kearly
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What better way to commemorate the worst officiated game of the replacement ref era with the worst officiated game of the 2013 preseason? I know, there aren't many things more irrelevant than preseason officiating, but I could probably do an entire writeup on just how bad the officiating was in this game. It's bugging me a lot, so I'm just going to hit on a few of them.
As a former OL who loved to block, nothing in all of pro sports pisses me off more than seeing a textbook block get punished for being suspiciously good. That happened at least twice in the first half, and both wiped out big gains for each running game.
The first was when JR Sweezy contained his assignment and created a hole that Marshawn Lynch rumbled through for about 15 yards. I did not see a handful of jersey on any of the angles, and Sweezy also had textbook hand placement. In football, there is a bit of an unwritten rule that if you have correct, legal hand placement, you can get away with a little. So even if Sweezy was holding, it's not a call that gets made in a real game 90% of the time, or 99% of the time in the playoffs. Seattle did overcome the penalty with a 1st down later on, but it really sucked seeing Sweezy and Lynch punished for a bad call.
The second was when new LT David Bahktiari put O'Brien Schofield on his back with a textbook run block. Lacy picked up 10-11 yards and the first, but it was called back on a phantom hold. Again, because "gee, if he put him on his back it must have been illegal DERP!" There was a lot of that in this game.
But in a game where phantom holds were flying left and right, it was a non-call that was the worst of them all. On 3rd and 10 in the second half, Jaye Howard owned the center at the snap and a sack on Vince Young was imminent. The center desperately grabbed Howard from behind, by the jersey I might add, yanked him back, and clearly slowed Howard enough for Young to get the pass off. It was completed for a first down (thanks to a generous spot). This was right in the middle of the action and didn't draw a flag. Appropriately, the only time Green Bay could score a TD against us involved a massive officiating gaffe.
There was also a terrible PI call on Sherman and later an insanely bad PI call that negated an interception by Blackmon.
There was the ultra late flag for "helmet to helmet" against Wagner that wasn't helmet to helmet at all.
Finally, there was a terrible call in our favor when one of our backup QBs drew a roughing the passer penalty on what I thought was a great individual (and clean) play by a GB blitzer.
I'm honestly not looking forward to re-watching this game because the officiating made me want to shot put furniture. If we see officiating like this in real games, be ready for a Keith Olbermann / John Morgan -esque tirade of rage.
Also, **** you Roger Goodell. You are ruining football with contact rules that are almost impossible to call accurately in real time. There, I feel a little better now.
Anyway, Seattle won. I won't lie, I had some serious doubts. But anyway, awesome. Three down, twenty to go.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Ok, now to the stuff that actually matters somewhat. Keep in mind that this is pre-DVR study and some of my observations might change when I go more in-depth later.
Defense:
-Tony McDaniel looked an awful lot like Alan Branch out there, he's even wearing the same number (#99). Big bodied, very sturdy against the run, kind of slow, but powerful and savvy. He's not a terrific pass rusher but he created pressure a couple times tonight with power alone. Basically, he looked like the answer to our prayers in regards to finding an early downs run defender at the 3-tech. He looked like a guy that should be starting so long as Pete wants max run defense on 1st and 2nd downs.
-Richard Sherman was mediocre in week 2 and struggled tonight. Before getting nailed for a bogus PI he actually got away with a PI (which looked like the classic superstar treatment). He also whiffed on an open field tackle that would have forced a punt. Sherman is as consistent as he is good, so to see him have two off weeks in a row seems a bit strange. I'm sure he'll be fine. Off topic, check out the top comment from the Chargers-Seahawks game center. The guy claiming to be Richard Sherman in the Harbaugh thread a couple weeks ago? I wouldn't be surprised if it really was Sherman. I hope so, because it means Roland will hate himself forever if true.
-Michael Bennett left the game in the classic "I just got the wind knocked out of me pose," then as expected would later return to action. I'll have to watch him on DVR but he didn't seem to be as big a factor tonight as he was in games 1 and 2.
