Malik
(8/23/10)
Even with a loss, I
liked what I saw on Saturdays pre-season Seahawks game. I mean it
may have ended with a loss, but it is not like the outcome means
anything when the pre-season is in town.
Some things do leave me
a bit worried, like how the Seattle starting defense just couldn't
seem to shut down the Packers. However, the Packers are supposed to
have one hell of an offense this season, and it did show.
What I did like is how
the Seattle starting offense looked. Yes, for another week the
opening drive was crap. However, after that, the points just kept
coming in. In particular, I think Mike Williams is going to have a
good chance at being the unexpected talent for the season. Despite
having big names in their receiving corps, Seattle likes to have
unexpected talents come through when the season rolls around. In the
past, we had D. J. Hacket come out of nowhere, Jurivicious during
the Super Bowl season, and Carlson (may be a tight end, but still a
great receiver) was the most impressive part of the receiving team
the last couple of years. With his height advantage against most
safeties, Williams can be a great standout player in any long bomb
situations.
Also, once again,
Obamanu is looking pretty good. He may not be a regular starting
stars like Branch and Houshmanzadeh are supposed to be, but he has
always come through when needed.
However, the best part
of Saturdays game was the punting team. Yes, it's sad to say that
the punting team is the best part, but when Ryan punts twice within
five of the end zone, and then the defense grounds the ball, it is
amazing to see. Ryan has a control in his punts that has always
stood out. If this continues, it is a great level of assurance that
on a failed drive, the Seahawks should at least be giving their
less-than-stellar defense a bit more room to shut down the
opposition.
Anyway, besides the
defense, there is one other spot that Seattle obviously needs help
with; Mare needs to stay healthy. The backup kicker (who played
Saturday since Mare has a strain or something) seemed to be unable
to find any altitude for his kicks. I mean two PATs looked like they
were going to miss. How does one kick that poorly in the NFL?
However, given how overly important kicking is for Seattle since the
mid 00's, Mare will have a lot of chances to get injured. Hopefully
he remains strong, or else the Seattle Special (of dinging opponents
with field goals) may be shut down.
Still, despite some
weaknesses and some obvious holes (defense), Seattle is definitely
looking better than they have for the last couple of years. Plus,
I'm glad to see that they will not be undefeated in the pre-season.
Call it superstitious, but only bad seems to follow an undefeated
pre-season Seahawks team...usually it's a losing regular season.
Malik |