Three Offensive Things To Look For In Seahawks vs Broncos Game

The Seahawks will play their second preseason but the first game at home Saturday night  ( 7 p.m. PST ) against the Denver Broncos. This will be the 15th time the two teams meet in the preseason, a series that began in Seattle’s inaugural season of 1976, with Denver leading 10­4. The Seahawks last hosted the Broncos on August 8, 2019, a 22­14 Seahawks win at Lumen Field.

The  Seahawks will be looking to get back on the winning side and make a favorable impression in front of the 12’s.  The last time the Seahawks played in front of the home crowd was the last home game of the 2019 season.

A  sloppy and lethargic offense played a big role in last week’s 20-7 loss to the  Vegas Raider.

WHO STARTS AT BACKUP QUARTERBACK

With starting and backup quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Geno Smith unlikely to play the play-calling duties fall to Alex McGough and Sean Mannion.  Smith started the game against the Raiders but had to leave the contest due to a concussion. McGough stepped in and participated in 22 offensive snaps and had decent passing numbers completing  6 of 10 passes for 54 yards and one touchdown. In all fairness, Mannion wasn’t that far behind him completing 7 of 11 pass attempts for 34 yards. The two will get long looks and be given an opportunity to distance themselves from the other.  Smith has is now cleared to play but highly unlikely the team will be risk-taking for this game.

WILL RASHAAD PENNY SHOW HIS WORTH

Running back Rashaad Penny returned to practice this week after missing last week’s game due to a thigh issue and has looked to be back on track after the slight injury derailment.  Saturday’s game is not urgent but of importance for Penny to make an impression on the coaches. The injury bug has been a constant companion of Penny with whispers of “ injury prone “ circulating.

A solid outing against the Broncos will quiet the whispers and ease doubt about  Penny’s injury situation. Alex Collins and DeeJay Dallas are ready, able, and willing to step in and show they can be counted on. Collins has been solid in practice while Dallas scored the offense’s lone touchdown against the Raiders last week.

OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS

In last week’s game, the Seahawks were a  paltry 4 of 13 on third down and a lot of the woes can be contributed to the play of the offensive line. Rookie Guard Stone Forsythe’s trial by fire episode is past him and there should be a major improvement in game two. Left Guard Jordan Simmons Center Kyle Fuller, Right guard Phil Haynes, and Right Tackle Jake  Curhan were the starting O-line unit and like  Forsythe will be looking to make a considerable improvement from game one.  Haynes played 24 snaps last game and that number will serve as a measuring stick against the number of plays he will participate in on Saturday. Two players who sat out last week and surely will play on Saturday are Guard Damien Lewis and tackle Jamarco Jones. Both players had a good week of practice and their participation in the game should exponentially improve the line play.

BIG TAKE AWAY

Head coach Pete Carroll stated he is looking for vast improvement from the offense.  Last week the offensive line looked like an experiment gone bad. Credit the coaches for giving the players a chance to perform but this week the coaches are looking for execution and consistency.

“We need to play clean, and we need to convert on third down,” Carroll said. “We need to play good, clean football. We did a great job taking care of the ball last week and that’s something we’re always working on doing. Good decision-making needs to happen again, and we need to convert and move the club. If you don’t convert on third down, you can’t get into the rhythm that we need, so that’s a big deal.”