Hmm… I hadn’t thought about Mafe’s playing time. Something to watch for sure, but given MM’s emphasis on reps as a teaching tool I wonder if that is the reason… Mafe needed the reps in game action to nail some of the concepts that are being taught?
For the first time watching Howell I was happy to see him not forcing the play and taking what is available, throwing out of bounds and taking a sack if necessary. He made some nice passes, including on his check downs. One beef I have generally is QBs who just chuck the ball at their check down option leaving the receiver with little opportunity to make a play, but Howell was leading his check downs up the field nicely.
A good start. Can you imagine what a Charger’s fan reaction to that game would be?
Well, I thought Howell's short passing game was his biggest weakness, so check down passes might not be a great option till he gets his accuracy consistent.
My main takeaway was that the team looked to be composed, confident, enthusiastic, and hungry to improve. This is impressive for a brand new staff with a rookie head coach in a first preseason game. It could have looked like the Keystone Kops and we would have talked about needing patience. Instead, the coaches came across as focused, competent, and on track for prime time.
This includes Grubb, who showed up with an NFL-caliber scheme. It didn’t look at all like a “might work in college, but…” kind of offense. If he plans college trickery, he hasn’t showed his hand yet.
Good point about Mafe, but I hope you are right about there being alternative reasons other than that they don't see him as a starter.
My impressions? They looked a lot like the U of W's offensively, and that is a good thing. I think it's especially good news to K9 as I always thought they sent him inside too often. Outside runs. Creative pass routes with open receivers. I can see how Geno could have ripped off 400 yards with some decent protection.
This defense looks miles better than last years' defense. That may partly be due to the fact that all the QB's for the Chargers looked like dog crap. The thing is, last years' defense would have made those QB's look formidable. So I am stoked. I would extend both MM and Grubb right away for 10 years.
I'll have to check out how to get into the game chat with everyone from here. Probably more fun than FieldGulls, which would be fun with about 1/3 as many posters.
Harris actually started before Olu came in. And once health permits, Williams is going to make both of of them nearly irrelevant very quickly, in any event.
MacIntosh starting in the first preseason game does not necessarily tell us anything about where the coaches have him in the pecking order. MacDonald's recent comments on the Holani/MacIntosh battle were a strong hint on that question. Holani had an almost Curt Warner-esque "land crab" move on his TD. Memories...
Mafe got caught looking inside on an outside play on which he clearly had contain responsibilities. A third year guy should stop making mistakes like that. But at least he got close to some pressures a few times. I also was surprised that he played as much as he did.
From this tape, Curtis has no business playing tackle in the League. Poor balance, waist bender, feet too slow, etc. Fant is significantly better if his last two seasons are any indication, and I think he will be acceptable if we have to do without Abe.
Murph is going to be a fun watch all year. And JSN had a great block on a crack-back, Newly beefy, it is said...
Rhattigan flashed a few times, which was nice to see. And I'd like to see more of Dodson....
One of my many unproven NFL theories is that winning in preseason mainly tells you how deep you are, and how well coached you are. So while the talent level clearly dropped off the later the game went, at least we can conclude we are deeper than the Chargers and our 1st year coaching staff was way more effective than Jim Harbaugh and his staff, which I didn’t expect. Is encouraging for Games 1 and 2 of the reg season where I’m still worried about growing pains. Exciting to feel this positively surprised!
Zez get your theories out there, buddy!! I love reading anything Seahawks so maybe even Seaside Joe might take up 2 or three theories? Like the preseason, ya never know!! Lol!
And as Seaside Joe also reminds us about preseason and training camp, everybody HAS TO start stacking not just reps, but solid improvement day over day, game after game. Tempering enthusiasm and regular season expectations after this game is damn good thing. Keep building off what has been accomplished to this point. Maybe with Mafe they're trying to teach him how not to fade away during the second half of the season? And let's give Curtis a break and benefit of the doubt at the moment. Everybody's now gotten their feet wet so next week's game vs. Tennessee should be an excellent indicator of how things are progressing.
