MontanaHawk05
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 1, 2009
- Messages
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1. Preseason isn't about the team looking good. It's about individuals seizing opportunities. Some did, some kinda did, others dropped two passes and drew a holding penalty. Week 1 of the preseason gives you about a quarter's worth of valuable diagnostics before it becomes about as informative as an episode of Pawn Stars. Basically, other than two guys, whatever you learned today isn't to be accepted until Weeks 2 and 3 confirm it.
2. Who were those two guys? Frank Clark and Tyler Lockett. Clark has motor, technique, and tenacity. He was wrecking people all up and down Denver's roster. Tyler Lockett, for his part, had enough speed to break off a 103-yard TD return despite utterly fetid blocking by his teammates. That says a lot, especially given Denver played so hard and well that it's obvious Gary Kubiak wanted to make a statement. (squeeeeeee)
3. TE situation. Poor Anthony McCoy. So much potential, so much adversity, so little results. It's obvious that he cares. There's still time for him this offseason. But Seattle already has someone else - Cooper Helfet - who's never given reason to be doubted. McCoy has to get his butt in gear.
4. RB situation. Robert Turbin and Christine Michael showed marginal improvement, while Thomas Rawls and Rod Smith had some splash plays against a third-string prevent defense. Basically, an "Incomplete" grade. Turbin is still held back by his lacking first gear; Michael needed to fumble about as much as Hillary Clinton needed to joke about Snapchat this morning. Rawls plays with an intriguing spark. You get the impression that he might blow up behind an OL with its act together. Speaking of which...
5. The offensive line's importance. If Tom Cable is adamant about Seattle's only real pass protection being Russell Wilson's legs, he's doing a good job. But fans, who continue to rely on gameday pundits and local talking heads for their information, still believe that the offensive line is the most important position in football. It's not. Based off the last eight Super Bowl appearances (all mediocre to bad offensive lines, including our own, twice), it's highly spurious, depending on QB performance, WR performance, scheme usage, and a variety of other factors. As long as Cable is in charge, this team is not going to be drafting pass protectors along the OL. They're going to be drafting "grit" and "nasty" for the run-blocking game that comprises the team's philosophy. The philosophy which has sent them to two Super Bowls.
6. The offensive line's performance. All that being said, they blew chunks last night. First Britt used the wrong technique against Von Miller, then Sweezy broke down, then...As Scottemojo said elsewhere, it's usually just one person dropping the ball, but that's all it takes. A good OL has enough consistency between all five guys to cover the occasional mistake. We're nowhere near that. Nor did we look good in the run-blocking game, either. That's what got me, since it's Cable's calling card around here. Terry Poole provided a big enough hole to drive a truck through at one point, but other than that...guys constantly getting blown up at the point of attack, even by Denver's third-stringers. BUT...preseason. And a line strung together with rookies and DL projects.
7. Chris Matthews. I was a lot more encouraged to see Chris Matthews coming back for 10-yard sideline passes and making catches with defenders hanging on him. Much more bread and butter skill than what he showed in the SB. He might encourage Wilson to throw more. They're saying he'll probably be out for two weeks.
8. Other WR's. Pretty obvious that Kevin Smith is the one who's gotten the bulk of RJ Archer's practice throws. Doesn't mean much, but he acquitted himself better than Norwood. I've just never been excited about Norwood.
9. CB Tye Smith. Also didn't hurt his case. Some nice blanket coverage, reminiscent of Sherm. The pass breakup was actually nothing - the WR flat-out dropped the underthrown pass and Smith collided with him a split second later - but it was something to build on, given that nobody else in the DB depth stable is really seizing the day.
10. Defensive line in general. Something worth being very excited about. Clark can play any position. Avril and Marsh should be an active pair. The tackle rotation is deep. This is the one thing that's robbed us of two more Lombardi trophies since Wilson came to Seattle. Was also nice to see Greg Scruggs showing hustle on an escaping QB - remember Scruggs?
11. S Dion Bailey. Don't jump the gun. Making big hits isn't impressive. It means the QB isn't afraid to throw at you (generally speaking). A good DB doesn't create hits; he creates sacks, by discouraging the QB from throwing.
12. Special teams. Terrible blocking, though that's to be expected in preseason. #53 blew a block, then G Mark Glowinski blew one (are they checking him for ST potential before kicking him to the curb?), then everyone sucked on Lockett's big run. Coverage wasn't bad.
13. The Broncos. Keep in mind that Seattle was playing what is still a good football team, one that didn't hesitate to play as if it was Week 3 of the preseason and not Week 1. Brock Osweiler looked sharper than I expected, though he was sticking with shorter throws out of obvious respect for Seattle's DL. They've got a respectable DL of their own, too.
14. That open-field tackle by bubble DB Eric Pinkins. Thing. Of. Beauty. Regardless of whether he makes the roster ot not.
15. Nate Boyer. He looked good, but are they really thinking about dumping Clint Gresham for him? Or are they just giving him tape so some other team will give him a look? Sounds like something Pete would do.
16. If you're looking for another reason to hate the OL, remember that the loss of Max Unger's experience is not trivial. Bitch about his injury proneness all you want. You don't make a bad OL worse. Jimmy Graham will need to greatly encourage Wilson to throw faster in order to balance out that trade.
