Seahawks-Bears Result, Reactions, Recap: Stock Up/Stock Down
Preseason 8/18/2022: Updates on QB competition, injuries, position battles, and highlights from Thursday night
Before we get started on the Seahawks, let’s talk about the Bears. A team that somehow feels like they’re a year behind Seattle in the rebuilding process even though they started it a year sooner. Sure, Chicago has a new general manager and head coach as of 2022 and in many ways are starting from scratch. But the Bears knew for at least the last two seasons of Matt Nagy’s career that things were headed in the wrong direction.
I’ve always said this about the Chicago Bears: I hate watching them. They’re the worst team in the NFL to watch play football. I hate hate hate it when the Seahawks play the Bears.
My true rivals are not the NFC West teams because at least those games are always exciting to watch. But the Bears sit in the middle road between teams that I care about and teams that are good by consistently being a team that I don’t care about and a team that consistently sucks.
Give me 100 games against the Jets, Lions, Texans, Jaguars, and Giants before you give me one game against the Bears. The Bears are the worst team.
Remember that Bears quarterback who was fun to watch?
Remember that Bears running back who always captivated us year after year?
Remember that Bears receiver who dominated the highlights every Sunday?
All people who DO NOT EXIST.
Sometimes you love a movie because it’s good. Sometimes you love a movie because it’s terrible. But the bad movies are not the terrible ones. The true bad movies are the ones you are so apathetic about that you forget it exists, you watch it for a second time, and then say 40 minutes into it, “I think I’ve seen, like, this entire movie before.”
I saw Without a Paddle three times before it finally kicked in that I’ve seen Without a Paddle.
That’s how I feel about the Bears. They suck, they’re stupid, and they’re dumb. Best of all, I look at the Bears roster and I tell myself, “This team could be picking first in the draft next year” and maybe there will be a quarterback controversy that rips apart the entire fabric of the franchise.
One can only hope.
Tonight, against the terribly stupid awful Bears, the Seattle Seahawks got their asses kicked. Most of the Bears are backups. Quite a few of the Seahawks could be starters.
Watch out for that fish, Pete.
I know that not everybody who reads this newsletter needs to be told or wants to hear that Geno Smith is only acceptable as a backup quarterback. Perhaps in this unique situation with the Seahawks, a team that shows no concern for having extreme limitations at quarterback this season, Smith is capable of making starts for an NFL team.
In a literal sense, he could be a starter. Even Jacob Eason came close to starting a game for the Colts last year. Eason was almost literally a starter.
That doesn’t make them starters.
When it was announced that Drew Lock would be forced to sit out tonight’s contest, the media focused on how this was a “great opportunity” for Geno and that this must spell the end of the quarterback competition. ProFootballTalk had a segment about how missing the game was the “nail in the coffin” for Lock.
I like Chris Simms. He’s kind of this likeable dumb dumb idiot dummy. There are a lot of people who have bad opinions and are dislikable or have good opinions but are dislikable, but I’d say Simms has mixed opinions and is quite likable.
He had quite a bad opinion last night though after the team’s announcement about Lock, as did Mike Florio, as they both agreed that this was the nail in the coffin for the competition and that Geno Smith was the right quarterback for the job.
Oh silly, Simms.
Was I the only person who saw Drew Lock’s absence as a great opportunity…for Drew Lock?
Lock missing Friday’s game put the pressure back on Geno Smith to face a team’s first half effort for the second preseason week in a row. If Smith did better than he did against the Steelers last week, then sure he would help his case. But Pete Carroll wasn’t going to end Lock’s bid for quarterback because of an absence that wasn’t his fault.
The Seahawks didn’t spend five months on this competition only to decide it because Lock’s preseason start was delayed be eight days. In fact, Lock’s absence benefits him a lot, if he returns in time for Seattle’s first practices.
Instead of getting two days of reps with the 1s before a start, Lock could now get five or six days of practices with the 1s before his first start.
Isn’t that lucky, if true?
So there was really no chance, in my opinion, for Geno Smith to do anything other than bolster his case. It wouldn’t end Lock’s argument. It’s absurd that so much national media, including ESPN’s Monday Night crew, picked this up as a possible storyline.