-Jaye Howard appeared to have a really nice game. Still stout against the run with some notable pressures. His effort seemed better tonight as well.
-I didn't watch him super close but Michael Brooks seemed to have a bit of an off night after looking great in weeks 1 and 2.
-Mebane continues to be a stud. He's been great in every game this preseason. If Mebane really was the vet DT worried about his job, then he is one seriously paranoid MOFO.
-Off topic... where on earth did Eddie Lacy's speed go? I know he ran a 4.64 forty at his pro-day, but he looked fast at Alabama playing against some NFL caliber defensive talent. In this game he looked like TJ Duckett.
-Seattle's defense loves to face big, lumbering RBs. Seattle's run defense looked terrific with 1st team, 2nd team, 3rd team units out there. Green Bay had just 75 yards rushing on 23 carries, and if you take Vince Young's scrambles out, the Packers had just 36 yards rushing on 20 carries (1.8 yards per carry). Taking Rodgers out after just one series obviously helps, especially since Green Bay's backups are a mixed bag at best. Vince Young is clearly their best backup QB.
-Didn't watch Mayowa super close but they seemed to be using him this game as a Bruce-Irvin type situational rusher. Smart. Edit: Mayowa was our every down DE for the first several drives.
-Schofield had another above average performance. He was probably a lock for the roster on day 1, but he's earning it out there.
-Clinton McDonald misplayed the run on the same play that Bahktiari was punished for a phantom hold. That mistake aside, McDonald had a solid outing and could be a very tough cut next week.
-Bruce Irvin finally appeared this preseason and did so with style, making an emphatic TFL on an outside run.
-Tough game for Lotulelei who had a legit late hit called against him and no standout positive plays to compensate.
-Tough game for Bradford too. He's normally great at making open field tackles, but he flopped on a routine tackle attempt which (IIRC) resulted in a first down, and on the next play he had a would be interception ricochet off his hands. On replay it actually looked like a tough pass to haul in, but it's the kind of play Wagner and Wright almost always make with their soft hands and alert ball skills. Bradford did have one nice defensive stop near the sideline.
-I was barely paying attention to him, but Jeron Johnson kept getting screen time which I assume means he was making plays.
-Winston Guy really helped his cause with a clutch forced fumble late in the game.
Overall thoughts on defense:
I'm pretty excited about it. If you remember the fail mary game last year, the Packers had to revert to a low-output dink and dunk offense in the 2nd half because of pressure, and you could see that they were still in that mode during Aaron Rodgers only drive. It's good coaching by McCarthy, because Seattle's defense is designed to give up those plays, but at the same time, don't expect to score 30 in a game doing that. Also, don't expect dink and dunk to score more than 10 points in a game if you rush for 1.8 yards per carry. Small sample size, but our defense appears to have Aaron Rodgers figured out, whereas Manning and Brady looked pretty hard to stop in their outings against us.
I think the run defense will be more than fine. McDaniel is exactly the guy we needed for that Branch role. Red Bryant looks like 2011 Red Bryant again. Howard is a stout run defender. So is McDonald if he makes the team.
I think the pass rush did well considering the opponent and the players we are missing. If a GB QB ever had 5 seconds to throw, without scrambling, I don't remember it.
Offense:
-Need to look at OL closely on DVR. Off the cuff, it looked like the sacks happened because of some poor RB blitz pickups and because of some HERPADERP scrambling decisions that led to sacks. There have been at least 3 times this preseason where Wilson got caught from behind for the sack, two of them by big lineman who should have had no business catching him. Wilson has been cutting it close on some of his scrambles and teams are getting better at punishing him for it. We actually saw evidence of this late last season in the Rams game, so it's a become a bit of a trend.
-Run blocking seemed to be as good as it usually is after a tough 1st drive.
