particular ding isn't severe, but this is his 3rd ankle injury in less than a year- THAT is troubling. Other than that, there were few real surprises in this typically sloppy opening preseason game.
Some positives? Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman both looked like they have potential to take playing time away from the much-maligned Kelly Jennings. Seattle looked to be stouter both running the ball and stopping the run (and we seemed more committed to sticking with the ground game), Leon Washington appeared ready to take on a much more significant role in the backfield than he had last season, Charlie Whitehurst led the Seahawks on a couple of scoring drives, and Josh Portis resembled an actual NFL quarterback.
The bad? Jennings is still getting toasted like a fucking Pop Tart out there- I'm not trying to tear him down, but he just seems overmatched out there a LOT of the time. Tarvaris Jackson flashed some skill, but also took a couple of very ugly sacks (I have to note that a lot of people are ALREADY totally overreacting to his performance- He is in no danger of losing the starting job to Beef Supreme, and will look vastly better next week). Brandon Coutu probably handed the placekicking job to Jeff "Super Douche" Reed by failing to blast a kickoff out of the end zone and thus allowing a 103-yard TD return.
It would be folly to jump to any larger conclusions about the Seahawks based on this game, given how many key performers either didn't play or left the gridiron after a handful of snaps. My expectations didn't change much one way or another (though they might be downgraded if Okung ends up shelved for a significant length of time). An overall theme was Seattle's across-the-board high level of effort- From the starters to the 3rd string, they made many (correctable) mistakes, but they also played with aggression and physicality- These are quickly becoming Pete Carroll's Seahawks, and the players are adopting the personality of their Coach.
The Seahawks didn't look great tonight, but their shortcomings certainly seem correctable- I expect them to look much better next week at home against Minnesota (and if we are lucky, Okung's injury will be mild).
What do you think, sirs?
Tweet
1 comment:
I thought it was a good game. The offense not being able to work together showed, but hopefully we get Rice and BMW back next week. Seahawks lacked a big play threat. The defense had its moments, but pass coverage needs to improve. There was some blown safety help when Jennings got beat, but yes, he needs to improve or find an AFL team.
Trying not to read to much into the game, since it is only pre-season week one. But there were some encouraging signs.
Post a Comment