Seahawks solid versus the Chargers, still have a lot to clean up

The Seahawks found their backup QB and ran with ease versus the Chargers. But there’s still plenty of material for Pete Carroll to work on.

When you’re coming into the third preseason game, you hope you know what your team will look like. The Seahawks still had some big questions. Who would be the backup quarterback? Could the defensive line generate a pass rush? Seattle got answers, although all of them weren’t exactly definitive, as you’ll see. Not every answer was good, either. But for the most part, things are looking up.

One positive answer: the offense looked sharp. Seattle ran for 185 yards, and that was with workhorse Chris Carson just touching the ball three times. The Hawks added 190 yards through the air, most of that by their backup. Yeah, we’ll get to him, don’t worry.

Both quarterbacks continued to use play-action to brilliant effect, which got receivers open on crossing patterns and stretched the field several times. The play-action froze linebackers and corners time and again. It didn’t hurt the quarterbacks’ 55 yards rushing total, either.

Russell Wilson looked good – not great, but really good. He had a couple of balls sail on him, but he was still 6 for 9 for 73 yards. My one concern: he has yet to connect on a touchdown pass in the preseason. Then again, he’s only thrown 18 passes, so I doubt it’s keeping him up at night. He picked up blitzes with ease and picked up first downs with his arm and his legs. Basically, he was last season’s DangeRuss against the Vikings and played the same versus the Chargers.

The revelation was Geno Smith. Coming back from a minor operation, Smith was 11 of 18 for 117 yards. Like Wilson, he couldn’t find the end zone through the air. He did have a nifty scramble for eight yards and touchdown. Basically, he looked like Russell Wilson Lite, just what the Seahawks expected when they signed him in back in May. The caveat here is that the Chargers were resting most of their starters for the game.

Seahawks found more standouts

Two players that were relative longshots to make the roster coming into the preseason continued their outstanding play. Defensive back Ugo Amadi led the team with five solo tackles and an assist. Yes, he muffed one punt, but overall, he’s been rock-solid. He’s playing much bigger than 5’9″, as evidenced by his spectacular play on special teams.

So is John Ursua, for that matter. There’s been so much focus has been on the Seahawks twin towers DK Metcalf and Jazz Ferguson, Ursua has been overlooked. In the NFL, it isn’t hard to slip under the radar at 5’9″, but Ursua is getting noticed by 12s. With two catches for 52 yards against the Chargers, Ursua now has 100 yards on four catches in the preseason. He certainly looks like he’s on the 53-man roster.

The Seahawks defense gave up a lot of completions, but the Chargers didn’t get into the endzone until they were going against third-stringers in the fourth quarter. The Hawks first and second squads controlled the game with ease. Seattle’s defense throttled Los Angeles (that still seems weird) twice on fourth down. They bent, a lot, but they didn’t break. The pass rush just wasn’t there, though. The one sack Seattle got was on an all-out rush when everyone but Ken Norton Jr. crashed into the Chargers backfield. Expect to see more blitzes, 12s.

Next. Seahawks need WR to step up with Moore out. dark

Overall, the Seahawks still need help in the pass rush. Four sacks in three games is not a good indicator for the regular season. Ziggy Ansah and L.J. Collier should beef up the pressure quite a bit. But there isn’t a set timeline for either player’s return. Neither player has seen one snap in a preseason game, and Collier is a rookie, of course. I don’t know; Lee Vowell may be right about a trade for Clowney. For now, I like the improvement we saw versus the Chargers. But there’s just one game left to clean up the holes in Seattle’s game.

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