First half
— As first halves in opening pre-season games go, this couldn’t have gone much better. Turnovers, big plays from a backup quarterback, the receivers and defenders making a ton of plays, the pass pro was generally good, Blair Walsh was perfect and Seattle scored 34 first half points (unusually high for pre-season but that’s what turnovers do for a team).
— There were also obvious things to work on. Tedric Thompson’s blown coverage on the +70 yard touchdown was a pretty obvious mistake he can take away to work on. Delano Hill also lost the ball in the air late in the half, allowing LA to get a late field goal.
— The overriding positive is, however, how much Seattle dominated as soon as the starters left the field. In 2013 Seattle stormed through pre-season with their superior depth. It was a show of strength, a flexing of muscles. It’s entirely possible the Chargers are really bad but the Seahawks’ depth looked really competitive today in the first half.
— Turnovers. Three of them. Seattle got the ball and put points on the board (17 to be exact). This is Pete Carroll/Seahawks football.
— The first saw Michael Wilhoite tip a pass into the hands of Terence Garvin for a superb pick six. Wilhoite and Garvin could lock themselves in quickly as the two premier backups at LB. It was great to see Naz Jones make a similar deflection on the second for a Tylor Harris pick. Christian French was gifted a third turnover after a botched hand-off. He almost took it in for a second pick six before Chris Carson punched it in.
Terrence Garvin with the PICK 6!! Wilhoite made a good hit on the RB to pop ball up. Garvin grabbed it for the INT. #Seahawks #SEAvsLAC pic.twitter.com/i46vUYbosn
— Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) August 14, 2017
— Garrison Smith had a nice interior rush on the Garvin pick, forcing the quarterback to make an ill-advised throw. Cassius Marsh had a nice TFL and Bradley McDougald drew a holding penalty when running into the backfield. Dewey McDonald also managed a nice TFL vs the run and David Bass recorded a sack despite being held.
Second tackle end stunt in a row worked on the right side, but David Bass slipped inside for the sack. #Seahawks #SEAvsLAC pic.twitter.com/wPdCRfOxWn
— Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) August 14, 2017
— Yes the first team defense gave up a straight forward TD to start the game. It’s worth noting Seattle has conceded points on their first pre-season defensive drive in five of the last six years. They played vanilla against the team that wrote the book on how to exploit Seattle’s zone coverage in 2014. In other words, it’s no big deal.
— Seattle’s third offensive drive was very encouraging for a number of reasons. The pass-protection was very good, Trevone Boykin made some nice completions and had an excellent run play and multiple receivers made big plays.
— Kasen Williams’ high-point grab in coverage, Tanner McEvoy finding a hole in the zone and Kenny Lawler’s smart red zone touchdown highlighted the talent and depth Seattle suddenly has at receiver. Lawler looks bigger and Williams’ catch will challenge Paul Richardson’s on the first drive for most impressive of the day. The receivers were a big positive in the first half.
Kenny Lawler on a quick stick between zones. Good read and throw by Boykin to get the TD! #Seahawks #SEAvsLAC pic.twitter.com/l0YqGT8PjQ
— Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) August 14, 2017
— Boykin hasn’t received positive reviews for the way he’s performed in camp so far but he seems like a guy who’s able to turn it on when it matters during a game. He seems to thrive when surrounded by chaos, with ice in his veins and a knack for playmaking. He looked sensational in the first half, extending drives and making key conversions with his arm and legs. He was accurate, fast and methodical. Austin Davis has a job to match this in the second half.
— Kasen Williams had another great catch on the left sideline, almost a carbon copy of his first grab. It set up Seattle’s final touchdown before half time.
Kasen Williams on the sideline fade route! He made a few awesome grabs when I was at camp. #Seahawks #SEAvsLAC pic.twitter.com/0ysGbrmEof
— Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) August 14, 2017
KASEN WILLIAMS Pt. DUO!! Great catch down the sideline on a fade route vs zone coverage. He's playing great! #Seahawks #SEAvsLAC pic.twitter.com/18tCk4eAo4
— Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) August 14, 2017
— Marcus Lucas found a way to have an impact wearing #85. He’s a name to watch going forward. It was interesting to see him featured on the first drive too. There’s not much room for a tight end to emerge with all the depth at receiver — but they carried four TE’s in 2016.