I was watching the game and saw some of the concepts presented here in the past 5 months for both the offense and defense from some of the “film study” of MM’s defense and Grubb’s offense. It made me feel like a somewhat smarter fan than previous years.
And there was also that fun little hit of irrational exuberance of watching a dominant “win”, albeit in preseason.
I remember watching other teams #2's beat the pants off of our #2's in preseasons past, and worrying what that meant long term. Well what it meant was poor drafting, and eventually mediocrity or worse. You can hide it with good #1's if you aren't forced to play your depth.....for a while. But you eventually have to play those players.
One preseason game means little to me, other than our 2's and 3's looked just fine mostly. If we have to dip into our depth a bit, we'll be fine (except maybe at OT).
Other thoughts; Murphy is REAL. He's a guy that will make that big play to kill a drive. Just doing that once or twice per game is an enormous difference maker. Olu struggled in run blocking against backup DT's more than once. A bit surprising to me, but we didn't sign Williams for nothing. Lastly, Knight looked just fine. Some mistakes, but some excellent plays. He'll get better and better the more snaps and coaching he gets. He's a keeper.
I was impressed with this kid Russell's TD. He came out of nowhere and showed some huge desire to dominate. (Psst Russell: Don't expect the other guys to give you anything, like your first TD football, especially after you just embarrassed them. Emphasis on Ass) I also think we saw Holani make a solo tackle on Special Teams. Making the 53 just got a lot more likely. Good day for our young Harbaugh's debut. The new broadcast crew needs to focus on what we just saw and less on what Mike Bennet is joking about.
I read about a new aura, but to me it looked like quintessential Pete ball from the good old days. Ferocious, ball hawking defense combined with ball control, clock eating offense. I loved it then and I love it now.
I appreciate the love for Michael Dickson. Special Teams are often forgotten and not emphasized. Year after year.
Sea More Comments
Sorry I meant to add more screenshots of the box score. I will update.
ENJOY YOUR HONEYMOON!
New aura is right. Things feel different. I’m so excited for the future. Still lots of work to do, o line needs work, but overall looking good so far.
Hmm… I hadn’t thought about Mafe’s playing time. Something to watch for sure, but given MM’s emphasis on reps as a teaching tool I wonder if that is the reason… Mafe needed the reps in game action to nail some of the concepts that are being taught?
For the first time watching Howell I was happy to see him not forcing the play and taking what is available, throwing out of bounds and taking a sack if necessary. He made some nice passes, including on his check downs. One beef I have generally is QBs who just chuck the ball at their check down option leaving the receiver with little opportunity to make a play, but Howell was leading his check downs up the field nicely.
A good start. Can you imagine what a Charger’s fan reaction to that game would be?
Well, I thought Howell's short passing game was his biggest weakness, so check down passes might not be a great option till he gets his accuracy consistent.
Fun game, not sure I'll remember much of it though.
My main takeaway was that the team looked to be composed, confident, enthusiastic, and hungry to improve. This is impressive for a brand new staff with a rookie head coach in a first preseason game. It could have looked like the Keystone Kops and we would have talked about needing patience. Instead, the coaches came across as focused, competent, and on track for prime time.
This includes Grubb, who showed up with an NFL-caliber scheme. It didn’t look at all like a “might work in college, but…” kind of offense. If he plans college trickery, he hasn’t showed his hand yet.
Kids of 88! Fun band and great birth year.
Congratulations Seasiders for the continued success of a great newsletter.
Like that : "Congratulations Seasiders !"
Good point about Mafe, but I hope you are right about there being alternative reasons other than that they don't see him as a starter.
My impressions? They looked a lot like the U of W's offensively, and that is a good thing. I think it's especially good news to K9 as I always thought they sent him inside too often. Outside runs. Creative pass routes with open receivers. I can see how Geno could have ripped off 400 yards with some decent protection.
This defense looks miles better than last years' defense. That may partly be due to the fact that all the QB's for the Chargers looked like dog crap. The thing is, last years' defense would have made those QB's look formidable. So I am stoked. I would extend both MM and Grubb right away for 10 years.