-Seattle's offense, or at least Russell Wilson, seem to be very weak vs. the delayed blitz. It's been a big problem this preseason, and it was an issue in the regular season last year too. Seattle only rarely calls screens and doesn't feature a ton of quick hit type passes, so teams have been taking advantage with delayed blitzing. Our blitz pickup is sub-par, and Wilson tends to panic (justifiably) against them. We also run a lot of empty backfield, which welcomes the blitz.
-Jermaine Kearse had a nice looking 9 yard catch and threw a monster block to help spring Christine Michael on his 43 yard TD.
-After 3 preseason games, Stephen Williams has 31 yards per reception, and if my official target tally is correct, he's at an astronomical 20.3 yards per target. He's also got 3 TD's on 6 catches, one per game. He's like a WR created in a laboratory to play in a Bruce Arians styled "**** it, go deep!" offense, and the irony is, he's here in the first place because Bruce Arians of all people didn't give him a chance. The thing about new coaches and new GMs, sometimes good players get lost inexplicably during those transitions.
Williams had a "wow" inducing catch and run for a first down on 3rd and long. When he caught it, I didn't think he had any chance of making it, but apparently he's got some wheels after the catch. It might have been against scrubs, but still, impressive stuff.
If Williams can keep this up and gets decent play time during the regular season, he could end up the NFL's weirdest fantasy football starter. He is so hard to defend deep- I could see him getting 10 TDs on just 30 catches.
-All of our RBs looked great out there. Lynch had a nice run taken away by a phantom hold, but seemed to maximize yardage on every carry. Robert Turbin ran stronger and appeared to have tied his shoes before this game. He finished with 5 yards a carry. Christine Michael put the offense on his back and pretty much stole the show in the 2nd half. Even the impartial Phil Simms was clearly blown away by Michael's display of athleticism. Michael wasn't just ripping off big plays. It seemed like every time a Seahawks RB turned a no-win situation into something interesting, it was #33 getting up out of the pile afterwards. Great night for our RBs, except in protection. Both Turbin and Michael had brutal whiffs in pass protection that led to sacks. In Turbin's defense, he was up against Clay Matthews.
Michael finished with 97 yards rushing and a TD on just 11 carries. He also caught a screen pass and took it 25 yards before being brought down. Also, and this is very, very important, Michael has yet to fumble in the preseason. If this guy isn't getting at least 5-10 carries a game this season I will cry bloody murder.
-The difference between Quinn and T-Jack is enormous, IMO. Tjack has looked very good for us this preseason. Quinn looks like the kind of super flawed backup QB every other team seems to have. Even on the deep TD throw Quinn had tonight to Williams, the ball was under-thrown and would have probably been picked off by a good ball hawking corner.
-Willson and McGrath had nice games. Mike Person saw a lot of time as a "blocking TE." Which is funny because right before the game I was just thinking about how badly Seattle needs a pure blocking TE right now. Person didn't look that great as a blocker though, sadly. Maybe we should convert Alvin Bailey or Michael Bowie to "TE" a few snaps a game.
-Arceto Clark has had a decent preseason. If he makes our PS, it wouldn't shock me.
-Doug Baldwin had a couple of big catches early in this game. As an aside, I have never seen a better WR who bobbles more catches than Baldwin does.
-I hated the Chris Harper pick, and even though he's had just 3 catches spread out in 3 preseason games- all for piddly yardage- I'm starting to become a fan of his. He looks to have solid hands (small sample size) and can be a bit of a pain to bring down. When he is targeted, he looks wide open. Most importantly, he looks the part physically of a starting NFL WR. Whether he makes our roster or not, I hope he's still around next preseason.
-Russell Wilson looked vintage in the first drive, then seemed to regress in a hurry and finished with a fairly awful performance overall. Granted, his first interception was of the classic Wilson variety. I'm guessing 25% of batted balls get intercepted on average, but if feels like at least 50% of Wilson's batted balls do. He ended up with some bad throws though including a terrible overthrow for an interception. Oh well, at least he wasn't overthrowing the majority of his intermediate to deep passes like last week. I also didn't like some of the sacks he took, particularly the one where a massive looking DL just reached out and grabbed him on the move. That said, I think the penalties REALLY hurt Seattle's offense all night and I'm sure that had an impact on Wilson's rhythm and put Bevell into long distance play calling situations he's not really suited for.
