It’s early, but Seahawks need more time

Published on August 22, 2011 by Tacoma News Tribune (Feed)     

Because we developed Acute Football Deficit Disorder over the spring and summer, we will be hasty to over-analyze exhibition games, and be prone to snap judgments.

The accompanying delusion is that these practice games are more meaningful than they are. After all, to those who feared a future without football, even preseason games feel like the playoffs.

We should be reminded that these guys are in mid-May form right now. They haven’t learned each others’ names yet, let alone the full playbook. You can’t cook a stew in a microwave; it takes time to blend the ingredients.

So assessments of the Seattle Seahawks after two exhibitions are verdicts with scant evidence.

After a win and a loss, the first-team offense still hasn’t gotten the memo that the lockout has ended. However, if there was a league in which the second units competed, the Seahawks would be strong contenders.

A look at a few areas of concern and debate:

• Quarterbacks: Charlie Whitehurst has been the best quarterback. Or at least the best at passing against opponents’ backups. Props due: He’s playing decisively and with confidence, and the accuracy he lacked on some short routes in the past has been discovered.

Starter Tarvaris Jackson has thrown only 26 passes, mostly in the face of lousy protection, and his one interception was a ball that should have been caught. He hasn’t generated any points, but it’s not a fair sample size to scrap the depth chart.

• Offensive line: We expected the rookies on the right side to need time to ripen. James Carpenter and John Moffitt have predictably mixed the good with the bad. And the injury of Russell Okung has set back the unit’s melding process.

But most would have expected better of free-agent guard Robert Gallery, who has looked ineffective much of the time. He’s 31 and may need more time to play into shape.

Bottom line (if you will): This young unit was given a challenge on Saturday against Minnesota that was impossible to misinterpret. They had the ball with a first down on the Vikings’ 2.

If this team was going to be able to pound the ball the way coach Pete Carroll wanted, it was time to have all these high draft picks show what they could do.

Four running plays later, the Hawks gave the ball up at the 1. Consider that an embarrassing failure, even if it is early preseason.

via It’s early, but Seahawks need more time | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

Tags: Charlie Whitehurst, Contenders, Deficit Disorder, Delusion, Depth Chart, Exhibition Games, Free Agent, Interception, James Carpenter, John Moffitt, Offensive Line, Playbook, Practice Games, Preseason Games, Rookies, Scant Evidence, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, Spring And Summer, Tarvaris Jackson, Team Offense