Field Gulls
What a rush! Literally!
The Seattle Seahawks (1-0-1) made sure there wouldn’t be a squandered preseason lead on a rainy Friday night at Lumen Field. It was a terrific night for the offense from starters to reserves, as the Seahawks rushed for an astonishing 268 yards as part of a 477-yard night and a comfortable 33-16 win over Kansas City. Sam Darnold’s only series ended in a Zach Charbonnet touchdown, while Drew Lock had as many touchdowns to Jake Bobo (2) as he did incomplete passes. Jalen Milroe didn’t have a lot of passing reps but he did get a first-team appearance by sneaking the ball in short yardage, so there’s that!
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, and many other stars for the Chiefs sat this one out, but they still had their starting offensive line and some defensive players getting some snaps in the opening quarter. Unlike last week, Kansas City’s reserves on offense didn’t overwhelm Seattle’s defensive reserves, and the Seahawks never looked back after racing out to an early 14-0 lead.
It’s just preseason, but that was an ass-kicking that will have a lot of fans hyped heading into the regular season. There was a major emphasis on being a more physical football team in the trenches, and on the offensive side of the ball we’re seeing something that looks wildly different than recent Seahawks squads.
The Seahawks got the ball first and had a big kick return by George Holani out to midfield, but a Drake Thomas holding penalty brought it back. Zach Charbonnet got things going with a 13-yard run behind great blocks by Grey Zabel and Jalen Sundell. Sam Darnold was 4/4 for 34 yards, Jalen Milroe had a ‘tush push’ type of sneak for Seattle’s only third down of the entire drive, and Charbonnet wrapped things up with a 15-yard touchdown run. Dominant blocking by Seattle’s offensive line in the run game, led by Grey Zabel and Jalen Sundell! Preseason or not, it’s beautiful to watch!
Kansas City sat Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and some other key starters but did have the starting offensive line and running back Isiah Pacheco in the game for the opening drive. Gardner Minshew II led the Chiefs deep into Seahawks territory off the back of a swing pass to Pacheco on a Nick Emmanwori coverage bust and a darting throw to Tyquan Thornton. When it came time to go for it on 4th and 1 at Seattle’s 15, fullback Carson Steele was stuffed by Julian Love!
Darnold and the top skill position players were done for the night for the Seahawks, but the (healthy, available) offensive line starters were still out there. It was a mismatch in the trenches, with the Seahawks running the ball on almost every play and racking up chunk plays. George Holani busted one for 30 yards, Damien Martinez benefited from a great Anthony Bradford block and gained 19 yards, and by the end of the first quarter the...