Overall thoughts on the offense:
I am starting to feel legitimate concern over Wilson's preseason struggles and inconsistency. On the other hand, it's kind of insane how good our offense can look at times even without Rice, Harvin, or Miller out there. Penalties have been a major issue, but it might just be terrible preseason officiating and terrible officiating is going to bite us harder than most teams because of the style of our OL and defense.
Special teams:
Another good outing for the special teams unit. Jeremy Lane had some nice returns. Kick coverage was excellent once again.
On the downside, no sooner does Scottemojo talk up Will Blackmon as a KR that Blackmon goes out there and looks slow and indecisive returning kicks (some of the players I've talked up sucked too, so don't feel bad). Golden Tate looked like he was running sideways during his return effort. Seattle could have been a bit better on the KR front tonight.
Miscellaneous observations:
-Pete looked pretty ticked off during the second half when the sloppy play, penalties, and turnovers continued. Win or not, I'm guessing the team got an earful afterwards.
-Green Bay should be worried about their running game.
-One of my favorite late round prospects in the 2013 draft, Micah Hyde, had a pretty nice game for Green Bay.
-Something about Seattle's starting offense just seems off this preseason. Too often Wilson looks uncomfortable out there, and offensive penalties have been plaguing the first team in a big way. I wouldn't be shocked if Wilson gets off to a slow start in the regular season like he did last year. Whether it's rust or something else, there have been concerning signs, though it will probably help when we get Rice and Miller back.
-Siliga looks ultra slow, like, maybe too slow to be in the NFL even as a NT. Funny that he of all people somehow got a sack. I also love that his jersey number is #74, as if the team wanted him to be a living reminder of the Moffitt trade.
-IIRC, after Stephen Williams caught a deep bomb for a touchdown, announcer Ian Eagle chimed in with "no simultaneous catch here." Awesome.
As a former OL who loved to block, nothing in all of pro sports pisses me off more than seeing a textbook block get punished for being suspiciously good. That happened at least twice in the first half, and both wiped out big gains for each running game.
The first was when JR Sweezy contained his assignment and created a hole that Marshawn Lynch rumbled through for about 15 yards. I did not see a handful of jersey on any of the angles, and Sweezy also had textbook hand placement. In football, there is a bit of an unwritten rule that if you have correct, legal hand placement, you can get away with a little. So even if Sweezy was holding, it's not a call that gets made in a real game 90% of the time, or 99% of the time in the playoffs. Seattle did overcome the penalty with a 1st down later on, but it really sucked seeing Sweezy and Lynch punished for a bad call.
The second was when new LT David Bahktiari put O'Brien Schofield on his back with a textbook run block. Lacy picked up 10-11 yards and the first, but it was called back on a phantom hold. Again, because "gee, if he put him on his back it must have been illegal DERP!" There was a lot of that in this game.
But in a game where phantom holds were flying left and right, it was a non-call that was the worst of them all. On 3rd and 10 in the second half, Jaye Howard owned the center at the snap and a sack on Vince Young was imminent. The center desperately grabbed Howard from behind, by the jersey I might add, yanked him back, and clearly slowed Howard enough for Young to get the pass off. It was completed for a first down (thanks to a generous spot). This was right in the middle of the action and didn't draw a flag. Appropriately, the only time Green Bay could score a TD against us involved a massive officiating gaffe.
There was also a terrible PI call on Sherman and later an insanely bad PI call that negated an interception by Blackmon.
There was the ultra late flag for "helmet to helmet" against Wagner that wasn't helmet to helmet at all.
Finally, there was a terrible call in our favor when one of our backup QBs drew a roughing the passer penalty on what I thought was a great individual (and clean) play by a GB blitzer.
