The wind made an appearance on Lake Washington for the first time, and brought with it a change of fortunes for the Seahawks defense. It was clear that Mike Macdonald did not appreciate the implication yesterday that the offense was outperforming the defense, and he had his defenders ready to even the score on day three of training camp.
Gone was the rhythmic drumbeat of snap, dropback, throw, completion for Geno Smith and the starters. In its place was something more discordant and off-beat like jazz. The defense appeared to bring much more in the way of pressure packages, often crowding the line prior to the snap.
Smith had far less time to get rid of the ball, and coverage was far stickier, leaving him without the pressure relief check-downs he utilized so effectively in the first two days.
This was not a dominant performance by the defense. Smith and the starters still made a number of plays, but the defense won the day.
One perfect example of a training camp mirage was when Smith hit DK for what appeared to be a beautiful 60 yard deep ball over the head of Tre Brown. In reality, there was an all-out blitz that looked like it would have resulted in a sack during a game.
On another play, Smith threw to what he expected to be an open Kenneth Walker along the sideline, only to have Patrick O’Connell catch the ball simultaneously with his running back. Walker would eventually win the tug-of-war for a hard-earned completion. The play was emblematic of the extra effort the offense had to put in to get the returns they had been enjoying previously.
A number of defenders had nice days
Mike Morris is 6’6″ tall, with 33 1/2″ arms. His length has been making life difficult on the shorter Sam Howell during camp. He batted down what must have been his third pass so far in this one. He also created some pressure. I continue to see a guy who can make an impact as a rotational defensive linemen this year.
Darrell Taylor had his best day. He probably would have had a couple of sacks in a real game, and paired with Jarran Reed to get to the quarterback at one point.
Uchenna Nwosu stood out. He was in the backfield in both pass and run situations. On one run play, he beat right tackle McClendon Curtis to be in position to make a tackle for loss had tackling been allowed.
It took a few days, but Byron Murphy earns a shout after what was easily his most impactful performance. Murphy would have had at least one, and possibly two, sacks in a normal game. He won with quickness at times. He won with power on other. His play against the run was also notable. He seemed to read some of the run plays and beat his blocker to the hole. He appeared to life Sataoa Laumea off the ground on one bull rush. The efficacy of these flashes will be far greater once the pads come on in the next few practices.
Brown nearly had an interception during red zone drills after blanketing D.K. Metcalf. K’Von Wallace had a great breakup on a pass to Brady Russell during the same drill.
Artie Burns has been solid so far, and had another nice day with some pass breakups. He has opened a sizable gap between him and the rookie corners.
Nobody was able to stop “Toe Tap” Tyler Lockett on one highlight reel catch in the endzone where it was hard to say whether the catch or the footwork were more impressive. Vintage Lockett.
Quick hitter notes
- It was a tough day for rookie corner Nehemiah Pritchett who gave up consecutive touchdowns to Metcalf during the red zone drills. Welcome to the NFL, rook.
- Noah Fant made what has been his customary few well-times catches with room to run in front of him
- Hayden Hatten had a few catches and might be getting more hype if the Seahawks receiver room wasn’t so deep
- Despite the mention of more pressure being applied, the offensive line seemed to hold up reasonably well considering the amount and variety of pressures the defense was bringing today. A number of the sacks were due to the ball coming out later.
- Outside linebacker Joshua Onujiogu flashed multiple times. He missed last season with an injury, and is not a name anyone will be talking about. I guarantee the coaches liked what he put on tape today.