Winners and Losers from Seahawks 22, Cowboys 14

The Seattle Seahawks ended their home preseason slate with a 22-14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Yeah there were a lot of penalties and the action bogged down a bit as the game progressed, but it was pretty entertaining for at least the opening half. There were big plays and moments to be had across the roster, which you love to see whether or not it’s a starter or someone who’s fighting to make the team/league. And of course, even in preseason you enjoy victories and the defense stepped up when called upon.

Let’s get to Winners and Losers. I’m so glad this is the last late evening kickoff and I live on the West Coast!

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Winners

Jaxon Smith-Njigba

We got the big JSN play we wanted to see in preseason. Drew Lock found him for the over the shoulder grab and a 48-yard play. I cannot wait to see him on the field alongside Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. It’s impossible not to be excited about what he can do in this offense and how he can help this team.

Jake Bobo

The sluggo route! So smooth. Smoother than Yacht Rock. He even drew a taunting penalty on what would’ve been a punting situation for Seattle! Jake is already getting superstar calls. The fact that Bobo wasn’t playing on offense into the 4th quarter may be a hint that he’s on his way to the active roster.

Tyjon Lindsey

Not every Winner is necessarily a 53-man roster player in the making. I can easily see Lindsey being stashed on the practice squad if he can clear waivers. Tonight he had 3 catches for 36 yards and a 27-yard punt return, showcasing his open field speed. The former Oregon State receiver took advantage of Matt Landers and Cade Johnson’s respective absences to put some good tape out there.

SaRodorick Thompson Jr

11 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown for the former Texas Tech ball-carrier. He’s pretty nimble on his feet and had a clutch 29-yard dash on 3rd and 15 to set up Seattle’s 4th quarter field goal. I’m pretty sure we know who the running backs will be on the 53-man roster, but like Lindsey, keep an eye on him as a possible practice squad candidate.

Zach Charbonnet

When he gets a little daylight he takes off, which is what you want out of any running back. He gets north-south pretty quickly and his 29-yard run showcased the best of his abilities.

Drew Lock

Bummer that he got a little shaken up on the roughing the passer penalty, but he was in a groove. Lock was 5/6 for 119 yards and narrowly missed on touchdown passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Tyler Mabry, but only because they were both tackled at the 1-yard line. His accuracy has been a problem throughout his career but he has been sharp through two preseason outings. It was also good that he got some first-team offensive line support for the first time.

Boye Mafe

He was a menace the entire 1st half. While Mafe didn’t record a sack, he had two batted passes (one of which nullified a Tre Brown DPI penalty), two QB hits, and he drew a holding penalty on what probably was going to be a sack for him. Hopefully the hype surrounding him as the most improved player over the offseason translates into the regular season, because so far it’s been true in the preseason.

Tre Brown

It was a much better week for Brown compared to last week. The third-year corner had a clutch goal line interception in the 4th quarter, made an impressive tackle for loss in the 1st half to stop a quick pass, and had a pass defensed. I do wonder if that touchdown to Rico Dowdle was on him, though. Someone had a miscommunication.

Derick Hall

Unofficially his first career NFL sack but still a first! He certainly could’ve had at least one last week but got in the box score this week.

John Hall

Probably not the best thing that he wasted Holton Ahlers’ best pass of the night by seemingly not expecting the ball on his route, but he made up for it by getting 2 points on the blocked punt. It’s a nice personal highlight for him and it helped Seattle get the W.

Levi Bell

I’m a fan of Bell’s motor and effort, plus he’s shown himself to be a willing and at time effective run defender with the way he can set an edge or pursue from the backside. Hell, he was even lined up at fullback and delivered a block on Thompson’s touchdown run! He’s another one whom I believe Seattle would like to have on the practice squad.

Tyreke Smith

Smith led the team in tackles with 8, had the game-clinching sack, and had a run stop for another tackle for loss. He’s definitely in a battle for a roster spot and through two preseason games I’ve seen plenty of positives from the former Buckeye.

Pete Carroll - Challenge flag expert

2-for-2 on challenges! That’s normally a great thing but it also meant the game took longer to finish than most would’ve preferred. A shame Pete didn’t get to sign himself to the active roster to throw a pass, though.

Losers

Mike Jackson Sr

Jackson got picked on for the entirety of the 1st quarter, and not by Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, but by Cooper Rush and Jalen Tolbert. He allowed 3 catches, all for first downs, and one of them was with pass interference on the play. Pretty rough outing for someone who’s trying to keep his starting spot at outside corner.

Dareke Young

I don’t think Young’s roster spot is in jeopardy given his value on special teams, but he had two catchable passes and couldn’t hang on either time. In total he had three targets but the other incomplete pass was not catchable. Not the best preseason debut for Young but let’s see what happens next Saturday.

Run Defense

Yeah the run defense was not impressive whether with the first-string or the third-string. It felt worse than the 94 yards allowed on 26 attempts. Too many missed tackles at the second-level, and too many matchups lost at the point of attack. Jerrick Reed II and Coby Bryant both missed tackled on Deuce Vaughn’s touchdown. Of course, the issue is that Vaughn burst through so easily, and ultimately there’s just a real lack of depth along the defensive line that’s too hard to ignore.

3rd Down Defense

The Cowboys were officially 6/13 on 3rd down but they were above 50 percent for most of the night. Usually the theme was a lack of pass rush and/or a receiver running wide open in the secondary.

Final Notes

• Coby Bryant played the whole game. I probably shouldn’t read too much into it because Joey Blount was out, but it’s nevertheless interesting how much of a workload he got.
• Jarran Reed announced his return to the Seahawks with a 3rd down sack of Cooper Rush that took the Cowboys out of field goal range.
• Patrick O’Connell and Devin Bush looked alright starting together at linebacker, but I wasn’t paying super close attention on that front. I’ve liked O’Connell’s play on defense more than Jon Rhattigan, thus far.
• I saw Jonathan Sutherland blitzing a few times, although on one occasion he took a bad angle and couldn’t sack Will Grier, whose pass ended up being caught out of bounds.
• Holton Ahlers is a fun QB3. That sounds like a backhanded compliment and maybe it is, but he’s very mobile and he made some good throws, and he’s certainly not afraid to challenge defenses down the field.
• The starting offensive line was very good in pass protection, with Charles Cross allowing the only sack on either Geno or Lock. It looked like Smith held onto the ball a hair too long but we’ll need All-22 to see if that was the case. Dallas’ defense is pretty deep even without Micah Parsons, Leighton Vander Esch, Trevon Diggs, and others in the lineup.
• One more week to go! We’ve almost reached the end of preseason. And then the real thing begins. This is a fun, exciting roster on paper and we should have an entertaining (and more importantly, winning) team to watch throughout the season.