We pick up the action with 11:50 remaining in the first. Jordan Kent hauls in Matt Hasselbeck's touch pass for the score.

• Nate Burleson runs a very tight diagonal left then horizontal into the flat route that causes confusion and hesitation by the safety and corner and allows Kent to get behind both and be open for the easy reception. It's a level of precision and discipline I'm not used to seeing from Burly.
• The closest thing to legitimate pressure by Seattle's front four was accomplished on Minnesota's second play from scrimmage. Bernard, able to isolate Anthony Herrera, wins his matchup and forces a hold before breaking into the pocket. For the rest of quarter, Seattle's pass rush was nearly non-existent.
• Fumble recoveries are luck--not always. The forced fumble and Seattle's subsequent fumble recovery featured that perennial MVP: the team. It's first and 20. Minnesota is set in a four WR,single TE formation. Seattle deploys nickel coverage. At the snap, the Hawks rush three, optioning Brandon Mebane into a short middle zone. Tarvaris Jackson targets Visanthe Shiancoe, a major mistake. Shiancoe is not tightly covered but sits in the middle of three Seahawks zones. After the reception, Hill and Tatupu close in. Hill hitting from the offensive right forces the ball loose. Tatupu, fractions of a second later, hits from the offensive left, forcing the ball out. Mebane strikes from the back, leveling Shiancoe and removing any chance of an offensive recovery. Grant grabs the loose ball, but half a dozen Seahawks could have collapsed on the ball before a Viking was within five yards of the fumble. Over the past two seasons, Seattle's gang tackling has elevated its ability to force fumbles.
• Next play. Seattle breaks with a three WR, single TE, RB set. Minnesota is in a base 4-3. At the snap, Seattle initially creates nice wedge. This is something Steve Vallos can do; he gets off the snap extremely well. Moments later, Vallos is reeling in his own backfield. Rob Sims and Mike Wahle pull to the second level. Wahle is a revelation as a pull blocker and though Sims lacks Chris Gray's skill, he more than makes up for it with mobility. I believe the skills will come. Morris does something even he didn't often do last season: adjust in the backfield to the free defender. He then makes a nice lateral cut right and shoots through the B gap. He's free. 18 yards downfield, Morris displays another lateral cut, doesn't evade Tyrell Johnson but does put him out of position. The effort nets another three yards. Morris not only looked in top form, he looked like another back: bigger, more agile, reading his blockers with aplomb and making smart decisions in the open field. It's fair to say, yesterday's Morris is untradeable.
  
• On the next play, Vallos exploded off the snap, stood his man up and held his block. On the next play, Vallos was tossed on his back by Fred Evans.
• Coutu kicked the ball three times. The second was serviceable. Decent height, decent length: 2 yards into the end zone. The other two were awful. The first landed at the 9, was so low it only briefly traveled off frame and gave his return team so little time to get downfield that Albert Young made it to the 22 before encountering Seattle's frontline coverage unit.
• Coutu was identified in a graphic as either a "ROOKE" or a "RDDKE". I'm almost sure it was the latter.
• Tru had rough quarter. On Minnesota's first play of its second possession his misread his assignment and blew coverage on Bernard Berrian. The play resulted in a 24 yard gain. Trufant runs stride by stride with Berrian, uses a legal pick to chuck Berrian inside and then assumes man off coverage outside right. Brian Russell, perhaps, shares part of the blame, choosing to double the well covered Shiancoe instead of providing inside cover on the much more dangerous Berrian, but with Trufant alone and Berrian his clear assignment, it's hard to excuse the lapse. Tru wasn't beat, he misread the route and misread his own secondary.
• On the next play, Tru nearly loses his footing after a move by Sidney Rice, but recovers to bury a shoulder into Rice's midsection, truncating Rice's route and putting Tru in good position for a pick.
• Berrian is a good receiver, freed from Rex Grossman and in his prime. In the same drive, on Minnesota's 4^th play, he discarded Kelly Jennings, getting 5 yards of separation and then converted the reception in front of Leroy Hill, nearly scoring. Hill made the wrong read, jumping on a double team to his right and ignoring Berrian, but it wasn't Hill's assignment. No, this was all about Berrian looking like a superstar, embarrassing a hell of a young cover corner.
• Tru would blow coverage on the next play. Biting inside on a rollout and finding himself in an inexescapable trailing position against fullback Thomas Tapeh.
• Seattle's third play, third drive: three WR, TE, RB. Minnesota is in a base 4-3. Another nice run by Morris, aided by a good, quasi-legal block by Sean Locklear and a decent pull block by Sims. Sims is much quicker than Gray, but still lacks the skill to engage a blocker on the run. It's coming, and he at least shielded Morris. Morris shows good patience and a nice read, gets skinny at the end for another two yards and again impressed the heck out of me against a top rush defense.
• Weaver threw a real nice lead block on Duckett's 7 yard run that converted the first.
• Is Burleson making the jump? On Courtney Taylor's end around, Burleson made a sufficient but crucial block that allowed Taylor to cut inside for an additional ~7 yards. On the next play, Burleson looked downright savvy. Seattle breaks with three WR, single TE, RB. Minnesota in nickel. Burleson is able to isolate Tyrell Johnson, initiates contact but does not push off, and forces a Illegal Contact penalty while simultaneously creating separation and converting the 15 pass. The sequence looked vintage Michael Irvin.
• I was pleased to see Jennings attempt to jump a route knowing he had deep help by Russell. I was displeased to see Russell run past Rice and turn good coverage into a 9 yard reception.
• On the next play, Jennings put it all together. Matched against Berrian in man coverage, Jennings used his tremendous speed to outpace burner Berrian and then, recognizing a go route, cut off Berrian midstride placing himself as the only man able to catch the ball, should the ball have been catchable.