On the other hand, if Smith and the Seahawks offense struggled against the Bears then Lock could improve his chances to be the starter. Even a comparable start to last week would have been bad for Geno Smith. He had to be better.
No matter who deserves the blame, we know that the offense as a whole was as much worse: 0 points, no trips to the red zone.
The wide receivers had drops. The offensive line had penalties. All realities that quarterbacks like Russell Wilson have to face throughout their careers. Realities that every quarterback has to face.
And it’s as true that Seattle didn’t surround Geno Smith with starters (which is a fair caveat) as it is that the Bears didn’t make him face their starting defense. Nor did the Steelers.
But Geno Smith has led 12 drives in the preseason. The Seahawks have scored 13 points.
Drew Lock has had five drives. The Seahawks have scored 14 points.
Twitter is a website of misinformation (look at the number of replies, that’s called ratio):
Will Lock be better? I don’t know. This isn’t a question of “better” anymore. It’s a question of “different.” The race is far from over and the Seahawks will get a look at “different” next Friday against the Cowboys.
I have so much more to say about what happened on Thursday night against the Chicago Bears and what it means for the immediate future of the Seattle Seahawks. We’re so close to our next goal, if you can take time to subscribe today or upgrade for bonus content and to support this little business, I’m grateful.
Injured: G Damien Lewis, DE Boye Mafe (returned)
As for the score, the Seahawks opted to score only 11 points (0 in the first half) and that was harmful to their chances of winning because the Bears decided to score 27 points. As usual, we don’t really care about winning or losing but we do care in this case about scoring.
We care about players on the Seahawks doing well and the score indicates that not enough players did well. Or they didn’t do well enough.
I know that there are fans who get tired of hearing negative reports about Geno Smith and I appreciate where those fans are coming from. Unfortunately, what fans have always wanted is reports about quarterbacks and so if I take my job seriously and stick to giving the truth, then sometimes there’s no choice but to feel surrounded by negativity.
The Seahawks were very lucky at quarterback for 10 years. Maybe we aren’t that far away from getting lucky again. Until then, reports might have to seem a little negative.
Don’t blame me. And don’t blame Pete Carroll. And don’t blame Russell Wilson. And don’t blame John Schneider.
Blame Jordan Schultz. He sucks. Focus all your anger on the Schultz family.
If what we saw on Thursday night is any indication of the 2022 Seahawks, Seattle will be one of the worst teams in the league. Worse than the worthless Chicago Bears.
But it is the preseason and that’s just a time to evaluate where to fit certain players into the plan, not to reveal the whole shamogle. Because Seattle is going through such a major transition at quarterback, it’s hard to not feel like these struggles are indicative of the future when maybe things are not this extreme.
But it’s not too soon to say that Geno Smith is a backup quarterback. We’ve had nine years. And being “better than the numbers” is a technicality.
Bears 27, Seahawks 11
Earlier: 5 Seahawks who went from 2-stars to roster bubble
Geno Smith - 10/18, 112 yards, 2 sacks (this is an issue every week for Geno)
Travis Homer - 5 carries, 44 yards, 1 catch, 4 yards
Darwin Thompson - 5 carries, 22 yards, 1 TD
DeeJay Dallas - 5 carries, 15 yards, 4 catches, 52 yards
Penny Hart - 2 catches, 46 yards
Cade Johnson - 2 catches, 16 yards, 2-pt conversion, 1 fumble
Jacob Eason - 17/35, 141 yards, 1 sack
Marquise Blair - 9 tackles (and a lot of misses)
Coby Bryant - 5 tackles
Josh Jones - 4 tackles, 1 TFL
Tanner Muse - 3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL
Myles Adams - 2 tackles, 1 sack
Thanks for reading Seaside Joe! Can you believe this isn’t the end???
Stock Up
S Josh Jones
Put him on the roster. Give him snaps in Week 1.
RB Travis Homer
This makes it seem like I will have GIFs for every player. I won’t. This is pretty much it for today. Sorry for overselling it.
Travis Homer actually made some moves on Thursday! Seattle knows they have four backs.