— Blair Walsh had a perfect half and looked comfortable, confident and on-point.
— J.D. McKissic was on kick-return duties and had a nice special teams tackle. Having a reliable return man given Tyler Lockett’s recent return from injury could be very important.
— I’m going to reserve judgement on the O-line performance until I can focus on each player. Overall the pass pro appeared competent with a few errors (which is to be expected). A positive start.
Second half
— Kasen Williams is playing his way onto the team in this game. Four catches for 119 yards, all very similar jump balls to the left hand side. The third he actively stole the ball away from a defensive back who looked certain to make an interception. His fourth catch was inches away from a touchdown, somehow getting both feet in bounds on a superb circus catch. He was arguably the big individual winner in the game for Seattle.
— Chris Carson looks as good as advertised. He hit the hole with authority, scoring two red zone touchdowns where he powered his way in for a score. This was an impressive start to his pre-season although he only had seven carries. Tellingly he came in before Alex Collins and Mike Davis — a suggestion he’s ahead of both and so far heading for a clear roster spot.
— Boykin’s first negative play of the night was a deep shot to Cyril Grayson leading to an interception. He was under pressure and didn’t get enough on the throw as a consequence — but Grayson appeared well covered.
— Christian French followed his fumble recovery with a sack. He was only signed this week after a tryout. He’ll warrant monitoring moving forward. He also had a couple of plays where he seemed to be absorbed.
— It was a shame Cyril Grayson couldn’t come down with the touchdown to the right corner of the end zone. He got open pretty quickly in the route but Austin Davis hesitated, abandoned a clean pocket and then threw a looping but accurate pass. Grayson just couldn’t get his second foot down. It was a nice effort.
— Alex Collins had to wait for his turn and had a couple of nice plays with his first few touches. However, on a fourth and one he failed to pull in a touch pass from Davis that should’ve been caught to extend the drive. He made up for it with a touchdown to finish a well executed Davis touchdown drive.
— Considering there was a fair bit of negativity about Seattle’s two backup QB’s in the first two weeks of camp, both looked more than competent here.
— One thing that was noticeable — Naz Jones doesn’t give up on plays. He finishes, plays to the whistle and will sprint to the ball carrier downfield when needed. He also hammered Cardale Jones for a QB hit. He’s a bad ass.
— Following on from Marcus Lucas’ good start earlier, Tyrone Swoopes made a couple of really nice plays. He’s a developmental TE but on this evidence worth keeping an eye on. He’s probably a guy they hope to slip onto the practise squad but this was a nice start to his pre-season.
— This isn’t unusual during a Seahawks pre-season but it was great to see the likes of Kam Chancellor, Russell Wilson, Jimmy Graham and Richard Sherman supporting their team mates, all focused on the game deep into the fourth quarter.
— Seattle only gave up two sacks in the game. On first watch the O-line played well when Joey Bosa wasn’t on the field and the running backs overall did a good job in pass pro too. The run blocking could’ve been better but it’s not always easy to judge in a pre-season game with so many moving parts and the D-lines generally staying fresh.
— It’s testament to Seattle’s sudden RB depth that a guy like Mike Davis almost ended up being an afterthought. He ran with physicality and toughness here and could yet make things interesting in pre-season.
— Blair Walsh had plenty of practise today with eight kicks. He nailed all of them with a long of 42-yards.
— Rookie Mike Tyson was well beaten on a downfield pass late in the fourth quarter. Seattle made up for it shortly after with a fourth turnover of the night to kill the game — Pierre Desir executing a well timed blitz to get a sack/fumble.
Final thoughts
It’s only one pre-season game and this might say more for LA’s depth than anything — but this was a mightily impressive opening game for the Seahawks. They forced turnovers, put points on the board and had big plays on both sides of the ball. The 2013 pre-season showed off Seattle’s depth in a similar fashion. This was a very encouraging start to 2017.
What did you think to the 48-17 win? Let me know in the comments section.
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