Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Fleury didn't get a chance to show much in Week 1. With Sam Darnold missing most of the game, there was some understandable miscoordination and conservatism on offense.
The jury is still out on the first-time play-caller, though most fans and analysts will probably cut him some slack for as long as Darnold is on the shelf. That said, it looks like he couldn't have asked for a better Week 2 matchup to show glimpses of what he's been cooking.
The Arizona Cardinals shut down Mike McDaniel's passing game for the most part, but they didn't seem to have an answer for their tight ends. Given Fleury's background as a TE guru, that might be right up his alley.
The Seattle Seahawks must get the tight ends going vs. Arizona
Justin Herbert completed just 17 of 27 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown in Week 1. Nearly half of that production (seven catches for 90 yards) came thanks to David Njoku and Oronde Gadsden. He had a 100 percent completion percentage when targeting tight ends.
That should be music to AJ Barner's ears. Despite teasing a big breakout year, the Seahawks' tight end was mostly a non-factor in Week 1. He corralled two catches on as many targets for 13 yards despite playing 44 snaps.
Again, it's hard to blame Fleury for not opening up the playbook until late in the game, but with a full week to prepare and a full game's worth of film, he must be licking his chops as he gets a chance to get in his bag.
Fleury spent years working with tight ends in San Francisco, helping George Kittle become one of the most prominent names in the game. That was one of the reasons to feel excited about Barner's season outlook, and he should be in for a big role in this one, even with Drew Lock under center again.
Barner has been mostly quiet as a weapon in his career against the Cardinals, hauling in just seven catches for 64 yards and one touchdown against the divisional rivals. Still, the coaching staff has had nothing but good things to say about him and intends to unleash him like never before in his third year in the league.
Fleury arrived in Seattle with more questions than answers. Even coming from the same Kyle Shanahan coaching tree, the lack of experience as a play-caller and the fact that he was a late hire because of the Super Bowl made some fans understandably skeptical.
So far, the record shows 1-0, although mostly thanks to the defense, a proven commodity. But now that they'll have a backup quarterback under center for at least another full game, Coach Fleury will have to open up his bag of tricks and focus on what he knows best to exploit a glaring rival weakness.
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