Preseason: Seahawks vs. Chargers – Open Game Thread

Post-game thoughts: 

• Okung’s loss is huge. Hopefully it’s a minor injury.
• The running game looked better. The making of an average to above average running game is there. That’s a huge improvement over last year.
• Jackson didn’t make any fans tonight. The passing game looked bad.
• Seattle’s top 3 receivers didn’t play, and the O-line is a work in progress. Let’s not panic… yet.
• When the starters were on the field, the Seahawks “lost” 10-0. Lets not over hype a pre-season win.
• The team has only been able to work out together for 10 days. It’s been 1 week since the free agents could practice with the team.
• With all the turnover, and an entirely new offensive system, we should be expecting consistent improvement over the next 4 weeks.

Final Seahawks win 24 – 17

:55 4th –  Chargers go for it on 4th down (Really!?!) and don’t convert. Good pass defense down on the goal line by Seattle.

Victory formation time.

1:14 4th – If the Chargers score here, they better go for 2. Playing for overtime in the preseason is just wrong. Why risk more injuries in a meaningless game?

Touchdown Seahawks 24-17

Clayton is running hard and making a case for himself in the crowded Seahawks backfield.

Touchdown Seahawks! 17 – 17

4:48 4th – Portis throws a pretty spiral. That was another good pass.

6:14 4th – Great read and deep pass by Portis. He’s a long away from being NFL ready, but the talent is there if he can learn the game better.

10:47 4th – I’ll give Portis this: He runs for his life like an NFL Quarterback.

13:00 4th – Another Good defensive stand by the 3rd and 4th stringers. I’d say that our depth looks better than in past years.

Start of 4th – Josh Portis in at QB. Everyone’s said he’s looked good at practice.

His first pass wasn’t pretty, but lets not judge him on one play, or one preseason game for that matter.

End of Third Quarter – Seahawks doing better now that the starters are off the field for the most part. Even if they win this it wont stop it from being very disappointing.

Touchdown Chargers – 103 yard kickoff return. Perhaps the Seahawks coaches wanted the team to keep playing from behind like its some drill at practice… or not.

Field Goal! Tie Game, 10-10

1:01 3rd – Not a bad drive by the Seahawks. Whitehurst was surprisingly efficient on the drive.

6:46 3rd – Whitehurst is still out there. Still throwing the ball short a lot, though he is completing most of his passes this half.

Touchdown Seattle! 10 – 7 Chargers lead

8:33 3rd – Very old school power football down here on the goal line. Just waiting for the “fat guy” to jump on the pile after the play ends like back in the day.

11:28 3rd – Whitehurst hits his TE in the seam to get the hawks into the red zone. Too bad Byrd, the TE, wont make this team, and the Chargers are playing mostly third stringer on D.

13:11 3rd – Good 3 and out by the Seahawks defense. I’m curious to see how much Whitehurst plays this half.

14:55 3rd – 3rd stringers all over the field to start the quarter.

If you’re thinking you’re going crazy, you’re not. I flipped everything to keep only the current Quarter before the jump. This thread was getting too long.
Halftime. Chargers up 10-0

Feels like it should be worse.

Going to be updating less after the half. Once we get too far down the depth charts to players unlikely to make the team, it just doesn’t seem like we need to scrutinize the plays as much.

6:22 pm – 3rd and 2 and we get a fade pass. I thought we wouldn’t have to watch that play call with the new offensive coordinator.

6:16 pm – Leon Washington is getting all the carries now. 8 yard run removed by a 10 yard holding penalty.

third and 19, running play for -2 yards. Penalty on SD gives them a first down.

I don’t think the Seahawks have passed their own 40 yard line yet. Pass from Whitehurst for another first down gets them to the 33. I think that’s the farthest upfield they’ve been.

Time stamps are pretty meaningless aren’t they? After the half I’ll use the time left in each quarter.

Field Goal! 10-0 Chargers lead 

6:06 pm – Looks Like Seattle’s starters are all done for the night. all new LB’s in, and Pinkard in at Safety. Trying to figure out who’s playing CB and D-line right now. Looks like Branch and Savali are the tackles.

good to see Seattle’s corners look and play “big.” I know i’m not the only on tired of watch 5’8″ guys have no chance on stop routes like that.

5:59 pm – The Great Bearded One gets a first down on a scramble. that’s 4 first downs so far. 1 running, 1 passing, and 2 QB scrambles. that’s not promising.

Next series ended with The Great Bearded One fumbling a shotgun snap on 3rd and 8.  If you’re wondering why I keep calling that, it’s because  Charlie Whitehurst is hard to type fast. That and this game has been kinda boring.

5:51 pm – Volek just isn’t the same as Rivers. Listening to the announces praise Volek is a bit silly. I lived in San Diego for a bit, and most fans and reporters wanted The Great Bearded One to be the backup.

2 Volek passes in a row broken up by good coverage. Or poor Volek reads of the defense. Hard to tell from the TV camera angles.

5:46 pm – The Great Beared One on to start the 2nd quarter at QB.

3rd and 1 – no gain… sigh…

5:41 pm – Wilkerson with a big sack. Good to see some pressure. Punt coming.

good punt return, called back on a holding penalty. Flags are going to be common this preseason because of the lockout.

First Quarter Over

Can’t say that was an impressive quarter. Hard to get excited about anything but a few running plays.

At the top I said we wanted to see a decent offense and no significant injuries. Offense was bad. Okung got injured.

5:35 pm – Jackson’s touch on the short passes isn’t a strength. Neither is pass blocking for the line. 2 straight sacks ends the Hawks 2nd drive.

5:32 pm – no way Matt gets that first down. He was never that mobile.

Running game is looking better. 6 yards, 3 yards, 5 yards on last 3 running plays.

5:28 pm – another touchback. Chucky: “wow, that’s exciting. I’m glad they made that change.” (that was sarcasm, and I couldn’t agree more)

Touchdown! Rivers to Tolbert. 0 – 7 Chargers

5:25 pm – The speed of the Chargers offense is really apparent on this drive. Hawks look slow

5:20 pm – Big play to Jackson. Thomas was way out of position on that one.

Curry with a big play against the running game. I hope to be writing that more a lot more this season.

5:17 pm – draw play for 7 yards on 3rd and 12. Call that the Justin Forsett special. He has a knack to getting lots of stats on plays that don’t help the team.

5:14 pm – Okung limped off a couple plays ago. Jackson gets clobbered from the left side 2 plays later. it’s now 2nd & 21. talk about a drive stalling…

5:11  pm – Jackson’s mobility evident early against this pass rush. I think Matt would have been hit already.

4 yard gain on third and 1. They’ll need to be able to do that regularly this season.

5:07 pm – first play was a 2 yard run that looked a lot like the 2010 running game. 2nd play was more of the same. Hopefully this isn’t a tend that lasts all year. This offense needs better.

3rd down play was a crossing pattern for a first down against a blitz. not bad…

5:06 pm – Kickoff! We are underway! touchback. Expect to see a ton of those this season under the new rules.

5:04 pm – Marshawn Lynch, Earl Thomas and Michael Robinson are the Captains tonight. Odd not seeing a pair of names who have departed recently and meant so much to this team.

also, the opening play was picked on twitter? I hope that’s not a trend.

Kickoff is just 5 minutes away. Not too much at stake here, as it’s only the preseason. All we’re looking for here is for the offense to look decent, and for injuries to be kept to a minimum.