I'm honestly not looking forward to re-watching this game because the officiating made me want to shot put furniture. If we see officiating like this in real games, be ready for a Keith Olbermann / John Morgan -esque tirade of rage.
Also, **** you Roger Goodell. You are ruining football with contact rules that are almost impossible to call accurately in real time. There, I feel a little better now.
Anyway, Seattle won. I won't lie, I had some serious doubts. But anyway, awesome. Three down, twenty to go.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Ok, now to the stuff that actually matters somewhat. Keep in mind that this is pre-DVR study and some of my observations might change when I go more in-depth later.
Defense:
-Tony McDaniel looked an awful lot like Alan Branch out there, he's even wearing the same number (#99). Big bodied, very sturdy against the run, kind of slow, but powerful and savvy. He's not a terrific pass rusher but he created pressure a couple times tonight with power alone. Basically, he looked like the answer to our prayers in regards to finding an early downs run defender at the 3-tech. He looked like a guy that should be starting so long as Pete wants max run defense on 1st and 2nd downs.
-Richard Sherman was mediocre in week 2 and struggled tonight. Before getting nailed for a bogus PI he actually got away with a PI (which looked like the classic superstar treatment). He also whiffed on an open field tackle that would have forced a punt. Sherman is as consistent as he is good, so to see him have two off weeks in a row seems a bit strange. I'm sure he'll be fine. Off topic, check out the top comment from the Chargers-Seahawks game center. The guy claiming to be Richard Sherman in the Harbaugh thread a couple weeks ago? I wouldn't be surprised if it really was Sherman. I hope so, because it means Roland will hate himself forever if true.
-Michael Bennett left the game in the classic "I just got the wind knocked out of me pose," then as expected would later return to action. I'll have to watch him on DVR but he didn't seem to be as big a factor tonight as he was in games 1 and 2.
-Jaye Howard appeared to have a really nice game. Still stout against the run with some notable pressures. His effort seemed better tonight as well.
-I didn't watch him super close but Michael Brooks seemed to have a bit of an off night after looking great in weeks 1 and 2.
-Mebane continues to be a stud. He's been great in every game this preseason. If Mebane really was the vet DT worried about his job, then he is one seriously paranoid MOFO.
-Off topic... where on earth did Eddie Lacy's speed go? I know he ran a 4.64 forty at his pro-day, but he looked fast at Alabama playing against some NFL caliber defensive talent. In this game he looked like TJ Duckett.
-Seattle's defense loves to face big, lumbering RBs. Seattle's run defense looked terrific with 1st team, 2nd team, 3rd team units out there. Green Bay had just 75 yards rushing on 23 carries, and if you take Vince Young's scrambles out, the Packers had just 36 yards rushing on 20 carries (1.8 yards per carry). Taking Rodgers out after just one series obviously helps, especially since Green Bay's backups are a mixed bag at best. Vince Young is clearly their best backup QB.
-Didn't watch Mayowa super close but they seemed to be using him this game as a Bruce-Irvin type situational rusher. Smart. Edit: Mayowa was our every down DE for the first several drives.
-Schofield had another above average performance. He was probably a lock for the roster on day 1, but he's earning it out there.
-Clinton McDonald misplayed the run on the same play that Bahktiari was punished for a phantom hold. That mistake aside, McDonald had a solid outing and could be a very tough cut next week.
-Bruce Irvin finally appeared this preseason and did so with style, making an emphatic TFL on an outside run.
-Tough game for Lotulelei who had a legit late hit called against him and no standout positive plays to compensate.
-Tough game for Bradford too. He's normally great at making open field tackles, but he flopped on a routine tackle attempt which (IIRC) resulted in a first down, and on the next play he had a would be interception ricochet off his hands. On replay it actually looked like a tough pass to haul in, but it's the kind of play Wagner and Wright almost always make with their soft hands and alert ball skills. Bradford did have one nice defensive stop near the sideline.
