Well that went just as I expected. The Seahawks defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 45-17 Sunday in a game that was over by halftime. Although the defense gave up 17 points (all during garbage time) the offense clicked as a whole for the first time all season. The Seahawks improve to 3-0 on the season while the Jaguars fall to 0-3. With the losses by San Francisco, St. Louis, and Arizona the Seahawks now hold a two game lead over the rest of the NFC West. There is a lot of good and some bad I took out of Sunday’s game. Here are my observations.
Wilson Back on Track: Russell Wilson made one mistake on Sunday. Luckily that mistake, a deflected interception by Jaguars linebacker Paul Posluszny, was after the Seahawks had gained full control of the game. Wilson went 14/21 for 202 yards, threw 4 touchdowns and one interception on Sunday in what I consider to be his all-around best game of the season. Wilson did a good job standing firm in the pocket and finding his open receivers than scrambling to help them get open. This is evident by Wilson’s minimal rushing numbers; two carries for 14 yards. After failing to score a touchdown in the first half of our previous two games, Wilson found Zach Miller for two touchdowns and Sidney Rice for a touchdown in the first half on Sunday. It was key to see Wilson shake the rust off in the first half because a slow first half start on the road in the next two weeks could spell trouble for the Seahawks. Wilson was pulled at the end of the third quarter, and therefore escaped uninjured which was also one of my keys heading into Sunday’s game.
Everyone Gets Involved: Russell Wilson and Tarvaris Jackson used a diverse array of running backs and receivers against the Jaguars on Sunday. Seven different players caught passes and five different players had at least one carry on the ground. Golden Tate led all receivers with 5 receptions for 88 yards. Zach Miller had two touchdown catches but it was rookie tight end Luke Willson who made a surprise impact this week. Willson caught 5 passes for 76 yards. Three of Willson’s catches came on play action roll outs where the defense bit on the fake run and Willson was left wide open. On the ground, Marshawn Lynch ran for 69 yards and rookie Christine Michael got his first action of the season, carrying the ball 9 times for 37 yards. On Michael’s carries it seemed to be bang or bust. Michael dances a lot to try to make running room which cost him yards on a couple of his carries while he was also able to break into the second level of the Jacksonville defense on two occasions. I think it was great for over a dozen offensive skill position players to get on the stat sheet because it gives the our next opponent, the Houston Texans, more to analyze and consider when creating a game plan for next week.
Thoughts on the Offensive Line: Overall I think the offensive line played an average football game. You could tell that they were missing the presence of Russell Okung though. Russell Wilson was sacked twice which should not happen at home against the likes of the Jacksonville defense. The Seahawks ran for a total of 156 yards which is an excellent sign that the offensive line can continue to play efficiently. The makeshift offensive line survived the game uninjured as a whole and the same group is expected to start next weekend.
Defense Looked Good But I Expect Better: The Seahawks introduced the starting defense before the game and I was surprised by a couple of names that ran out of the tunnel individually. Chris Clemons and Cliff Avril were announced as our starting defensive ends and O’Brien Schofield was announced as one of our starting outside linebackers in place of Malcolm Smith. The Seahawks loaded up the pass rush today and with the addition of Clemons allowed defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to dial up different blitz packages. The Seahawks sacked Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne three times, half of what I predicted for the defense this week. Through the first quarter the Seahawks defense allowed -9 yards. In the remaining 45 minutes, they gave up 274 total yards. This is unacceptable to me. The starters played into the fourth quarter but looked quite relaxed with little sense of urgency. Seattle was leading big and the defense played like they knew the game was in the bag, leading to 17 Jacksonville points. I am worried that the attitude and play of the defense will translate into bad habits we cannot afford to develop moving forward.
Clemons Gets Extended Playing Time: This was the first game Chris Clemons played since tearing his ACL against Washington Redskins in last season’s playoffs. Having said this, I did not expect to see Clemons play the entire game on Sunday. My expectation was for Clemons to see preseason-like playing time on Sunday, playing a light load until about halftime to get his feet wet. Instead, Clemons played 60 minutes and recorded one quarterback hit.
Penalty Watch: The Seahawks improved drastically this week in the laundry department. 4 penalties for 24 yards is a huge success for this team. The week of preparation leading up to Sunday’s game paid dividends. It is key to build on this success. If we can limit ourselves to 5 penalties or less next week in Houston, it could make for another good game.
Thoughts on Jacksonville: Let’s try to look past the fact that the Jaguars lost by 26 points and the game was virtually over by halftime. If I was a Jaguars fan I would be frustrated that our record is 0-3 after three games but I could see a lot of potential in this team for the future. Jacksonville’s defense has been heavily overhauled since head coach Gus Bradley took over but they have a good mix of veteran leadership and young, raw playmaking talent. On offense, the Jaguars scored 17 points thanks in large part to running back Maurice Jones-Drew and wide receiver Cecil Shorts. It may take a season or two for the Jaguars to be competitive with the rest of the National Football League but if they can add another talented receiver, more depth at offensive line, and a new quarterback, the Jaguars are headed in the right direction. For the time being however, the Jaguars look like a 2-3 win team this season and will most likely be headed for the Jadeveon Clowney/Teddy Bridgewater sweepstakes.
Random Thoughts: No surprise here, the Seahawks wore blue jerseys and blue pants this week… As if I didn’t get enough of the bad weather last week, it rained again this week. Luckily it was slightly colder than last week which made it definite sweatshirt-under-jersey weather… There were actually way more Jaguars fans than I thought I would see… I had lunch with my dad for his birthday at the Pyramid Alehouse this week. I highly recommend the fish n’ chips… There were three people in my section that were escorted out by alcohol enforcement this week. That’s a new record and a surprise to me. What about the Jacksonville Jaguars makes people want to get extra rowdy?… Jack Sikma raised the 12th Man flag before the game… The Jaguars overhauled their uniforms this past offseason and they look atrocious, especially their “black and tan” helmet. Whoever thought that helmet looked good during the design process should be fired… I had Sidney Rice on my bench in fantasy football this week. As if my week could not have been any worse, instead of adding Zach Miller to my starting lineup to replace the injured Vernon Davis, I picked up Davis’s backup Vance McDonald. Miller had 12.5 fantasy points. McDonald had 0.6… There was a huge roar when the 49ers score was announced to the crowd in the 4th quarter. With San Francisco playing St. Louis on the road on a short week without two of their star defensive players in week 4, there is a good chance they could start the season 1-3… “If the Seahawks win next week in Houston, we will win the division.”- My dad (one of the most pessimistic Seahawks fans you would ever meet, by the way).
I will publish my preview of next weekend’s game against the Houston Texans early Saturday morning. Hope everyone enjoyed the game! Thanks for reading as always. Go Seahawks!
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