Preseason Week 3: Seahawks-Cowboys quick takes

For the second time this preseason the Seattle Seahawks found themselves victorious, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 27-17. An early back injury to Tony Romo forced him from the game after just three plays, paving the way for rookie Dak Prescott to go head-to-head against the Legion of Boom, something no man wants to do (Vernon Davis nods in agreement). Ezekiel Elliott tested the Seahawks defense early and often, prompting responses from Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor, while it was the first-team offense that eventually got the ball rolling for Seattle. With the dress rehearsal out of the way now and just one preseason game remaining, there is all sorts of fun stuff to get to.

Jimmy Graham is getting closer and closer to a return, and with that in mind Brandon Williams continues to make it tougher and tougher for the team to cut him. This is three weeks running I’ve written about him in this space and with good reason. Tonight Williams had a couple nice grabs which were followed by tough runs after the catch, and added in another tackle on special teams. If I had to venture a guess, I would say Williams makes the 53-man roster come final cuts.

Justin Britt continues to solidify himself as the week-one starter at center, although Thursday night saw his first poor snap of the entire preseason, which was immediately followed by his second poor snap of the preseason. Encouraging stuff from Britt, and just as encouraging was a subtle fist bump he gave to Germain Ifedi after a holding penalty was called on the rookie. It’s small and this could be a knee-jerk reaction, but to me that speaks to the comfort Britt is finally feeling in the Seahawks offense.

That’s now four bad snaps in three weeks for long snapper Nolan Frese. He’s also made three tackles in punt coverage, but uh, where you at Gresh?

Tony McDaniel and Ahtyba Rubin stood up really well against the league’s best interior offensive line tonight, but the linebackers weren’t doing a good enough job of cleaning up on the majority of Alfred Morris and Ezekiel Elliott’s long runs. More of a pat on the (sweaty) back of the big boys up front rather than a concern for the linebackers, if anything.

Kam Chancellor has been the baddest dude on the field the past two weeks and he’s been in team-issued gear on the sidelines. The Enforcer gave Ezekiel Elliott a nice welcome to the NFL moment on Thursday night with a big hit on a tipped pass in his preseason debut. A healthy, happy Kam Chancellor is going to be a huge boost in more ways than one in 2016.

Speaking of team-issued gear on the sidelines, I wouldn’t #FireBevell in that sharp white Seahawks polo he was wearing tonight. Cooler than Russell Wilson after throwing four interceptions with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

Anyway… Kelcie McCray has had a really good preseason. You can see it in his comfort level on the field and with the certainty he has been flying to the ball all August long. A full offseason as a Seahawk has done nothing but good for him, and he should comfortably be the backup at both safety spots in 2016.

Geez was the ball ever zipping out of Russell Wilson’s hands on Thursday night?! Wow. Total trust in his eyes and his receivers tonight when the first unit was on the field.

Not expecting to see too much of Kris Richard’s hand being shown in the preseason, but it sure was nice to see a double A-gap blitz on a third down. KJ Wright and Bobby Wagner’s pressure led to a missed Dan Bailey field goal in the second quarter. The use of double A-gap blitz’s was one of my favorite wrinkles Richard added to Seattle’s defense in 2015 and hopefully it’s a big part of the defense’s blitz packages in 2016, as well.

The Awakened Christine Michael opened up the second half by gashin’, dashin’ and flashin’ his way through the Cowboys defense with two huge gains, both of which were ended with both of Michael’s woke hands covering the football. He’s baaaaaaaaaaccckkk! (arrived?)

The best game from the offensive tackles thus far in the preseason; Garry Gilliam, Bradley Sowell, and even J’Marcus Webb and George Fant enjoyed improved performances. This is to be taken with a Webb-sized grain of salt due to the Cowboys’ ridiculously undermanned defensive front, but encouraging stuff nonetheless.

A dress rehearsal in the preseason’s third week that went about as well as it could all things considered. Everybody’s healthy, the offense is clicking, and Christine Michael could pull a Chad Johnson and wear a gold jacket on the sidelines against the Miami Dolphins and I wouldn’t bat an eye. The regular season is nearly upon us. Anyone or anything that stood out to you against the Cowboys?