Quick takeaways from Seahawks loss to Cowboys in last preseason game

The Seahawks preseason is now over and the regular season starts in about two weeks. This is what we learned from Seattle’s final preseason game.

One thing is for sure, however. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the 2022 Seahawks, at least from a fan’s point of view. For instance, who are the starting cornerbacks?

Also, what will the defense truly look like when scheme comes into play. The preseason is all vanilla. How will defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt find a way to dial up the pressure once real games begin?

We won’t know how good (or bad) the Seahawks will be for some time now but we did learn a few things in Seattle’s 27-26 loss to the Cowboys on Friday.

3 quick takeaways from the Seahawks final preseason game of 2022

Geno Smith might not be great but we know why he will be QB1

Geno Smith is a very pedestrian quarterback. The funny thing is if the best thing anyone can say about him is he doesn’t turn the ball over that likely would make coach Pete Carroll smile widely. The offense will look different starting in Week 1 when Geno Smith has DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett and Rashaad Penny back and the scheme has more detail than vanilla preseason games.

Heck, we saw what a difference Lockett makes in the limited time he was in the game against the Cowboys. He was by far the best player on the field and caught both his targets on the Seahawks first drive for 35 yards.

It is also obvious Drew Lock has an electric arm that is stronger than Smith’s but Lock is far too much of feast and famine. His 35-yard touchdown throw to Penny Hart in the first half? Brilliant. His second interception of the game where he hit a wide-open Cowboys defender? Atrocious. Carroll isn’t going to be risky at quarterback and that is why Smith will be and should be the starter against the Broncos when the season begins.

Special teams was much better overall

After possibly the worst exhibition in the history of modern football last week against the Bears, the Seahawks were much better against the Cowboys. Yes, they gave up a 35-yard kickoff return in the first half and that needs to be fixed immediately. But Jason Myers was fantastic (4 for 4 on field goals), including a 53-yard field goal and the rest of his kicks right down the middle. Plus, most of his kickoffs were well into the Cowboys end zone with no chance of being returned.

Michael Dickson punted three times with an average of 53 yards a punt and 0 return yards. Dee Eskridge returned a punt for 18 yards as well. Seattle is going to have to have great special teams play this year and they got it against Dallas.

Poor tackling continues to be a problem

This entire preseason, the Seahawks have struggled with wrapping players up. (It was better in preseason game 3 but still not good enough to win games.) This goes from players we think will start to the guys who probably won’t make the roster. This is fundamental football so it seems like part of the blame should go on the coaching too. You don’t tackle, you don’t play should be the case for most players.

On the Cowboys final touchdown, Seattle missed about 153 tackles and the receiver jumped into the end zone to help put the Cowboys in the lead.

The worst part of this is since it is an ongoing problem the lack of good tackling can be assumed to stretch into Week 1. That alone, against a good Broncos team, could get the Seahawks beat. Seattle is a team in 2022 with little margin for error and if they get beat because of poor fundamentals they only have themselves to blame.