17. BJ Daniels is interesting. Spunky and full-motor, but mixed results. Seattle doesn't have a track record of holding onto such Swiss army knives.
Until next week...
2. Who were those two guys? Frank Clark and Tyler Lockett. Clark has motor, technique, and tenacity. He was wrecking people all up and down Denver's roster. Tyler Lockett, for his part, had enough speed to break off a 103-yard TD return despite utterly fetid blocking by his teammates. That says a lot, especially given Denver played so hard and well that it's obvious Gary Kubiak wanted to make a statement. (squeeeeeee)
3. TE situation. Poor Anthony McCoy. So much potential, so much adversity, so little results. It's obvious that he cares. There's still time for him this offseason. But Seattle already has someone else - Cooper Helfet - who's never given reason to be doubted. McCoy has to get his butt in gear.
4. RB situation. Robert Turbin and Christine Michael showed marginal improvement, while Thomas Rawls and Rod Smith had some splash plays against a third-string prevent defense. Basically, an "Incomplete" grade. Turbin is still held back by his lacking first gear; Michael needed to fumble about as much as Hillary Clinton needed to joke about Snapchat this morning. Rawls plays with an intriguing spark. You get the impression that he might blow up behind an OL with its act together. Speaking of which...
5. The offensive line's importance. If Tom Cable is adamant about Seattle's only real pass protection being Russell Wilson's legs, he's doing a good job. But fans, who continue to rely on gameday pundits and local talking heads for their information, still believe that the offensive line is the most important position in football. It's not. Based off the last eight Super Bowl appearances (all mediocre to bad offensive lines, including our own, twice), it's highly spurious, depending on QB performance, WR performance, scheme usage, and a variety of other factors. As long as Cable is in charge, this team is not going to be drafting pass protectors along the OL. They're going to be drafting "grit" and "nasty" for the run-blocking game that comprises the team's philosophy. The philosophy which has sent them to two Super Bowls.
6. The offensive line's performance. All that being said, they blew chunks last night. First Britt used the wrong technique against Von Miller, then Sweezy broke down, then...As Scottemojo said elsewhere, it's usually just one person dropping the ball, but that's all it takes. A good OL has enough consistency between all five guys to cover the occasional mistake. We're nowhere near that. Nor did we look good in the run-blocking game, either. That's what got me, since it's Cable's calling card around here. Terry Poole provided a big enough hole to drive a truck through at one point, but other than that...guys constantly getting blown up at the point of attack, even by Denver's third-stringers. BUT...preseason. And a line strung together with rookies and DL projects.
7. Chris Matthews. I was a lot more encouraged to see Chris Matthews coming back for 10-yard sideline passes and making catches with defenders hanging on him. Much more bread and butter skill than what he showed in the SB. He might encourage Wilson to throw more. They're saying he'll probably be out for two weeks.
8. Other WR's. Pretty obvious that Kevin Smith is the one who's gotten the bulk of RJ Archer's practice throws. Doesn't mean much, but he acquitted himself better than Norwood. I've just never been excited about Norwood.
9. CB Tye Smith. Also didn't hurt his case. Some nice blanket coverage, reminiscent of Sherm. The pass breakup was actually nothing - the WR flat-out dropped the underthrown pass and Smith collided with him a split second later - but it was something to build on, given that nobody else in the DB depth stable is really seizing the day.
10. Defensive line in general. Something worth being very excited about. Clark can play any position. Avril and Marsh should be an active pair. The tackle rotation is deep. This is the one thing that's robbed us of two more Lombardi trophies since Wilson came to Seattle. Was also nice to see Greg Scruggs showing hustle on an escaping QB - remember Scruggs?
11. S Dion Bailey. Don't jump the gun. Making big hits isn't impressive. It means the QB isn't afraid to throw at you (generally speaking). A good DB doesn't create hits; he creates sacks, by discouraging the QB from throwing.
12. Special teams. Terrible blocking, though that's to be expected in preseason. #53 blew a block, then G Mark Glowinski blew one (are they checking him for ST potential before kicking him to the curb?), then everyone sucked on Lockett's big run. Coverage wasn't bad.
13. The Broncos. Keep in mind that Seattle was playing what is still a good football team, one that didn't hesitate to play as if it was Week 3 of the preseason and not Week 1. Brock Osweiler looked sharper than I expected, though he was sticking with shorter throws out of obvious respect for Seattle's DL. They've got a respectable DL of their own, too.
14. That open-field tackle by bubble DB Eric Pinkins. Thing. Of. Beauty. Regardless of whether he makes the roster ot not.
15. Nate Boyer. He looked good, but are they really thinking about dumping Clint Gresham for him? Or are they just giving him tape so some other team will give him a look? Sounds like something Pete would do.
16. If you're looking for another reason to hate the OL, remember that the loss of Max Unger's experience is not trivial. Bitch about his injury proneness all you want. You don't make a bad OL worse. Jimmy Graham will need to greatly encourage Wilson to throw faster in order to balance out that trade.
17. BJ Daniels is interesting. Spunky and full-motor, but mixed results. Seattle doesn't have a track record of holding onto such Swiss army knives.
Until next week...
