The best part of what was one of the comprehensively worst performances in franchise history is that there is little reason to analyze most of what happened. There is one irony to spend a little time on and one player who showed some improvement from last week. Otherwise, pretty much everyone played bad football against one of the least talented opponents in the league, who were mostly playing their backups. Every facet of the team was comically bad. If you are among those who want the team to tank, you should both be happy that it might happen and terrified at the reality of how bad the team would be if it did. No one quarterback turns around a team that awful.
Let’s start with the irony. Most people will leave that game talking about how bad Geno Smith is. While I do not think Smith was good in this game, it was the receiving corps that deserves the bulk of the boos.
Freddie Swain had T-Rex arms on a well thrown ball early in the game that would have been a big conversion and moved the team well into Bears territory. It was such a bad play by Swain that he didn’t even get a finger on a ball that was clearly within his catching radius. Dareke Young, who I lauded last week, dropped a perfectly thrown ball from Smith that would have had the team down near the Bears goal line. Bo Melton dropped a pass that was a little behind him, but not a tough catch by any measure.
It was not just the receivers. There was a first down taken back due to penalty on Charles Cross, one of five penalties on the rookie. There were so many penalties, the team may have had more plays of 1st or 2nd and 10+ yards than 10 or fewer.
This was just not a game where you can point the finger at the quarterback and say he blew it with a bunch of off-target throws, or getting too antsy in the pocket, or missing line adjustments, or turning the ball over. He played an okay game, with some plus throws and some minus plays. Had special teams, defense, the offensive line and his receivers had been just average, the game would have been competitive.
It is totally fine if the team decides to play Drew Lock in the final preseason game, but it does come with a risk. If Lock plays poorly, or not well enough to earn the starting gig, you just lost a chance to get precious reps for the guy you are going to start and clearly needs with other starters.
Truthfully, I still do not care how that battle ends up.
I do care that the offensive line had so many penalties. Cross hopefully got this out of his system in a game that did not matter. I cannot remember the last time a single lineman had five penalties in a game for Seattle. Earl Thomas got introduced to the league by Brett Favre in the preseason, getting burned deep, and it was a pivotal moment in his development. Preseason is for these types of harmless learning moments. Let’s just hope he learns.
Abe Lucas also had a penalty, but did have another pancake block. I was pretty upset that Jake Curhan was still starting at right tackle. I don’t want to see anyone but Lucas at that position from now on. There is no reason to play the lower ceiling player in a season like this. Lucas has demonstrated enough talent to be the starter, whatever bumps come along the way.
Thankfully, Damien Lewis was not seriously injured. Pete Carroll said after the game the starting guard, who was carted off the field, only has a lateral ankle sprain. Phil Haynes, did not start this week as Gabe Jackson returned. He likely gets the starting spot until Lewis gets back, but he is another player who should not be sitting behind anyone right now.
The one player who I thought looked noticeably better than the prior week was Uchenna Nwosu. The outside linebacker got into the backfield a few times and was generally disruptive after being unproductive in Pittsburgh.
It was interesting to see Justin Coleman starting at nickel again. He did somewhat better at that position, but better is relative to what was disastrous last week. He managed to make arguably the worst play of the game when he had plenty of time to down a punt inside the 1-yard line, and instead caught it with his feet on the line to create a touchback. So, so, so bad.
Coby Bryant did not play until the second half. Why? What possible reason would there be to keep a promising young player on the bench? Maybe it was a disciplinary issue. If it was just a coaches call, it was a bad one.
Jason Myers continued to prove why he is awful and does not deserve any of the money the team is paying him. The inside linebackers were terrible again, victimized repeatedly in the run and pass game. The Bears did not even test the outside corners for a few drives because there was so much to be gained running and throwing straight ahead. Jordyn Brooks and the safeties will make a difference, but there is a problem there.
It was a shame to have so many bad performances so soon after so many promising ones. I tend to focus on the ceiling more than the floor in these phases of rebuilding. Young players who can show greatness are what matter. Making youthful mistakes and looking foolish is an unfortunate, but acceptable part of the growth process. If they start stacking up bad games, then we can be concerned. This one is flush-worthy. On to the next.