RB Darwin Thompson
But do they actually have five??? Thompson ran hard in the second half, scoring the only touchdown and adding a 16-yard run. His YPC is not indicative of his impact as he had goal line carries.
RT Abe Lucas
Though Jake Curhan got the start at right tackle, Abe Lucas stole the show.
Folks, things aren’t just different in a negative way. They’re also different in a positive way: The Seahawks stole an offensive line prospect in the draft! That hasn’t happened since 1921.
DT Myles Adams
I wrote about Adams in Thursday morning’s roster bubble article. Man, this is such a good newsletter. I’m jealous you get to read it.
Adams should make the roster. By the way, Poona Ford credited with a pressure.
CB Tariq Woolen
I asked people on Twitter who the first half player was and Woolen’s name came up a few times. Hard to judge good coverage by watching a live game, but it seems like the numbers would confirm the eye test. The Bears probably offer one of the worst passing offenses in the NFL, which really just means that Thursday night is a difficult one to judge. Will the Cowboys play any starters next week? They are holding competitions at receiver, so probably.
DE Alton Robinson
Robinson helped Adams on that sack and we don’t talk about him much. That’s my write up on Alton Robinson. He had no stats.
DE Boye Mafe
He keeps comin’. Mafe left with a shoulder injury but returned in short time. Damien Lewis left with an ankle injury and did not return.
A long-term Lewis injury would impact by theory on Gabe Jackson being traded. Phil Haynes replaced Lewis at guard. Whether the Seahawks are comfortable with Jake Curhan starting at guard is unclear.
LB Tanner Muse
Of all the linebackers tonight, Muse was the best.
CB Mike Jackson
I’d call his camp and preseason “uneven” but that’s not bad for a player nobody expected to challenge for a roster spot.
QB Drew Lock
Take the night off and move up the depth chart. It’s like the opposite of that Friday situation for Ice Cube when he got fired on his day off.
Stock Down
QB Geno Smith
Geno Smith is not a starting quarterback. He might start at quarterback though. That would probably lead to a lot of special teams work for Michael Dickson and Jason Myers. It’s not my fault, it’s Jordan and Howard Schultz’s fault.
S Marquise Blair
Jones up, Blair down. He missed three or four tackles. Will Joey Blount or Bubba Bolden play more next week?
K Jason Myers
I noted on Wednesday that a poor game by Myers could lead to a new kicker competition. Then Myers missed a 47-yard field goal attempt. He missed wide right. He almost missed wide left a week ago. I don’t see why Myers would want to do anything other than make field goals, even in the preseason. He’s looked bad, and it’s hard to “look” like anything as a kicker. Seattle should be looking for kickers.
If I get the Myers prediction right too then I’m really, really good.
LB Joel Dublanko
Played with the starters, missed tackles. The linebacker situation is not good.
WR Freddie Swain
If it were not for Cade Johnson muffing a punt and giving up a touchdown, Swain might be guaranteed a lower spot on the depth chart headed into next week. Maybe he still is. Dropped passes and he hasn’t been productive enough as an NFL player in the regular season to guarantee his spot.
CB Justin Coleman
Coleman screwed up a punt coverage play and caused a touchback. He doesn’t seem to be fully prepared to play nickel. Do the Seahawks have enough depth at nickel to risk cutting Coleman less than six months after bringing him back?
Stock Up and Down
LT Charles Cross
Certainly looks like a left tackle and all that, but had four false starts and a holding penalty.
WR/PR Cade Johnson
This is it. The play that is.
But Johnson did have two catches for 16 yards, a two-point conversion, and he made a sweet third down catch that was called back because of someone else’s penalty. I don’t think Johnson had as bad of a night as… Jason Myers.
LB Uchenna Nwosu
He seems an adequate starting outside linebacker but he had a missed tackle for a loss and I’m not sure how high his pass rushing ceiling really is.
LB Darrell Taylor
I’m more certain about Taylor’s pass rushing ability but it was not a perfect night for him.
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Bingo card - every time they talk about Cross or Lucas they say “air raid”.
I’m SO proud of myself. I watched it to the VERY end
Actually the last 10-15 minutes were kinda interesting.
Eason made some pretty good throws. Too bad some of those were drops
He almost made a game out of it.