Hawks v. Chiefs Preseason Game Thread 8/15/25

[Millikin]

4th quarter of preseason... Let Bobo play some QB, WTF?!

[Donn Beach]

who says the seahawks can't run a bubble screen lol

https://twitter.com/i/status/1956546937261580367

[57reasons]

i know its just preseason so could well just be fools gold, but really hard to imagine the first 2 games going any better for the first and second units. dominated both first halves, particularly in the running game. only thing i would have liked to see that we havent yet is the old vet newcomers Cooper Kupp and DeMarcus Lawrence getting reps to show what they've got left in the tank. But considering that they seem to be injury free and have been shelved by the coaches could also be a good sign they factor big in the game plans this year. obviously in Kupp's case as the WR2 but Lawrence also valuable with Nwosu likely headed to the PUP list.

[Millikin]

I enjoy watching preseason games because football is back but here's why I don't take any of it to heart:

Unless you're on the coaching staff, you have no idea what's going on, or what good things or bad things even count.

-The team on offense might be testing out a specific blocking scheme, while the team on defense is practicing some other specific aspect.

-It's almost never 1st string vs 1st string, even at the start of the game it's likely a mix of players that won't ever play together again in the regular season.

-Because training camp practices are barely practice anymore due to union agreements, these games are the best real practice that occurs. So coaches on both sides are trying to evaluate a lot of players in a limited amount of time - and those players might not even be in the action of the game. It could just be watching how well a potential 3rd string WR blocks on a running play.

-I think the year the Patriots won 16 games, they were 0-4 in preseason. And there have been teams that were 4-0 that ended up terrible. (I know it's only 3 now)

-Awhile back during preseason, probably around 2013ish, Richard Sherman got burned bad a couple times during his limited time in the game. Later when asked about it he said he was focused on reading the QB's eyes and not covering the same way he normally would.
- The point is, he wasn't screwing up, he was just working on a particular technique that he wanted to get better at, so it meant nothing that he "got burned." So you can barely even evaluate the starters.

-There are great preseason performances every year by guys who don't even make the team

....

That said, because I can't emotionally accept any of my own argument, I'm optimistic about the season. I'm quite pleased by the offense so far (play calling and run blocking particularly) , but not too impressed with defense (I'm the biggest Minshew fan on planet Earth, but I know he's only a decent backup in the NFL, at best.. . Yet he was able to completely carve up the defense and move the ball at will).

So..umm..Go Seahawks!

[57reasons]

All very true. that said, even with all those caveats, I'd still be a lot happier with the results we've seen than any alternative. Imagine if the first look we had at the new offensive scheme yielded the familiar lack of OL push, falling behind the sticks again forcing 3rd and Longs requiring longer routes resulting in-familiar sacks and pressures - i guess that's the one thing we havent seen yet is how Darnold and the interior OL can hold up against an unleashed pass pressure. But one more major positive i didnt mention from the first two exhibitions - no injuries! Even the one i saw last night (Cabeldue) was able to return to play.

[trharder]

All very true. that said, even with all those caveats, I'd still be a lot happier with the results we've seen than any alternative. Imagine if the first look we had at the new offensive scheme yielded the familiar lack of OL push, falling behind the sticks again forcing 3rd and Longs requiring longer routes resulting in-familiar sacks and pressures - i guess that's the one thing we havent seen yet is how Darnold and the interior OL can hold up against an unleashed pass pressure. But one more major positive i didnt mention from the first two exhibitions - no injuries! Even the one i saw last night (Cabeldue) was able to return to play.

Agreed. and we've seen stinky pre-season games during the Pete era where the offense barely functioned at all.
It's just full pads practice and talent evaluation. I'm ready for the regular season already.

[Michael K.]

i know its just preseason so could well just be fools gold, but really hard to imagine the first 2 games going any better for the first and second units. dominated both first halves, particularly in the running game. only thing i would have liked to see that we havent yet is the old vet newcomers Cooper Kupp and DeMarcus Lawrence getting reps to show what they've got left in the tank. But considering that they seem to be injury free and have been shelved by the coaches could also be a good sign they factor big in the game plans this year. obviously in Kupp's case as the WR2 but Lawrence also valuable with Nwosu likely headed to the PUP list.

We had some success running the ball in the preseason last year, so I am tempering my excitement some. But I don’t know if any of us could have asked them to look much better up to this point this preseason.

[trharder]

We had some success running the ball in the preseason last year, so I am tempering my excitement some. But I don’t know if any of us could have asked them to look much better up to this point this preseason.

Also agreed. As unreliable a predictor as these games are, you can see what happens if the run game works.
Everything is open with the offense. In real games, the team that can run the ball wins. Late in the game...
if you can run the ball, you are going to win. ETA - it doesn't matter if the QB is the one doing the running,
it works the same way as if the RB is doing it.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

This win over the Chiefs sent a message to the rest of the league...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=poXa8JbL6 ... IGJsb2c%3D