Seattle Seahawks news, rumors, links, info, interviews, analysis, and more! Here is what people around the NFL are writing about. Drink it in.
Chad Ochocinco promises to reimburse Mason Foster’s (potential) fine after hard hit - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports: On Thursday, the New England Patriots crushed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 31-14 win that wasn't anywhere near as close as the score indicated. Tom Brady was rolling his offense along so well, the young Bucs had trouble keeping up — and had no trouble admitting it after the fact.
NFP Sunday Blitz | National Football Post: My Sunday Best: Unsigned players: Lofa Tatupu. He has some wear and tear on him, but in the right scheme Tatupu can be a very effective middle linebacker. He’s arguably the best player on the market at any position.
Seahawks Blog | Projecting a depth chart: Defense | Seattle Times Newspaper: The Seahawks have not announced or released a depth chart, but that doesn't mean we can't try and project one based on playing rotations from Saturday's exhibition game. A couple of notes before we get started. There are several players omitted from the depth chart: DT Colin Cole is on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, and there's no timetable for his return. RCB Walter Thurmond is also missing. He has been out for more than two weeks now because of a sprained ankle. It remains to be seen whether Thurmond factors in as a starter or if Kelly Jennings retains that role. Also, Matt McCoy is listed as the backup middle linebacker ahead of rookie K.J. Wright, but that is strictly based on the fact McCoy entered the game in the second quarter on Saturday night.
Seahawks.com Blog | Game at a glance ": PLAYER OF THE GAME Charlie Whitehurst. A somewhat odd choice from a game that definitely was odd. But the Seahawks’ No. 2 QB was 10 of 11 for 79 yards on the team’s lone scoring drive, which ended with his 3-yard TD pass to tight end Anthony McCoy.
HeraldNet.com - Sports: Seahawks fall to Vikings: Saturday night provided the first extended look at Seattle’s new-look offense led by quarterback Tarvaris Jackson. It also showed that said offense still has a ways to go between now and when the regular season kicks off next month. In their second preseason game, which eventually ended as a 20-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle used its starting offense for the entire first half, and came away with little to show for it. "I was disappointed the way this went tonight," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "After a full week getting ready, I didn’t feel like we got very much done."
Jackson still pitches shutout as Seahawks lose to Vikings, 20-7 | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune: They’re still staring at zeros. After two exhibition games, the Seattle Seahawks’ starting offense has yet to put any points on the scoreboard. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll hoped to establish some much-needed momentum for anointed starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson. However, Jackson’s debut in Seattle on Saturday night was a continuation of his lukewarm play as the Seahawks fell to Minnesota, 20-7, at CenturyLink Field.
17 Power, A Seattle Seahawks Blog: Seahawks vs. Vikings Pushback: Everyone Besides the QB's: I'm still working on my spiel about Seattle's quarterbacks against Minnesota. It involves matters of context (some of which I'll establish here) and fair methods of judgment, so start thinking about that if you want.
Thirty Acre Fortress - A Seahawks Blog: The First Quarter: Opening kickoff - Tate wouldn't normally take it out, but was probably told to... still, from about 6 yards deep, he takes it out and only gets to about the 11 before being swarmed by six Vikings. That's on the blockers.
Thirty Acre Fortress - A Seahawks Blog: The Second Quarter: Forsett gets four shots to score from the two, can't score. Not good enough. Continued poor play from the offensive line, who was consistently pushed back. I don't quite understand why Lynch is not the goal line back, but he rarely was last year if I recall correctly.
Thirty Acre Fortress - A Seahawks Blog: The Third & Fourth Quarter: Pep Levingston is a guy I had very little faith in after the draft. He has really shown up so far in the pre-season, and the camp session I went to he looked to be doing much the same. I'm still not convinced he makes the team, but I have to believe he has a better shot than a guy like Kentwan Balmer at this stage.
Kicker Jeff Reed hopes to help Seahawks to another Super Bowl - Blog - MyNorthwest.com: Jeff Reed is the lone kicker on the Seahawks 90-man roster after the team waived Brandon Coutu shortly before Saturday's preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings. "I never take anything for granted, to his credit he had an awesome camp," said Reed of Coutu in a post game interview on Saturday night. "We competed every day and numbers-wise, he maybe made a couple more. But in his shoes, sometimes they go with a veteran over a younger guy."
Saturday's loss a learning experience for guard John Moffitt - Blog - MyNorthwest.com: Some lessons are learned the hard way, and for rookie right guard John Moffitt, those lesson were learned in Saturday night's 20-7 preseason loss to the Minnesota Vikings. "There's a little more work to do," said Moffitt in the locker room after the game. The Seahawks' revamped offensive line - minus starting left tackle Russell Okung - was put to the test on Saturday night, and allowed the first team offense an unimpressive 139 yards in 39 plays to wrap the first half of the game.
