Football is back! OK, so it was only the pre-season, and a whole host of regular starters were out, but it didn’t involve Albert Breer on a stakeout curbside in some city so we’ll take it!
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Seattle came into the game after some big free agent splashes, including anointing a new quarterback in Tarvaris Jackson. San Diego’s offseason work was largely based around keeping hold of their own talent, though there were some new faces there too.
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What did we see?
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Seattle – Three Things of Note
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● Tarvaris Jackson looked very much the same player from Minnesota, which is better than people ever gave him credit for, but still problematic. Jackson’s ten drop backs didn’t include any howlers, and he made largely correct plays, but he couldn’t bring himself to attack the defense. There were a couple of plays to illustrate this point but the best one came on his dancing 3rd-and-3 conversion for first down. He ended up moving the chains with athleticism, but he came off his initial read – a deep pass down the left sideline – when the LWR had gained a clean release from the line, and only a single high safety over the top was there to help out. He has to be able to put that ball in the air and trust the scheme, the release and his receiver. At this level you can’t always know when you throw the ball that it’s going to work out.
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● Only issue with the Jackson ceiling is that Charlie Whitehurst didn’t look much better. He entered the game on Seattle’s first drive of the second quarter with the first team O-line still in place, and made some reasonable throws, including a couple of nice throws down the seam. He seems far more willing to attack deep than Jackson, but makes poorer decisions with the football at times. Rookie Josh Portis was the 3rd QB and after a shaky start from an accuracy standpoint settled in to make some nice plays. He threw the ball well and showed he was able to work through his reads and extend the play when necessary, including for the TD to McCoy when his first two reads were covered.
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● Russel Okung didn’t last three snaps, which is a worry for the Seahawks, limping off with an ankle injury to the same ankle he struggled with last season. Perhaps the most concerning aspect of it was that there was no obvious impact injury to it, nobody rolling up on the ankle, he just planted and went down. Seattle need him to be fit, because their backup plan at LT is just not viable (Tyler Polumbus in this game).
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San Diego – Three Things of Note
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● After weighing up the ok but not good performances of the Seattle QBs, Philip Rivers stepped in for one series and showed what a legitimate NFL QB should look like. He made good reads, accurate throws, and drove for a score. His most impressive play was a 47-yard gain to Vincent Jackson down the left sideline. The Chargers ran a route combination that forced the cover-2 safety on that side to make a decision, and Rivers hit the open receiver in single coverage.
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● New addition, and best tackling LB in football, Takeo Spikes, made some nice plays early in this game, filling gaps in the run game and ending plays where he made contact. That’s the kind of play the Chargers get with this signing. Takeo Spikes has played for more than a decade in the NFL and never made the playoffs. He’s a player that deserves to make it this season.
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● Darryl Gamble flashed in this game with some nice plays before getting dinged up. The most encouraging thing is that he did it in all facets of the game; against the run, in coverage, and applying pressure with pass-rush. John Carlson was the recipient of much of Gamble’s good play, getting beaten badly inside on a run play and having a short pass broken up with some close coverage.
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Overall watching these two teams the story is about quarterback play. The Chargers have a superstar quarterback and a backup that could probably upgrade any of the QBs on Seattle’s roster. The Seahawks have some passers with ability, but each guy has different flaws to his game. Put them all together and they might be getting somewhere. To be fair to Jackson, he was missing two imposing wide outs in Sidney Rice (6’4) and Mike Williams (6’5). Maybe when those two are back in the lineup he’ll have more confidence in the receivers to win battles and be more aggressive with the football. They need him to be.
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