I'll have to check out how to get into the game chat with everyone from here. Probably more fun than FieldGulls, which would be fun with about 1/3 as many posters.
Harris actually started before Olu came in. And once health permits, Williams is going to make both of of them nearly irrelevant very quickly, in any event.
MacIntosh starting in the first preseason game does not necessarily tell us anything about where the coaches have him in the pecking order. MacDonald's recent comments on the Holani/MacIntosh battle were a strong hint on that question. Holani had an almost Curt Warner-esque "land crab" move on his TD. Memories...
Mafe got caught looking inside on an outside play on which he clearly had contain responsibilities. A third year guy should stop making mistakes like that. But at least he got close to some pressures a few times. I also was surprised that he played as much as he did.
From this tape, Curtis has no business playing tackle in the League. Poor balance, waist bender, feet too slow, etc. Fant is significantly better if his last two seasons are any indication, and I think he will be acceptable if we have to do without Abe.
Murph is going to be a fun watch all year. And JSN had a great block on a crack-back, Newly beefy, it is said...
Rhattigan flashed a few times, which was nice to see. And I'd like to see more of Dodson....
One of my many unproven NFL theories is that winning in preseason mainly tells you how deep you are, and how well coached you are. So while the talent level clearly dropped off the later the game went, at least we can conclude we are deeper than the Chargers and our 1st year coaching staff was way more effective than Jim Harbaugh and his staff, which I didn’t expect. Is encouraging for Games 1 and 2 of the reg season where I’m still worried about growing pains. Exciting to feel this positively surprised!
Zez get your theories out there, buddy!! I love reading anything Seahawks so maybe even Seaside Joe might take up 2 or three theories? Like the preseason, ya never know!! Lol!
And as Seaside Joe also reminds us about preseason and training camp, everybody HAS TO start stacking not just reps, but solid improvement day over day, game after game. Tempering enthusiasm and regular season expectations after this game is damn good thing. Keep building off what has been accomplished to this point. Maybe with Mafe they're trying to teach him how not to fade away during the second half of the season? And let's give Curtis a break and benefit of the doubt at the moment. Everybody's now gotten their feet wet so next week's game vs. Tennessee should be an excellent indicator of how things are progressing.
I was watching the game and saw some of the concepts presented here in the past 5 months for both the offense and defense from some of the “film study” of MM’s defense and Grubb’s offense. It made me feel like a somewhat smarter fan than previous years.
And there was also that fun little hit of irrational exuberance of watching a dominant “win”, albeit in preseason.
I remember watching other teams #2's beat the pants off of our #2's in preseasons past, and worrying what that meant long term. Well what it meant was poor drafting, and eventually mediocrity or worse. You can hide it with good #1's if you aren't forced to play your depth.....for a while. But you eventually have to play those players.
One preseason game means little to me, other than our 2's and 3's looked just fine mostly. If we have to dip into our depth a bit, we'll be fine (except maybe at OT).
Other thoughts; Murphy is REAL. He's a guy that will make that big play to kill a drive. Just doing that once or twice per game is an enormous difference maker. Olu struggled in run blocking against backup DT's more than once. A bit surprising to me, but we didn't sign Williams for nothing. Lastly, Knight looked just fine. Some mistakes, but some excellent plays. He'll get better and better the more snaps and coaching he gets. He's a keeper.
I was impressed with this kid Russell's TD. He came out of nowhere and showed some huge desire to dominate. (Psst Russell: Don't expect the other guys to give you anything, like your first TD football, especially after you just embarrassed them. Emphasis on Ass) I also think we saw Holani make a solo tackle on Special Teams. Making the 53 just got a lot more likely. Good day for our young Harbaugh's debut. The new broadcast crew needs to focus on what we just saw and less on what Mike Bennet is joking about.
I read about a new aura, but to me it looked like quintessential Pete ball from the good old days. Ferocious, ball hawking defense combined with ball control, clock eating offense. I loved it then and I love it now.
Dee Eskridge ! ! !
"Now that's a name I haven't heard (with an !) in a long, long time."