-I was barely paying attention to him, but Jeron Johnson kept getting screen time which I assume means he was making plays.
-Winston Guy really helped his cause with a clutch forced fumble late in the game.
Overall thoughts on defense:
I'm pretty excited about it. If you remember the fail mary game last year, the Packers had to revert to a low-output dink and dunk offense in the 2nd half because of pressure, and you could see that they were still in that mode during Aaron Rodgers only drive. It's good coaching by McCarthy, because Seattle's defense is designed to give up those plays, but at the same time, don't expect to score 30 in a game doing that. Also, don't expect dink and dunk to score more than 10 points in a game if you rush for 1.8 yards per carry. Small sample size, but our defense appears to have Aaron Rodgers figured out, whereas Manning and Brady looked pretty hard to stop in their outings against us.
I think the run defense will be more than fine. McDaniel is exactly the guy we needed for that Branch role. Red Bryant looks like 2011 Red Bryant again. Howard is a stout run defender. So is McDonald if he makes the team.
I think the pass rush did well considering the opponent and the players we are missing. If a GB QB ever had 5 seconds to throw, without scrambling, I don't remember it.
Offense:
-Need to look at OL closely on DVR. Off the cuff, it looked like the sacks happened because of some poor RB blitz pickups and because of some HERPADERP scrambling decisions that led to sacks. There have been at least 3 times this preseason where Wilson got caught from behind for the sack, two of them by big lineman who should have had no business catching him. Wilson has been cutting it close on some of his scrambles and teams are getting better at punishing him for it. We actually saw evidence of this late last season in the Rams game, so it's a become a bit of a trend.
-Run blocking seemed to be as good as it usually is after a tough 1st drive.
-Seattle's offense, or at least Russell Wilson, seem to be very weak vs. the delayed blitz. It's been a big problem this preseason, and it was an issue in the regular season last year too. Seattle only rarely calls screens and doesn't feature a ton of quick hit type passes, so teams have been taking advantage with delayed blitzing. Our blitz pickup is sub-par, and Wilson tends to panic (justifiably) against them. We also run a lot of empty backfield, which welcomes the blitz.
-Jermaine Kearse had a nice looking 9 yard catch and threw a monster block to help spring Christine Michael on his 43 yard TD.
-After 3 preseason games, Stephen Williams has 31 yards per reception, and if my official target tally is correct, he's at an astronomical 20.3 yards per target. He's also got 3 TD's on 6 catches, one per game. He's like a WR created in a laboratory to play in a Bruce Arians styled "**** it, go deep!" offense, and the irony is, he's here in the first place because Bruce Arians of all people didn't give him a chance. The thing about new coaches and new GMs, sometimes good players get lost inexplicably during those transitions.
Williams had a "wow" inducing catch and run for a first down on 3rd and long. When he caught it, I didn't think he had any chance of making it, but apparently he's got some wheels after the catch. It might have been against scrubs, but still, impressive stuff.
If Williams can keep this up and gets decent play time during the regular season, he could end up the NFL's weirdest fantasy football starter. He is so hard to defend deep- I could see him getting 10 TDs on just 30 catches.
-All of our RBs looked great out there. Lynch had a nice run taken away by a phantom hold, but seemed to maximize yardage on every carry. Robert Turbin ran stronger and appeared to have tied his shoes before this game. He finished with 5 yards a carry. Christine Michael put the offense on his back and pretty much stole the show in the 2nd half. Even the impartial Phil Simms was clearly blown away by Michael's display of athleticism. Michael wasn't just ripping off big plays. It seemed like every time a Seahawks RB turned a no-win situation into something interesting, it was #33 getting up out of the pile afterwards. Great night for our RBs, except in protection. Both Turbin and Michael had brutal whiffs in pass protection that led to sacks. In Turbin's defense, he was up against Clay Matthews.