Mike Sando is first in with the goods. Scroll down and you'll see some quick hits on John Carlson. Impressive work by Sando, proving if ever it needed to be, Mike Sando is a tough act to follow.

Starting center Chris Spencer isn't working. Coach Mike Holmgren lumped Spencer into a group of players taking things easier following offseason surgeries. Unlike the other guys who passed physicals, Spencer hasn't practiced since early in the first session Friday. His injury situation is definitely worth monitoring.

That's a foreboding first line if I've ever read one. Spencer's shoulders are now not just endangering his potential, but also his career. It's bad enough that he's clearly lost strength, but if he can't get reps in at practice, I don't think Holmgren will hesitate to begin auditioning replacements. Spencer has too much learn to be taking snaps off.

The Seahawks have not yet committed to Julius Jones as their starting running back, but if he is indeed the favorite, Maurice Morris can't afford to make the decision easier. That thought came to mind as Morris dropped an easy pass roughly 10 yards downfield. A short time later, Jones made a catch over his left shoulder despite tight coverage from linebacker David Hawthorne.

Jones is not only the favorite, Jones starting is a fait accompli. I wouldn't give anymore credence to Holmgren's "two starters" than I would Kelly Jennings' job being endangered. It's a motivational tool, and when all is said and done, I'd be surprised if Morris matches his carries from last season. In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if Seattle doesn't shop him before the season starts.

Rookie running back Justin Forsett, 5-foot-8 and 194 pounds, can be hard to find out there -- for defenders as well as spectators. He's got some fight, too, at one point winning a tug-of-war for the ball with Lofa Tatupu on the other end. It looked as though Forsett surprised Tatupu with his strength.

It's notable that Forsett continues to impress. Seattle didn't draft the tiny powerback to be cute, or because "his talent was just too good not to". Forsett is the type of hard working overachiever Tim Ruskell favors, and if Morris ends up in another jersey, Forsett will be part of the reason why.

Here are a couple quick takes on Carlson.

Carlson beat safety Deon Grant for an intermediate gain late in practice. Carlson caught the ball away from his body without losing control. Very nice.

The overall feel is that Carlson showed up, stepped up and showcased the skills and polish that made Seattle confident he could contribute this season. As for the headfakes...

With the 52nd overall pick in the first ever Seahawks All-Time Fantasy Draft, the Skid Row Sliders select...

  
via Seahawks.com

Defense/Offense

Free Safety	Strong Safety
Brian Russell MikeGreen Jordan Babineaux	Deon Grant CJWallace Jordan Babineaux

Right Cornerback	Dime Back	SLB	MLB	WLB	Nickelback	Left Cornerback
Kelly Jennings Josh Wilson Jordan Babineaux	Jordan Babineaux Kevin Hobbs Rich Gardner	Julian Peterson Leroy Hill	Lofa Tatupu DDLewis Julian Peterson	Leroy Hill Will Herring Lance Laury	Josh Wilson Jordan Babineaux Kevin Hobbs	Marcus Trufant Kelly Jennings Josh Wilson

Right DE	Right DT	Left DT	Left DE
Darryl Tapp LawrenceJackson JasonBabin	Brandon Mebane Red Bryant Howard Green ChrisCooper	Rocky Bernard Marcus Tubbs Craig Terrill Larry Tripplett	Patrick Kerney Baraka Atkins Nu'uTafisi

Deon Grant

Stats

Highlights

Lowlights

Outlook

To be updated this weekend

*Includes all games minus Week 10, Divisional Round and the second half of Week 3 and the first half of week 1.

Highlights

9/9/07

Kudos to Darryl Tapp and Deon Grant who sniffed out the end around on the Bucs fifth play of their third drive. It's been a long time since I've seen Seattle handle a play fake with such intelligence and poise.

9/23/07

It's the Bengals first play of their third drive of the second quarter. Off the snap Bernard explodes through the line. Palmer is forced to role out to his right, this is essential because he now has only one viable receiving target: T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Bernard isn't fast enough to chase down Palmer, but he is fast enough to stall Palmer's pass. Finally, nearing the line of scrimmage and with Bernard closing in on his outside shoulder, Palmer delivers the strike towards Housh. Grant then converts a highlight reel interception, breaking down on the route and grabbing the pass before expertly dragging his feet inbounds. Grant made it spectacular, but Bernard made it possible. Once Palmer was forced to roll to his right, he locked onto Housh and Grant had an easy time jumping the route. Just excellent execution by the D and proof that everything in football, every play, every pick, is a team effort.

