The Seahawks are looking strong so far in their matchup tonight against the Oakland Raiders. They lead the game 10-3 at the Half.
Offensive Notes from the First Half:
The Seahawks first-team offense finally got some things going in their fourth preseason game and moved the ball quite well in the first quarter.
In their first drive, the Seahawks moved the ball, including a nicely set-up screen pass to Justin Forsett (which he caught with one hand) on 3rd and 15 that went for 19 yards. Tarvaris Jackson, finally given some time to throw the ball, hooked up with Golden Tate, Kris Durhm and Michael Robinson to march down the field. The drive was killed though when Tarvaris Jackson threw an ugly pick in the endzone.
On the Hawks second drive, Tarvaris Jackson bounced back from his interception and hit Golden Tate deep for a 43-yard gain. Tate had another catch on the drive before it stalled and the Seahawks had to settle for a Jeff Reed field goal.
Jackson left the game after the first quarter after putting up 88 yards of passing on 5/7 attempts with the 1 interception. Charlie Whitehurst came into the game and made a couple of really nice plays -- the most notable coming on a 3rd and 12 situation where he scrambled out of the pocket, threw on the run, and hit WR Patrick Williams for 20 yards and a first down.
Leon Washington had a heads-up play on a third down as he scooped up a deflected pass and ran it for 32 yards and a first down. The Seahawks capitalized on the play, finished the drive, and RB Thomas Clayton punched the ball in from the one yard line to make it 10-0 with 9:11 in the 2nd Quarter.
Whitehurst finished the first half with 6/11 passing for 89 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs. Justin Forsett carried the ball 6 times for 18 yards.
The real story of the first half was Golden Tate. After enduring rumors that he might get cut on Saturday, Tate showed up by catching 4 passes for 65 yards and played well in the punt/kickoff return game as well. He broke a kickoff return for 34 yards then just before the half broke free for 43 yards on a punt return. Love to see this kind of production and intensity from the second year receiver, and he appears to be making a statement.
Defensive Notes:
On the other side of the ball, the Seahawks defense has looked very good. The Seahawks held the Raiders to 55 yards of total offense in the first quarter and Sebastian Janikowski missed a 52 yard field goal with 5:45 in the 1st. That was the only time the Raiders offense threatened a score in the first quarter. I'll take that kind of production from the first-team defense.
In the second quarter, the first team unit gave way to the backups, but they kept the intensity up. The Raiders put together one longish drive that ended in a Sebastian Janikowski 34-yard field goal. Again, the Hawks played well, had a few penalties from Walter Thurmond and Byron Maxwell, but overall had good energy.
KJ Wright has led the Seahawks thus far with 4 tackles. CB Walter Thurmond has been targeted a lot as well, but has held his own with 3 tackles.
At Half, the Seahawks have held the Raiders to 133 total yards -- 94 through the air and 39 on the ground. Most importantly, they've kept Oakland out of the endzone and have made stops when they need them. The Hawks lead the time of possession battle 16:19 to Oakland's 13:41. Seattle has 11 first downs to Oakland's 9.