Michael finished with 97 yards rushing and a TD on just 11 carries. He also caught a screen pass and took it 25 yards before being brought down. Also, and this is very, very important, Michael has yet to fumble in the preseason. If this guy isn't getting at least 5-10 carries a game this season I will cry bloody murder.
-The difference between Quinn and T-Jack is enormous, IMO. Tjack has looked very good for us this preseason. Quinn looks like the kind of super flawed backup QB every other team seems to have. Even on the deep TD throw Quinn had tonight to Williams, the ball was under-thrown and would have probably been picked off by a good ball hawking corner.
-Willson and McGrath had nice games. Mike Person saw a lot of time as a "blocking TE." Which is funny because right before the game I was just thinking about how badly Seattle needs a pure blocking TE right now. Person didn't look that great as a blocker though, sadly. Maybe we should convert Alvin Bailey or Michael Bowie to "TE" a few snaps a game.
-Arceto Clark has had a decent preseason. If he makes our PS, it wouldn't shock me.
-Doug Baldwin had a couple of big catches early in this game. As an aside, I have never seen a better WR who bobbles more catches than Baldwin does.
-I hated the Chris Harper pick, and even though he's had just 3 catches spread out in 3 preseason games- all for piddly yardage- I'm starting to become a fan of his. He looks to have solid hands (small sample size) and can be a bit of a pain to bring down. When he is targeted, he looks wide open. Most importantly, he looks the part physically of a starting NFL WR. Whether he makes our roster or not, I hope he's still around next preseason.
-Russell Wilson looked vintage in the first drive, then seemed to regress in a hurry and finished with a fairly awful performance overall. Granted, his first interception was of the classic Wilson variety. I'm guessing 25% of batted balls get intercepted on average, but if feels like at least 50% of Wilson's batted balls do. He ended up with some bad throws though including a terrible overthrow for an interception. Oh well, at least he wasn't overthrowing the majority of his intermediate to deep passes like last week. I also didn't like some of the sacks he took, particularly the one where a massive looking DL just reached out and grabbed him on the move. That said, I think the penalties REALLY hurt Seattle's offense all night and I'm sure that had an impact on Wilson's rhythm and put Bevell into long distance play calling situations he's not really suited for.
Overall thoughts on the offense:
I am starting to feel legitimate concern over Wilson's preseason struggles and inconsistency. On the other hand, it's kind of insane how good our offense can look at times even without Rice, Harvin, or Miller out there. Penalties have been a major issue, but it might just be terrible preseason officiating and terrible officiating is going to bite us harder than most teams because of the style of our OL and defense.
Special teams:
Another good outing for the special teams unit. Jeremy Lane had some nice returns. Kick coverage was excellent once again.
On the downside, no sooner does Scottemojo talk up Will Blackmon as a KR that Blackmon goes out there and looks slow and indecisive returning kicks (some of the players I've talked up sucked too, so don't feel bad). Golden Tate looked like he was running sideways during his return effort. Seattle could have been a bit better on the KR front tonight.
Miscellaneous observations:
-Pete looked pretty ticked off during the second half when the sloppy play, penalties, and turnovers continued. Win or not, I'm guessing the team got an earful afterwards.
-Green Bay should be worried about their running game.
-One of my favorite late round prospects in the 2013 draft, Micah Hyde, had a pretty nice game for Green Bay.
-Something about Seattle's starting offense just seems off this preseason. Too often Wilson looks uncomfortable out there, and offensive penalties have been plaguing the first team in a big way. I wouldn't be shocked if Wilson gets off to a slow start in the regular season like he did last year. Whether it's rust or something else, there have been concerning signs, though it will probably help when we get Rice and Miller back.
-Siliga looks ultra slow, like, maybe too slow to be in the NFL even as a NT. Funny that he of all people somehow got a sack. I also love that his jersey number is #74, as if the team wanted him to be a living reminder of the Moffitt trade.
-IIRC, after Stephen Williams caught a deep bomb for a touchdown, announcer Ian Eagle chimed in with "no simultaneous catch here." Awesome.