10/21/07

Lots more I can talk about, but this is getting a bit long, so a brief one about Deon Grant. Fans may have noticed something specific that's changed about the Hawks secondary from the prior three seasons. Teams are not throwing the ball deep over the middle like they used to. Ken Hamlin and Michael Boulware had a way of getting eaten up by the deep post nearly every game. It was astounding, really. Grant suffers no such foolishness. It's the 8th play of the Rams last offensive series, second and ten, but generally speaking the Rams are having their way against an extremely soft zone. The score is 33-6 with about a minute and a half left in the contest. Seattle is in their, wait on it, 3-3 Nickel package. At the snap Seattle sends a perfunctory pass rush, Bulger takes a five step drop, steps into a deep pass, and is picked off. On the instant replay you can see Grant about 15 yards from the play, deep center, at the time of the throw. He runs expertly to where the receiver will be, forms the inside half of a bracket with Kelly Jennings and jumps up for the pick as if he were the receiver. A great, if unspectacular play and notice that the Seahawks are no longer soft deep.

11/25/07

The Rams are now at the Seattle 39 with a full 2:15 left on the play clock. That's when we get either a complete eff up by the front seven, or something that could politely be called the Keystone Cop blitz package. Seattle has only two men on the line, and the other four within the box are milling about like they don't know where to set up. At the snap, despite the confusion, Seattle blitzes 6. The pass rush doesn't get unblocked within 3 yards of Bulger before he's already thrown the ball. Bruce is streaking up the seam, and that's when Grant has the presence of mind to interfere. 24 yards is a tough pill to swallow, but it's small beer considering how open Bruce was about to get against a badly disorganized Hawks secondary. I don't know if Seattle wasn't ready for the quicksnap, or if Tatupu's absence left them daffy, or if Marshall was just slow on the play call, but I do know it nearly cost them the game.

12/16/07

Grant made a really nice play on a deep pass. It's too bad the ball trickled out after impact, because the outcome, a simple pass defensed, really obscures the quality of the play. He broke on the ball in a split and went for a pick in a no lose situation. You either get an interception, defense the pass, or if the complete unexpected occurs and Grant completely whiffs, the receiver was still manned up by Marcus Trufant. Had Grant converted the pick, it would have been highlight material. Instead, a simple feather in the cap for the lesser of Seattle's two big free agents signings this off season. Like Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, the first season belongs to the bruiser, but time may prove Grant the better overall signing.

Third play, first drive of the quarter, Cards ball. Hawks are in a base formation. Larry Fitzgerald runs a simple pump and go route. Tru doesn't get beat, he's clearly faster than the hobbled Fitzgerald, but he does lose a step and is now in a trail position. Warner tosses a lob, hoping, perhaps, that Fitzgerald will be able to outcompete Trufant on the jump ball. That's when Grant, from the deep cover 3 shell, jumps the route and nearly nabs a spectacular pick. If his previous play was right place, right time, this was right read, right move. He doesn't hold onto the football, but it's a great play.

Lowlights

11/25/07

The Rams have excellent field position after receiving the post safety punt. The Hawks come out in their base defensive package, with Deon Grant near the line in the traditional "8 in the box" look. The Hawks look like they're employing a run blitz, and at the snap the outside linebackers jam the gaps. Grant does likewise. The problem is apparent, the Hawks defense has "flattened out", that is, they're in a line with only Tatupu in the second level. This weakness is exposed when Grant attempts to fill the outside gap, Jackson runs right up the middle, Tatupu runs full speed at Rams fullback Brian Leonard, and Jackson is suddenly free with only Grant pursuing and Russell to beat. The keys mistakes are in the play call, Grant's misread of the run and then, of course, Russell's poor angle and poor tackling.

Outlook

It’s little surprise that Grant’s single lowlight came in run support. He’s a flimsy tackler that frequently misdiagnoses run plays. Because of Seattle’s venerable linebacker corps and attacking defensive style, Grant made many tackles close to the line of scrimmage, but any accolades attributed his run stopping are in error. That’s small beer. Grant was a revelation at safety. He’s in the sweet spot career-wise, just recently 29, still quick enough to break on the pass, but no longer prone to rookie blunders. Grant, in fact, was all but impenetrable in deep coverage. Even when walked up to the line, Grant quickly diagnosed pass and rarely left Trufant on an island. His strongside play contributed to Seattle’s 8th ranked defense against #1 wide receivers. Given his coverage skills, I wish Seattle would employ Grant at his natural position: free safety. Grant would make an above average run stuffer for a free safety. Alas, Seattle enters 2008 with little run stuffing prowess at safety. Runs of 10+ yards were a major bugaboo for the Hawks otherwise stifling run defense. Seattle allowed a long run nearly once in every four rushing attempts. In 2008, Grant will continue to be impervious in coverage, but just adequate against the run.

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