Seahawks offense still sputtering in loss to Broncos

Published on August 28, 2011 by Tacoma News Tribune (Feed)     

Well, at least they scored.

The Seattle Seahawks’ starting offense finally got its first points of the exhibition season, a 52-yard field goal by Jeff Reed on the team’s 12th drive of the preseason.

But other than that, Seattle’s offense looked overmatched in a 23-20 loss to the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field on Saturday evening.

Broncos backup kicker Steven Hauschka kicked a 51-yard field goal as time expired to win it for Denver.

Seattle’s young offensive line failed to contain the speed and athleticism of a Denver defensive front led by Pro Bowl player Elvis Dumervil and this year’s No 2 overall draft pick, linebacker Von Miller.

Both players repeatedly crashed the edges and beat Seattle’s green offensive tackles, Tyler Polumbus and James Carpenter, to quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, as Denver (2-1) finished with five sacks against Seattle’s starters.

Equally frustrating for the Sea-hawks (1-2) was their inability to run the ball.

New offensive line coach Tom Cable’s zone blocking scheme could muster only 18 rushing yards with the starters on the field.

And the Seahawks totaled a measly 53 yards and two first downs with Denver’s starting defense on the field.

“Obviously an idiot can see it’s not good enough,” said veteran offensive guard Robert Gallery. “That’s life in the big leagues. I can say we have a young group, but that doesn’t really matter at this point. Guys have to be ready to play, and we’ve got to put a good product on the field.”

Jackson threw for 93 yards and his first touchdown for the Sea-hawks on 13-of-22 accuracy.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do as a whole offense,” Jackson said. “Pass protection is not just solely on one person, or one unit. It’s all about me getting the ball out, backs protecting, the receivers getting open, the offensive line protecting and making sure we target the right guys.

“And we’ve got a lot of work to do as far as getting that together.”

Rookie undrafted free agent Doug Baldwin continued his bid to make the team with a 105-yard kick return for a score midway through the four quarter.

“The blocking was phenomenal,” Baldwin said. “It was easy once I hit the first hole. Those guys mowed everybody down.”

Baldwin’s return would have been a team record if it had occurred during the regular season – 4 yards longer than Leon Washington’s 101-yard return for a score last year against San Diego.

Baldwin’s return was actually the first in Denver in two preseason games after 16 straight touchbacks.

Along with Baldwin’s impressive return, one of the few bright spots for Seattle was the play of its defense.

Seattle gave up two long drives for scores – an 80-yard drive that ended in a 2-yard touchdown run by Knowshon Moreno in the first half, and an 85-yard drive that Denver quarterback Kyle Orton finished with a 6-yard scoring pass to Eric Decker on the Broncos’ opening drive of the second half.

Other than that, Seattle’s defense held its own. Included in the big-play department was an interception by defensive end Chris Clemons in his first action of the exhibition season, a sack by Marcus Trufant on a corner blitz that helped stall another Denver drive, and defensive linemen Junior Siavii and Red Bryant combining to stuff a fourth-and-1 run by Denver running back Willis McGahee from Seattle’s 45-yard line.

That was about it for Seattle’s highlights.

via Seahawks offense still sputtering in loss to Broncos | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

Tags: Athleticism, Coach Tom Cable, Denver Broncos, Draft Pick, Elvis Dumervil, Exhibition Season, Hauschka, James Carpenter, Jeff Reed, Offensive Guard, Offensive Line Coach, Polumbus, pro bowl, Rushing Yards, S Green, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, Sports Authority, Tarvaris Jackson, Yard Field Goal, Young Group