3 winners and 2 losers from Seahawks in preseason Week 3 vs Browns

The Seahawks put up more points in their 37-33 preseason win over the Browns than they did in the first two games combined. It takes a lot of winners to make that happen. It takes a few losers to give up 33, too.

Sure, it's just the preseason, but it's still nice to see that "W" next to the Seahawks. What's really nice is to see them put up 37 points. That was the most points they've scored since 2017 when they rolled up 48 against the Chargers in the first preseason matchup. We can't get too crazy about it, as Seattle only scored three touchdowns on offense. That "only" is relative, but it isn't the best news that four drives stalled and resulted in zero points.

On a positive note, six drives did result in points. One additional score came courtesy of special teams. Trust me, we'll get to that. If not for a holding call on rookie guard Christan Haynes, the Hawks would have added another touchdown on a spectacular 73-yard strike from Sam Howell to Cody White. Yes, Haynes basically pulled off a slick judo throw on the Browns lineman, so it was a legit call.

Sadly, the ball was already out of Howell's hand when it occurred, so it didn't affect the play. But Seattle eventually got three points on the drive. Sorry, but that's as good a segue as you're gonna get.

Seattle Seahawks had big, big winners in their only home preseason action

Winner: Jason Myers

If you're like me, you were a little concerned about those missed extra points in Seattle's first two preseason contests. Those yips appear to be over, as Myers was a perfect 4-4 on his PATs. They all appeared to be perfectly routine. Even the point-after try that was pushed back five yards for delay of game was automatic. If anything is going to throw a kicker off his game, you'd think it would be a bizarre penalty like that.

The big picture though was Myers nailing all three of his field goals. He hit from 58, 47, and 51 yards against the Browns, and just like his extra points, none of these were in doubt. Myers is now 7-7 on field goals in the preseason. Even more impressive, his first kick versus the Titans was for 27 yards. Every other kick was at least 47 yards. So overall, he's gone 1-1 from under 30, 3-3 from 40-49, and 3-3 from 50+. Last year he was only 4-8 from outside the 50. It looks like he's back in Pro Bowl form.

Loser: Seahawks third-string defense

Sure, call it a cop-out if you want, but it's hard to single out one player when it was truly a team underachievement. Cleveland only gained five yards on their first series against Seattle. On their second drive, they managed 62 yards but turned the ball over on downs. They finally scored a field goal on their third possession. At that point, the Hawks were mixing in some third-string players. on their first three drives, Cleveland held the ball for 12:52, gained 101 yards, and scored three points.

Once Seattle decided to take a long look at who'd make the 53-man roster and who might be worth trying to stash on the practice squad. Cleveland was able to move the ball. More to the point, they were able to score. They rolled up 294 yards and put up 30 points against the players doing their best to prove to the Hawks they belong on the team. I'm not particularly concerned about that.

Winner: Geno Smith

Congratulations, Geno haters. He overthrew DK Metcalf on his first pass. Unfortunately for you, that was his only miss of the night. After that, he looked like the guy who won the Comeback Player of the Year award. All he did was march the Seahawks down the field in five plays for 62 yards and a 21-yard scoring strike to DK Metcalf in the end zone. The drive took 1:59 and was easy money.

Please note that Smith did this without Tyler Lockett, Kenneth Walker III, and Noah Fant in the lineup. While Sam Howell had a good game, Despite the wishes of some seriously misguided 12s, I think it's safe to say that there is absolutely no quarterback controversy in Seattle, Is Geno Smith perfect? Of course not. I'm not about to argue he's the best quarterback in the league, either. He is an accurate QB, especially on deep throws. meaning he's a great fit for Ryan Grubbs' offense. He proved that against the Browns.

Loser: P.J. Walker

Walker's stat line shows he was 7-10 for 49 yards. Not exactly spectacular, but hardly the kind of performance that gets you cut, right? Well, I'm not going to predict the Seahawks will cut him, but the distance between him and Sam Howell is even greater than the separation between Howell and Geno Smith. Walker had an interception overturned by a penalty on Cleveland for roughing the passer, and it was a bad, bad throw,

Let's not forget that Walker was playing against the Browns' second and third-string defense. He didn't look good against the Titans either. I suppose we can be glad the Seahawks didn't trade for Trey Lance, because, yecch. Gee, hate to see the Cowboys make another terrible move, don't you? Walker looked bad and the Hawks should probably be on the lookout for another QB - just as long as it's not Lance.

Winner: Dee Eskridge

Yeah, I know, I know. Just days ago, I predicted that Eskridge would be "kicked to the curb" by undrafted free agent rookie Dee Williams. Williams didn't have a bad night, although he was beaten in coverage for the Browns' final touchdown. The former Tennessee Vol returned two kicks for a total of 55 yards and a punt for 16 yards. Not a great night, but not the kind of performance that puts you on the bubble. On the bubble to go to the practice squad, that is.

Except that Williams may be on the bubble because of the game that Dee Eskridge had. Eskridge said he played with a lot of fire. I guess that's one way to describe a 79-yard punt return. Per Gregg Bell's tweet - or X, or whatever we're supposed to call these social media posts - Eskridge said he was going all out in this game:

Eskridge mentioned this could have been his last game in Seattle. Much as we saw with Nick Harris, Mike Jackson, and Darrell Taylor, the Seahawks could very well have seen this game as an audition tape to market Eskridge around the league. The only issue is that I'm not exactly sold that Seattle could get much for him. Yes, that 79-yard return was sweet, but it was in preseason. That's pretty much the second big play of his career, and he's been in the league since 2021.

I''m not dogging the guy. I was excited when the Seahawks drafted him out of Western Michigan University. I grew up about 25 miles from the school, and it's my brother's alma mater. I expected Eskridge to be Tyler Lockett 2.0.

Unfortunately, he hasn't even been Percy Harvin 2.0 - and yes, I mean the Hawks version, exclusively. If Seattle can get the same return they did for Taylor, they should snap it up without a second thought. That being said: well done, Mr. Eskridge. Well done.

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