Thoughts and concerns on offense " Seahawks Draft Blog: I will be taking a second look at the Vikings game tomorrow and perhaps my perceptions will change slightly. However, I came away from the game with a few thoughts and some concerns. The offense looked poor, rhythmless and lacking focus. This isn’t a big surprise and major context is required here – we’ve not seen anything like a natural off-season and groups are being put together on the run. Teams that have a long term structure such as New England and Pittsburgh will likely dominate this upcoming season simply because of familiarity. Teams that are rebuilding like Seattle are going to suffer.
More Pre-Season Game 2 coverage: Vikings 20 Seahawks 7 " The Viking Age | A Minnesota Vikings blog: What I liked: Offense: McNabb and the offense looked like a different team. Kyle Rudolph made some plays, Peterson looked like he will be fan-damn-tastic, as usual, and a few WR’s made some nice plays. Ponder and Webb both showed their athleticism/rookism on their runs, but any play for positive yards should be positive, so I’m putting it here.
Vikings At Seahawks: Pre-Season Report Card, Week 2 - Daily Norseman: Folks, I have to tell you something. Lean in, because I don't want a lot of people to know. Come on, squeeze in here. /looks around /looks around again I'm a hypocrite. There, I said it. I say over and over not to get too excited about a pre-season game...and I got excited over this pre-season game.
The Pink zone: The touchdown-saving play that safety Josh Pinkard made in the Seahawks’ preseason home opener on Saturday night was just like the one that first attracted Pete Carroll to Pinkard as a high school junior.
Seahawks Blog | Three things we learned | Seattle Times Newspaper: 1. Charlie Whitehurst is a more decisive quarterback this season. Yes, he's playing against second-unit defenses while Tarvaris Jackson faces starters, but compared to last season, Whitehurst has been more effective in his second preseason as a Seahawk. He has completed more than 70 percent of his passes and currently ranks No. 11 in passer rating out of all NFL quarterbacks.
Dave Krieg's Strike Beard: Vikings 20, Seahawks 7: Let's get this out of the way: No, Charlie Whitehurst should not be Seattle's starting quarterback. I think that it's awesome that he played well last night, because at some point this season he may be called upon to win a game for us (like he did last year). I've said for a long time that CW could be a valuable asset to the Seahawks as a competent back-up quarterback, but nothing I saw last night screamed out "Coach Carroll is WRONG WRONG WRONG! Charlie must start!"
Golden Tate offers Vikings a hand with first TD | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune: Everything was perfect about the play. Golden Tate couldn’t deny that. Seattle’s second-year receiver positioned himself in front of Minnesota’s coverage, ready to haul in a first-down-clinching pass on third-and-long, and quarterback Tarvaris Jackson fired a strike. Then the ball slipped through Tate’s hands and landed in the arms of Minnesota’s Marcus Sherels, who returned it 64 yards for a touchdown that gave the Vikings a 7-0 first-quarter lead.
Three things revisited: Seahawks-Vikings - NFC West Blog - ESPN: Tarvaris' timing: Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson didn't have much time to throw. More than once, he faced unblocked or barely blocked defenders coming free almost immediately. Sometimes he scrambled and threw on the run, once absorbing a hard hit that prevented him from finding a wide-open Zach Miller for what would have been a big gain. Jackson had time when throwing complete to Mike Williams for 17 yards to the Minnesota 2-yard line, but the drive ended on downs. Jackson completed only 11 of 21 passes for 75 yards overall. His underneath pass to Golden Tate appeared slightly behind its target, bouncing off Tate for an interception that Minnesota returned for a touchdown. The passing game hasn't hit stride yet. Jackson tried and failed to connect deep with Sidney Rice. The two connected on a couple shorter throws late in the first half. Backup Charlie Whitehurst had better numbers despite not completing a pass longer than 14 yards. Seattle averaged only 6.9 yards per completed pass, an unusually low figure.
Coming up short: The Seahawks not only didn’t make enough plays in their preseason home opener Saturday night, they made some that helped the Vikings post a 20-7 victory at CenturyLink Field.
HeraldNet.com - Seahawks blog: Seahawks-Vikings postgame notes and quotes: In case you weren't watching tonight's game, let me offer this summary: punt, punt, turnover, stuffed at the goal line, punt, punt. Mix in a bunch of penalties, and you have the first-half performance of the No. 1 offense. "I was disappointed the way this went tonight," Pete Carroll said after his team's 20-7 loss. "After a full week getting ready, I didn’t feel like we got very much done."
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