NASHVILLE—After practicing against each other during the week, the Seahawks and Titans faced off Saturday night in a preseason game that went down to the wire.
Ultimately, the Titans came out ahead, winning 16-14 on a 46-yard field goal as time expired, giving them a close win in a game in which both teams rested their starters. The Seahawks built a lead early behind a great first half from Sam Howell, but were unable to hang on in the second half. The Seahawks did retake the lead late in the fourth quarter thanks to a Ty Okada interception that set up a Jason Myers field goal, but the defense was unable to get the final stop it needed in the final two minutes.
Here are six rapid reactions to Saturday’s game at Nissan Stadium:
Sam Howell looked as good as he has since joining the Seahawks.
Sam Howell’s second pass attempt of the night, which came on the game’s third play from scrimmage, sailed over the head of Jake Bobo, leading to a Seahawks three-and-out.
From that point on, however, Howell was just about perfect for the rest of the first half before PJ Walker took over in the second half. In completing 11 of 14 pass attempts for 153 yards, one touchdown and a 136.0 passer rating, Howell looked about as good as he has in a Seahawks uniform, practices included.
Howell used his legs to escape pressure on a few occasions, including one third-down conversion on which he stepped up to avoid a sack before hitting rookie AJ Barner for a 17-yard gain, but most impressive was his accuracy throughout his two quarters of work.
Howell showed great touch and accuracy to find Eason Winston Jr. for a 23-yard touchdown, the on the next drive ripped a strike that hit Cody White in stride for a 33-yard gain, Seattle longest play from scrimmage. After the aforementioned miss to Bobo, Howell’s only incompletions of the half were a perfectly thrown touch pass to Brady Russell that the tight end lost control of as he secured the ball and turned up field, and a deep shot to Bobo on the final drive of the half that was accurate but well-contested by the Titans secondary.
Howell and the offense also got in some good situational work late in the half when they got the ball on the 27-yard line with 38 seconds left. After the initially deep incompletion to Bobo, Howell completed passes to Bobo, Winston and Russell, who made a great diving sideline grab, setting up a 48-yard Jason Myers field goal to end the half.