The best thing about tonight’s game was that it ended.
A sparse crowd watched truly abominable football even for preseason, as the Seattle Seahawks fell behind 24-0 and eventually lost 27-11 to the Chicago Bears. If last Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was reasonably fun even in defeat, this game looked sub-AAF quality. Yes, many starters didn’t play, but they sure did along the offensive and defensive lines, and on special teams, and the results were horrific.
Winners and Losers will be very light on winners.
Winners
Darwin Thompson
The leap was cool and he scored a touchdown on a night when he had 6 carries for 34 yards. At the very least he’d be a practice squad candidate. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes the team just with the uncertainty surrounding Kenneth Walker’s health.
Josh Jones
Especially with Ryan Neal injured, Jones looks like a keeper as an extra safety. He had a tackle for loss and actually bothered to tackle players.
Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen
Bryant almost had an interception and did break up a touchdown. Woolen played tight coverage all game. I’m satisfied.
Alton Robinson
Probably the only Seahawks pass rusher who actually got into the backfield with any consistency. I like slimmed down Alton. His pressure led to Myles Adams’ sack.
Damien Lewis
A late entrant to the list because he avoided a serious ankle break. When you see the cart and the aircast normally that equates to “season over” but thankfully it’s just a lateral sprain.
Losers
Marquise Blair
I think the wrong nickel corner/extra safety got traded away. The injury problems aside, Blair’s ceiling looks a lot like special teams contributor because anything else is just an accident waiting to happen. I lost count of how many missed tackles and overpursuits he had, and once again he got penalized for a head shot. There’s no two ways about it: The defensive side of the Seahawks’ 2019 class has been a big net negative. Cody Barton can help turn that into at least neutral but other than that, you’re getting anywhere from no contributions to bad performances on defense.
Blair was just one of many Seahawks whiffing and grabbing at air, but he was the worst performer in my view.
Geno Smith
This is not to say Smith played terribly — he was unlucky on a few drops — but he has done very little over two preseason games to convincingly take the starting quarterback job. We’re looking at 10 points over four quarters, with that one touchdown coming in the two-minute drill. You can argue he doesn’t have his top two running backs or more than three snaps of DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, but the other team gets to play their first-teamers eventually too. By preseason standards the Seahawks offense has a lot more starters playing than most other squads, and the passing game has been predictably painful to watch, even with good pass protection. The ceiling for this offense, which isn’t high to begin with given the QBs on the roster, is just so low with Geno and that’s the nicest way I can put it. The floor? Well…
shit that third to last one is supposed to say missed FG
— Seaside Joe: Daily Seahawks Newsletter (@seasidejoenews) August 19, 2022
Charles Cross
Five penalties is five penalties no matter how well he looked blocking Robert Quinn. Cross was not only false starting but doing so whenever Seattle went uptempo. I am optimistic that’s correctable but in terms of his discipline, that’s gotta be fixed.
The receivers vying for the 4th and 5th spots at WR
Let’s assume that Metcalf, Lockett, and entirely because of injury Eskridge are the locks to make the 53. Freddie Swain had a brutal drop. Dareke Young had one. Penny Hart is probably the only one who did anything noteworthy with his 41-yard catch but even he committed a special teams penalty. JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Bo Melton both dropped touchdowns. Cade Johnson had the brutal special teams muffed punt for a touchdown….
Read More: Winners and a lot of Losers from Bears 27 Seahawks 11