Seattle Seahawks Week 2 Recap: Eugh!

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Well...at least it started nice.

With Mike Tomlin choosing to go for it on 4th-and-goal, our strong run defense shut down the Steelers opening drive at the goal line. It was something nice to see. 

Then the offense took the field and went 3 and out, and the bad times rolled as that 49er first half proved to be the whole game for this offense, with recurring themes and one big doughnut slapped up on the scoreboard for four quarters.

There were luckily a couple bright spots to point to but amiss a sea of disgust, this is one to put in the attic and never think of again.  

The Ugly: Tavaris Jackson

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Zach Miller—One reception for 13 yards on two targets

Ben Obomanu—Four receptions for 35 yards on six targets

Seattle Running Backs—Six receptions for 47 yards on seven targets

Anthony McCoy—Two receptions for nine yards on three targets

Mike Williams—One reception (almost two) for nine yards on three targets

Tavaris Jackson—20/29 for 159 yards (good for a paltry 4.6 yards a completion)

The line did what it needed to do against a usually very brutal Steeler front as it pass protected pretty well for most of the game. Many of the five sacks given up were due to Tavaris double pumping and dancing in the pocket like a fool. He, again, looked like someone who was afraid to throw the ball forward, completing 12 of his 20 receptions to non-receivers. He once again neglected to throw the ball toward Zach Miller who suffered through another poor game by his quarterback.

I'm starting to think that a certain someone's torn labrum isn't going to make a difference if Jackson can't regularly complete plays to his wideouts. On the "bright" side, he was the team's leading rusher with 12 yards.

The Good: Thunder and Lightning

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Kam Chancellor (nine tackles, five solo) and Earl Thomas (six tackles, five solo) again had a good outing as a tandem with Chancellor being absolutely everywhere for his defense and Earl Thomas making the key stop on Rashard Mendenhall, flying through the line to shut down his run short of the goal line.

It should be noted that linebacker Matt McCoy (nine tackles, four solo), Atari Bigby (two solo tackles, one sack), and Marcus Trufant (six tackles, five solo, one for loss and a pass deflection) also played good games for the defense overall. 

The Ugly: Running Game

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Marshawn Lynch was lunch for the Steeler defense.

He turned 2 or 3-yard losses into 1 or 2-yard gains on a few occasions but neither he or his backups could consistently put a dent into the Pittsburgh run defense. The "Fearsome Threesome" of Lynch, Forsett and Washington accounted for only 19 yards on 10 carries.

Unless you are watching the Eagles play, it is a bad thing when your Quarterback is the team's leading rusher. No matter which team you are watching play, it is always bad when the leading rusher can't put up more than 15 yards.

The Good: Kris Durham

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I left Durham's stats out of the Tavaris Jackson slide for one reason, to preserve them for this one.

Now I will be cautiously realistic here. Kris was only targeted three times in limited playing time, but he caught each and every pass sent his way for 30 total yards. It is the second week in a row that one of our rookie receivers have shown promise. I can only hope for Pete's sake, that performance equates to more playing time as both Durham and Baldwin could have used more featuring.

Kris Durham seems like the real deal to me, one of the steals of the 2011 NFL Draft, and I feel like had he not been in AJ Green's shadow, he would have been drafted much much higher. We can only hope his bright performance during such a poor overall offensive showing today will be the start of something special in Seattle.  

The Bad: Brandon Browner

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This picture depicts "Browner Ball" which consists of mugging the receiver you are covering in an attempt to stop them from catching the ball, carrying a shiv is optional...He is the zen guru of his art, and his art often gets him penalized.

To be fair, Browner should never have been covering Mike Wallace in the first place. He is too slow and Wallace is far too shifty. I would have much preferred Thurmond in this scenario but I assume the coaching staff saw something I didn't, or they didn't have their glasses on. I still like Brandon but he's put up two penalized outings now which has cost the team and if the trend continues he may be heading for the pine.

At least he recorded a fairly impressive seven tackles, six of which were solo...so I couldn't quite call his game ugly this time. 

The Good: Defensive Line

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No, the line wasn't quite as good as it was in the San Francisco game. It allowed more big runs and kept giving the quarterback an opening to run through, but overall it has still held up its end of the bargain. It proved stout once more, holding at the goal line at least twice before I changed the channel once the game was far beyond far beyond out of reach. They chewed up the runner when it mattered and spit whomever out backwards, not too thrilled with the taste of black and gold within its maw. Helping to register two sacks (one by lineman Chris Clemons) on three quarterback hits (four tackles for loss for the team). The Seattle Seahawks were able to continue to hold up a good run stopping package while generating an actual pass rush for once against the Steeler offensive line.

Pittsburgh starting tailback, Rashard Mendenhall, was held to 66 yards and a 3.5 yards per carry average. His backup, Issac Redman, ran for 49 yards on 10 carries (4.9 YPC) most of his yardage coming on one 20 yard carry, by far the longest run play for either team.

The Steeler rushing assault as a whole was held to 124 total yards (35 carries, 3.5 average) and two touchdowns.

The Seahawk defense has held its two power-run opponents combined so far to only 209 total yards on the ground, impressive.

Starting runners (Mendenhall and Gore) have gained only 125 yards (3.1 YPC) for one touchdown on this unit.