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Look, it's the preseason. The preseason is cool because hey, football! but it's still the preseason and the emphasis is fully on the first syllable. That doesn't preclude, however, our ability to make some selective observations; for what is fanhood but a prolonged series of selective observations? Here are mine:
~Christine Michael has the potential/ability to be better than Marshawn Lynch. I'm not saying that as some sort of overreaction to his 89 yards (on 16 carries, 5.6 YPC) in an exhibition game, I'm saying that because we're talking about one of the best athletes the NFL combine has ever seen, with abilities to make cuts at sub-realistic angles, and who didn't go down on initial contact the way you'd imagine a 22 year old in the NFL would. We're talking about a halfback with a grown man's game.
~Richard Sherman is so excellent at disrupting routes. It's a good thing Malcolm Floyd wasn't competing for a starting spot tonight 'cause he got shut the shit down. According to my currently inebriated memory, I've only seen three other cornerbacks whose counter-attack was so forceful and effortless that it looked like he was in the offensive huddle when the play was called - Deion Sanders, Champ Bailey, and Darrelle Revis.
Originally, the thought was that Richard Sherman was succeeding because he was so much bigger than most cornerbacks. Now, the size advantage serves only as the sparkling, centrifugal, after-market rims on a beautiful car; a luxurious adornment to a body of work that is already fluid and powerful. Get ready to watch one of the most technically perfect players in the league this season.
~That dead-ball call on the Golden Tate reception was some bowsh.
~Alvin Bailey is some kind of somethin' else. A guard in college, he's been the second best tackle in camp, behind (of course) Russell Okung. The NFL is full of tackles-turned-guards but the reverse is as rare as a masculine unicorn. Wondering what the difference between an NFL guard and an NFL tackle is? Imagine trying to convert Justin Smoak to shortstop. Anyhow, Bailey essentially mauled whoever San Diego put in front of him, standing out as a stalwart in a game where far too many Seahawks lineman were pushed off the ball for my liking.
~Mike Morgan's got a real fast first step. I'm not certain he has a full set of NFL skills, but dude can get off a snap something quick. Allen Bradford's got some game, too. Might already be the third best linebacker on the roster despite playing tailback at USC.
~This was a real boring game until Tarvaris Jackson came in*. Jackson (8/9, 128 yards, 2 TDs, 158.3 rating), looked comfortable, masterful even. I know Brady Quinn got the second-team reps and I know Brady Quinn is beautiful and I know Brady Quinn threw a touchdown pass and I know Brady Quinn won't return my texts but there's no question in my mind that if Russell Wilson gets hurt this season, T-Jack is gonna be the first guy Pete Carroll turns to.
*Said no one ever, before tonight
~Brady Quinn should get the up-by-thirty-handoff-slash-down-out snaps though, should the occasion present itself. He's got the kind of poignantly-muscled jawline you want to see shaking hands with a fallen foe. Or doing anything. Anything.
~Quinn also totally should have hooked Brett Swain up with that touchdown in the second quarter. That was Brett's only chance bro, don't throw it two feet behind him. Brett Swain was one decent throw away from having his Facebook profile pic set for like the next five years.
~Steven Hauschka has a trebuchet for a right leg.
~Stephen Williams looked real nice tonight and that's not just because he averaged 41.5 yards on a couple of catches. Stephen Williams looked nice because he got consistent separation, using his size effectively the way I had hoped Chris Harper would. Right now I've got Williams as the #5 WR on the team and Harper as the one pressing his face against the exterior of the candy shop window.
~Both Antoine Winfield and Walter Thurmond are so good at football. Seattle's got two guys who could be CB1s on a lot of teams fighting for snaps as CB3s. This is an outrageously talented secondary and (lest you feel that these talents are simply superfluous on this roster) has a depth that lends management a degree of flexibility rarely seen at the highest level.
~Preseason games will forever make me miss Tommy Gunz.
There are a couple dozen other talking points that we could cover, but I'm leery of lending too much emphasis to a game that, in the grand scheme of the Seahawks 2013 season, told us very little. The win was nice and worth celebrating a bit but the '08 Lions (0-16) went 4-0 in the preseason so, you know, don't waste it into a sock when the real thing is just around the corner.