Seahawks-Raiders: In your words

What did you see on Thursday night?

I want Seaside Joe to be more of an interactive conversation with fans than all the other Seahawks sites that you’ve seen before, so for tonight’s post-game article let me focus on your reactions to Seattle’s preseason opener against the Raiders before diving deep into my own.

Preseason games are the perfect chance to test a format like this because it is difficult to know exactly what we’re watching: These are teams that have never played together before and will never play together again after the next three weeks. These are not “the 2025 Seahawks” but they’re something.

I don’t want to say the phrase “the Seahawks blew a late lead and tied the Raiders 23-23” because…I don’t even really know who those guys on the field are. I mean, we know some of their names and how they got to Seattle, but we also know that most of them won’t be on the team in a few weeks. The importance of this game to the players was written all over the faces of the Raiders when the Seahawks blocked their attempt at a game-winning field goal:

They were smiling and laughing, including Geno Smith.

Tonight I’m asking you to help me out by getting the conversation on what you think you learned from Seattle’s game on Thursday.

We did get to see Grey Zabel, Tory Horton, and Jalen Milroe play extended action and perform well. We saw the Seahawks run the ball well, especially on some of those outside runs.

But I want to know what you thought of Thursday’s night game: What surprised you? What do you think you learned or had confirmed from the game? What would you like to see next week against the Chiefs?

TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS (OPEN TO ALL) AND I WILL POST SOME OF YOUR REACTIONS IN SEASIDE JOE THIS WEEK:

These are a few takeaways I did have from the game:

Christian Haynes on the bubble?

Even though Zabel was an actual first round guard, a third round guard is also kind of like a first round pick. When teams take guards in the third round, they expect them to be starting no later than year two. But Haynes is playing left guard (opposite of where he started) in the second half of a preseason game, signaling that the new offensive coaching staff could be just as unimpressed as the previous coaching staff.

Rather than giving Haynes the same right guard reps that Anthony Bradford got in the first half, coaches put Sataoa Laumea there instead. We already know that Zabel is the left guard, so is the team preparing Haynes to be a utility backup? If they are, that could mean that Haynes is in just as much danger of being cut as someone like Mason Richman or Bryce Cabeldue.

Tory Horton for punt returner

I’ve been ready for Horton to win this job since he was drafted. He only picked up 5 yards on his one return, but he must have forced at least two missed tackles on the play. Horton also scored a touchdown and that’s good too, I’m just letting that wide receiver pecking order sort itself out when the season actually begins. The media tends to dramatically overestimate how many opportunities a WR3 gets anyway, but I’m all for it if Horton earns a significant role on Sundays.

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Jalen Milroe is ready…to run

Milroe looks good as a runner.

And he looks fine as a passer. Not NFL-ready as a passer (should have been a keeper on fourth-and-one, or a shorter pass) but I’ve seen worse. Which sounds like a dig and it’s not. Most quarterbacks are not good enough for the NFL and Milroe is certainly someone who might be good enough. Just not right now.

Milroe went 5-of-7 for 47 yards passing and rushed for 38 yards on three carries.

Running Back Depth Won’t Miss Kenny McIntosh

Jacardia Wright and George Holani can both adequately replace McIntosh as a backup running back, assuming that the Seahawks even keep four running backs and they might not.

Don’t forget, share your thoughts!