“Nate Burleson: Freed from Holmgren’s exacting defense.”

And that pick was pretty from Herring.

I thought he looked really really slow and out of place all night.

From what I saw Vallos had two problems with the snap. One a late snap and one a snap that Hass had a little trouble with.

Other than that he did not block glaringly bad. The line only gave up one sack. And the run game showed signs of life. I’m not sure Knapp and Mora will be looking for free agents given how well the line protected Matt and the progress the run game showed.

But we’ll see this week if they look at the tape and come to similar conclusions. I tend to think they might well assume that Vallos tossed into the game after one week in a loud stadium like Arrowhead might account for some of his mistakes. I certainly don’t like to give up on players with as little time in as Vallos. You don’t need a power blocker at center. You need a solid, consistent blocker who can lead the line and make the line calls. All Vallos needs to do to keep his job is keep on improving every week.

I really want to see if the coaches see things as badly as you see them. I know I watched that game and I’m not seeing it. Vallos didn’t look outstanding and he made a few mistakes, but he didn’t look lost or overpowered either.

I knew they would use him blitzing eventually. He’s our best DB blitzer. I want to see more of that. If used right, his speed will be a nice asset on the blitz as he flies in to affect the QB.

Aaron Curry, three tackles, all solo. He wrapped up Larry Johnson like he was some 200 lb RB. Total ease. He’s got the tools, they just need to be honed at the NFL level.

Not real worried about Tatupu. He’ll lose weight and get up to speed as the season moves on. Maybe he bulked up so that he won’t lose as much weight during the regular season to protect him from injury. He still made 4 tackles and defensed a pass. He was still the best LB on the field. A guy isn’t going to make every play and every tackle. He’s learning this new defensive system as well. From what he said recently, the LBs are not playing as downhill as Lofa is used to. Which seems odd since I always assumed John Marshall was having them play read and react, but from what Lofa said it sounds like he just had them playing straight to the line. I’m sure he’ll get up to speed with the new system.

John, how do you feel Reed and Bennett played during their time with the first string? Did they show enough to make the 53-man roster or was it just confirmation that they deserve to stick around on the practice squad?

And what holes do you feel the ’Hawks will need to address starting next week when all other camps trim the roster? Do we go after an LT and move Locklear back to the right side, or is that just too much change this close to the start of the regular season (particularly since games 1 & 2 are against divisional foes)?

And Carlson is going to the Pro Bowl this year. That dude was a second round steal.

Awesome place to watch a football game, except when they do their stupid racist tomahawk cheer. Awesome to see the entire team (just about) go up to say hi to Engram before the game.

On the other side, the Seattle offensive line played better with the only sack of Hasselbeck falling on Carlson when the tight end got blown up by K.C. first-round draft pick Tyson Jackson.

I was wondering who gave up that sack.

Thought their punter had a good game, so it was hard for anyone to make a real impact, but who do you all think has the PR and KR jobs right now?

He was out there for 1 snap in the first half, and maybe 2 with the first string offense in the 2nd half. He obstructed his man from the ball carrier on one play (not really a block since he didn’t touch the guy) and did nothing of consequence on the others. It would not be fair to say that he “contributed” with the first string offense. I don’t know that Obamanu got any snaps with the first team.

After that (with the 2nd string offense) Taylor had 2 passes thrown at him, one out of bounds, and the other he caught for 19 yards. Obamanu had 2 passes thrown at him, one over his head and the other he caught for a first down.

Obamanu had less snaps that Taylor, and made a nice catch for a first down when the ball was thrown near him. If Teel gets the ball down on the other play, Obamanu would have had more catches and more yards.

Taylor had more snaps, but other than that did nothing to distinguish himself over Obamanu.

To put him up there in the “winners” column with those other guys is silly. He caught the one pass that was thrown to him in bounds (by Wallace), and threw a block. That’s all.

But Taylor did nothing to distinguish himself yesterday that I saw. I went back and re-watched the game today, and still didn’t see anything. He was a non-factor. He had 2 balls thrown at him by Wallace, and he caught one in bounds for 19 yards.

He took the field with the first stringers three times that I saw, and was in position to throw a block that turned out not to be necessary as Branch would have gotten by that tackler anyway. He had one snap with the starters in the first half, and 2 with them in the 2nd. After the starters left, he was in most of the snaps with Wallace. Obamanu came in when Wallace did, and stayed when Teel came in.

Taylor couldn’t stay on the squad last year when everyone and their dog was hurt, while Obamanu would have been a starter if he hadn’t been hurt. If I had to guess, I’d say they are giving Taylor one last chance to prove he’s worth keeping, and I’ve seen nothing that makes me think he’ll be kept. Obamanu has actually performed in a real NFL game before and has performed in pre-season before.

I’d guess they already know what they have with Obamanu, and they are giving Taylor one last chance to redeem himself. Recall that Obamanu had made the team last year, and the only reason Taylor ever got a snap was the Obamanu and several others were hurt. All guesses, of course.