If this WAS a “Winners & Losers” post, I’d probably have to say that the Oakland Raiders were the “winners” and the Seattle Seahawks were the “losers”. Is that how it works? Am I doing this right?
A meaningless end to a meaningless pre-season took place last night. The Seahawks did indeed lose to the Raiders, 30-19. EJ Manuel carved up our defense like a freshly roasted turkey. Some guy named Keon Hatcher (who I can only assume will be jobless by the end of this sentence) caught 8 balls for 128 yards and 3 touchdowns. None of the starters really played, except for Ifedi I guess, who I think maybe tweaked an ankle or something? I dunno, he should be fine though. On with the premise!
What I’m Geeked Out About After Four Meaningless Pre-Season Games
I guess what I’m most geeked out about is that Russell Wilson didn’t play a single snap. Chris Carson had just two carries. By and large, our most important starters played either no snaps or very few snaps. Can’t ask for anything more out of a fourth pre-season game.
I’m geeked out about never having to see Austin Davis ever again! While he did have a pretty nifty 81-yard TD pass to Damore’ea Stringfellow, that was pretty much it, as he continuously failed to drive this team against a pretty fucking mediocre Raiders defense (also missing most of its regular starters). Davis did end up throwing for 194 yards while playing the entire first half, so maybe that’ll be good enough to sucker some other team into picking him up.
If I had to pick a couple things that I’m actually geeked out about, I’d start with the offensive line. There were mistakes aplenty early (a couple back-to-back holding penalties took Isaiah Battle out of the game for a while), but even though we put mostly reserves out there, I thought they showed some real improvement over what we saw in the first three weeks. We ended up running for 131 yards on 26 carries (with Mike Davis running 9 times for 45 yards and a TD; he’s a good little slashing runner, I gotta say).
The other thing is I thought Shaquem Griffin looked really good. He played a lot of snaps last night – as he prepares to start in Denver in Week 1 in place of the injured K.J. Wright – and he was just a Tasmanian Devil of destruction! Stuffing guys in holes, preventing open-field runners from getting first downs; he led the team with 8 tackles and he certainly could’ve had more than that if he played the entire game.
Other Things That Caught My Eye (In A Good Way)
Stringfellow obviously had a strong game, with 2 catches, 90 yards, and a TD. I don’t think it was enough to get him a job on the 53-man roster, but I’m willing to bet the team would have him back on the Practice Squad. However, given the way he’s played, it wouldn’t shock me in the least to see another team snap him up for their 53-man. I’m sure the Broncos could always use another receiver …
I thought Alex McGough had an okay game and continues to make progress. He had the actual pass of the game though. I know that 81-yarder from Davis was impressive and all, but really he just hit a receiver in stride, and just over the outstretched arms of a lone defender. McGough, on the other hand, was running for his life to the right, and chucked it on a dime 52 yards down field to Malik Turner for what appeared to be a go-ahead TD. Unfortunately, Turner had to awkwardly position himself to catch the ball and get into the endzone, and in the process failed to get his second foot in bounds, but GOD DAMN was that an impressive throw!
Let’s Talk About Competitions
I want to get this in here now, while I’m talking about the backup QBs. While I think it’s more than reasonable to bring in Brett Hundley – who has been around a while, who has starting experience (in a playoff atmosphere, I might add, as the Packers were hunting down a wild card spot to the bitter end last year), and who has a game that somewhat resembles Russell Wilson’s – I do like the makeup of McGough an awful lot, and I think he’s someone who will develop into a viable backup quarterback one day (and, who knows, if things break right, maybe even a starter somewhere).
That having been said, McGough ain’t there yet. He’s still VERY raw and has a lot of seasoning to accrue. I still hope like the dickens that the Seahawks can sneak him onto the practice squad.
As for that right tackle competition, I think Ifedi was able to hold down his job. Sounded like Fant was flip-flopping back and forth from right to left tackle, so that tells me he’s going to be this team’s backup at both positions (hell, they even had Joey Hunt playing right tackle late in the game, to give someone else a chance to play center).
I don’t know about the wide receivers, as really Stringfellow was the only one who stood out, and I don’t think he’s done enough this pre-season to warrant keeping on the 53-man roster. This feels like a position group the team has already made up its mind on.
Finally, as for the cornerback spot opposite Shaquill Griffin … your guess is as good as mine. Looks like an endless black hole of misery to me, but what do I know?
Other Things That Caught My Eye (In A Bad Way)
Uhh, let’s see. Janikowski missing TWO extra points!
Michael Dickson punted a ball INTO THE ENDZONE!
The defense (regardless of whether or not the starters played) let EJ Fucking Manuel throw for 255 yards (on 18/22 passing) with a rating of 154.5!
The utter lack of turnovers once again!
The terrible decisions to return some of those kickoffs out of the endzone!
The PENALTIES!
I could go on and on. This was a sloppy, miserable game, befitting of a 4th pre-season game. Why the NFL still has 4 of these every year, I’ll never know.
I’ll say this: the depth is a joke on this team. It’s going to be LEAN TIMES if a lot of important Seahawks get injured this year. But, that shouldn’t be a problem, right? It’s not like this team has seen players dropping like a fucking leprosy patient loses limbs for the last three years or so.
Oh.
Wait.