TheLastManInAmerica

The following is a preview of what will be a weekly documentation of the Seattle Seahawks ’08-’09 football season: 

August 8, 2008- Preseason Week 1. Seahawks 34 Vikings 17 

No Shaun Alexander. No Jim Zorn. One more year with Mike Holmgren. These are a few of the storylines for the reigning NFC West Champs as they get set to open this season. Sure, they pale in comparison to other headlines but they carry weight for us up here. How will the running game look? How will the QBs respond to their new coach? And can the Hawks finish off the Holmgren era by bringing home a trophy? Of course these questions cannot be answered in the first week of preseason play. But if it can serve as any kind of indication, these questions might be answered in the positive.      

    The new look running game looked good. Maurice Morris, leading the team at the staring tailback position, reaffirmed what many of us up here have thought for the past two years, that he should have the starting job. In limited playing time, perhaps indicating his spot as starter, he rushed for 62 yards on just 6 carries (10.3 yds per carry)! His competition for the starting job, Julius Jones, was sub par in his Seahawks debut by tallying up 15 yards on 4 carries (3.75 per carry). But the lowlight of the night was bruising running back T.J. Duckett, who is in line for a new nickname from me if he continues to run like he did on Friday. The seven-year vet racked up a whopping 9 yards on 7 carries (1.2 per carry), made even uglier by the fact that one carry accounted for 7 of those, the other 6 going for an average of .3 yards. Now Duckett’s place on the team will mostly be for 3^rd and short situations, a place where Seattle suffered greatly last year, and if they are to be any better this year, they will need to get T.J. to stop with the Shaun Alexander impersonations.      

    As always, Matt Hasselbeck shined, leading the Hawks to scores on their first two drives, a touchdown and field goal, respectively. He finished the game 7 for 8 (%87) for a total of 70 yards (10 yds per completion) and 1 touchdown. Hasselbeck was replaced by Seneca Wallace who himself had a noteworthy game. Wallace looked good, connecting on 15 of 20 attempts (%75) for a total of 165 yards (11 yds per completion) and 3 scores. Charlie Frye also saw some time, connecting on two of three for 22 yards.  However, the team was visited by the ghost of seasons past as they continued to struggle on third downs, going 4 for 11 (%36).    

      The defense was stout as it held Minnesota to a total of 298 yards, only 52 of which came on the ground. The key player for Seattle on D was Howard Green, the 4^th year Defensive Tackle out of LSU who stymied the Vikings offense with 4 tackles, 2 sacks and the games only interception. The 320lbs lineman also forced one of Minnesota’s 5 fumbles. The team was also able to get at running backs before plays had any chance to develop as Seattle hit Minnesota’s running backs behind the line of scrimmage 5 times for a loss of 11 yards.           

       Overall, the Seahawks looked good and could very well prove to continue their dominance of their division. There are definitely some things that need to be ironed out but with Alexander no longer a drain on the offense, the running game looks poised to produce, lead by Morris and backed by Jones and Duckett. Hasselbeck, possibly the most underrated quarterback in the league will continue to fly under the radar and cut up defenses as he has the past few years. As long as the defense stays healthy and they work on the holes against the pass, Julian Peterson, Patrick Kearny, Darryl Tapp and co. should be able to shut down the running game and pressure QBs into making mistakes. Granted, it’s only the first week of preseason play but all in all, I’m betting on another stellar year for the Hawks, one that could possibly see Holmgren accomplish what he was brought here to do.  

See you in September with more.                   

Trackback URI | Comments RSS