Well at least the game was over in less than three hours.

With most of the starters and main contributors generally nowhere to be found, the Seattle Seahawks took a 16-15 loss to the Tennessee Titans that was considerably sloppier than their win over the Los Angeles Chargers. I don’t care about the final score or wins and losses in preseason, but performances (analyzed within context of situation and opposition) still matter when it’s time to make difficult roster cuts. The most important thing is that injuries were again kept to a minimum.

Let’s get to Winners and Losers, which I’m thankfully able to do after a bad thunderstorm tore through the Portland metro area.

Winners

Sam Howell

Any lingering doubt about who the backup QB is ought to be extinguished. Even with reports of Howell not looking great early on in training camp, my concern was “is Howell just going to be a bad backup QB?” and not “Howell is not that much better than PJ Walker.” He’s way better than PJ Walker.

Howell was 11/14 for 153 yards and a touchdown, looking in command of the offense and throwing a beautiful deep ball to Easop Winston Jr for Seattle’s only TD. His one-minute drill was brilliantly executed, and he looked confident in his decision-making.

Given Geno Smith was banged up quite a bit last season and already has taken a knock in training camp, the least I expect from Howell is to look competent. So far, that’s what he’s managed. You want Howell to look much better than the backups he’s playing even when playing with backups himself. I’d say he’s passed the test up to this point.

Easop Winston Jr

I don’t know if Winston Jr is really positioned to make the roster given who’s ahead of him, but he played his ass off. He led the Seahawks with 3 catches for 47 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. At the very least, he’ll be a top option on the practice squad.

Kenny McIntosh

I think it’s telling that George Holani only got a couple of carries and didn’t play very much. Unless he was injured, it seems to me that the coaching staff views Holani in the lead for RB3, but that doesn’t mean McIntosh is off the team. He had another good game with 63 scrimmage yards on 10 touches, and showed some nice, physical running in the open field.

A.J. Barner

The rookie didn’t make much of an impact last week, but he was more visible in this game. His lone catch went for 17 yards and he had a big role in the two big runs by Kenny McIntosh, showcasing his talents as a blocker.

Laviska Shenault Jr

Shenault had 3 catches for 27 yards but what stood out to me was the huge block he unleashed on the opening kick of the game, springing Dee Williams to the Titans’ 40. He seems like a roster lock to me given his offensive versatility and special teams work.

Derick Hall

It felt like Hall was a menace getting to the quarterback. Between his edge setting and pursuit in the run, his quick get-off on the snap, and the sack he recorded on Malik Willis, Hall’s projection as having a Boye Mafe-esque second-year leap looks like it could be real. He was lauded for his training camp performance and in two preseason games I’ve been impressed. In fact, all of Hall, Mafe, and Darrell Taylor had good pass rushing moments.

Mike Morris

One of the few players to be in from the opening quarter until the fourth, Morris was one of my bright spots on the defensive line. He recorded a sack and two quarterback hits, providing a lot of penetration along the interior of the line. I’m eager to see what Mike Macdonald has in store for him in the regular season.

Tyrice Knight

The fourth-round rookie led the team with eight tackles, which comes with the acknowledgement that tackles as a volume stat aren’t a great measurement of efficacy, along with the fact that he played well into the second half. I liked his TFL when he sniffed out a screen pass, and he was in on a couple of run stops close to the line of scrimmage. With Jerome Baker supposedly in line to play Week 1, Knight is going to be a reserve, but it’s no lock that Baker is healthy enough to have a full workload.

Jamie Sheriff

There’s almost no chance Sheriff makes the roster but I’d like to see him on the practice squad. The UDFA rookie from South Alabama had a sack, multiple pressures, and helped snuff out a run by undercutting the Titans blockers. He’s been good with the reserves through two games.

Ty Okada (except his ear)

He had the Seahawks’ only takeaway of the game on a diving interception, and if he didn’t cut his ear on the play, then he must have cut it earlier in the drive. Great work from the safety, who’s another one who looks like he could be on the practice squad again.

Losers

PJ Walker

Most of the time if you’re playing the third-string quarterback when the games count, you’re screwed. Emphasis on most of the time knowing what happened in San Francisco/Santa Clara with Brock Purdy. Walker was so bad in such limited playing time that it’s worth exploring other options even for an emergency practice squad QB.

Jason Myers

Myers didn’t miss a PAT last season and even with seven missed field goals, was graded a league-average kicker last season who attempted more field goals than anyone else in the league. Starting off this preseason with two missed PATs has me a little uneasy. Only a little. That 50-yard field goal late in the game looked like it was going wide left but he was able to just sneak it in.

D.J. James

That was James’ “Welcome to the NFL” game, although in this instance it’s not like he’s a roster lock. He had a missed tackle that led to a 23-yard run for Julius Chestnut, allowed a touchdown to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and then committed multiple penalties (including a drive-extending hold on 3rd and long) in the second half.

Not that Mike Jackson Sr was all that great, either, but James really struggled and was the weak link in the secondary all game.

Blake Lynch

Woof. Seattle’s linebacker depth is already shaky, but any slim hope of Lynch even making it on the roster as a special teams guy should be reduced to zero. He was routinely a step slow and out of position, including on the touchdown to Westbrook-Ikhine. Neither him nor Easton Gibbs impressed.

Final Notes

To my eye, the offensive line when Howell was in the game was a net positive. Christian Haynes had one false start but otherwise he held up well at left guard, while McClendon Curtis and Anthony Bradford had an excellent rep that helped spring McIntosh for an explosive run. Stone Forsythe got tripped up by his own man on a sack he allowed, so I won’t be too harsh, but he’s still very much fighting for a roster spot. The OL for the second half was absolutely not good.
Brady Russell had a great sideline catch that made Myers’ end of half field goal much shorter, but also had a brutal drop on Howell’s pump fake and deep shot to him. The lack of available tight ends—Jack Westover was injured and didn’t dress—meant that the Seahawks only had three available for the game, so don’t read too much into the snap counts tonight.
The third-team pass rush was inconsistent to plain bad. I’m not going to flip out because most of them will not be on the roster in less than two weeks.
Marquise Blair had his typical physical style of safety play, although I must apologize for thinking live he committed a bad roughness penalty on Mason Rudolph. That wasn’t the case and the officials concurred. Blair in run defense is a lot better than Blair in pass defense, however.
Byron Murphy II got in a couple of series but otherwise he’s quickly reached the, “we’ve seen enough” phase of preseason. I don’t blame the coaching staff, and I want him healthy for the regular season.
We’ve only got one more quasi-football game to go before the real stuff happens. At a minimum, I’d like to see the offensive starters get some run in front of the home fans next week against the Cleveland Brown. Perhaps that was always the plan, but we’ll wait until Coach Macdonald confirms it.