If this had been a regular-season game, somebody somewhere might be calling the Seattle Seahawks the best team in the NFL right now.
A 33-16 win over the three-time AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs at Lumen Field in which Seattle outgained the visitors 477 yards to 156, including 268-68 on the ground, got 29 first downs to KC’s nine and held the ball for 38 minutes and 38 seconds?
Sign us up for that every day of the week.
But it wasn’t the regular season, it was the preseason, and there was no Patrick Mahomes or Travis Kelce on the field for the Chiefs. There was also no Chris Jones (KC’s three-time All-Pro defensive tackle) as well as two of KC’s starting linebackers and neither starting cornerback.
So, some caveats must be applied.
Still, Seattle has now rushed for 438 yards on 80 carries in two preseason games, an average of 5.5 per attempt; the Seahawks had 348 on 76 and 4.5 per attempt in three preseason games a year ago.
And in the four series in which the No. 1 offensive line has played, the Seahawks have three touchdown drives of 75, 81 and 85 yards, with the other being a 57-yard march that ended in an interception.
On those drives, Seattle has 188 yards rushing on 23 carries, getting 8.173 yards per attempt.
All without starting running back Kenneth Walker III (being held out as he nurses a sore foot) or starting left tackle Charles Cross (being held out as he recovers from recent finger surgery; he should be back for the regular season).
In the process, the Seahawks are sending a message that all the talk of the offseason about how they were going to emphasize the run under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak — who replaced the fired Ryan Grubb — was more than bluster.
“It sets a tone of validation that our work’s going to something,” said safety Julian Love. “The defense was excited about the flow that we had on offense today. When you’re able to stay on cadence, on timing, ahead of the sticks, it is awesome. … We see what it can be.”
Here are two other thoughts on what we saw from an apparently revitalized offense Friday night:
Has the offensive line been set?
Seattle has had three sure things on the line all camp: Cross at left tackle when healthy (who has been replaced by veteran Josh Jones in the preseason), rookie Grey Zabel at left guard and Abraham Lucas at right tackle.
Anthony Bradford entered camp competing with Christian Haynes at right guard.
But Bradford has been the starter in both preseason games and played well — he had the best grade of any Seattle offensive player from Pro Football Focus against the Chiefs at 92.9 and has the fourth-best for the preseason at 81.0.
That competition appears over with it seeming as if Haynes is being prepped to be the backup at either guard spot for the regular season.
That leaves center where Jalen Sundell has started both preseason games while Olu Oluwatimi has been sidelined with a back injury.
Oluwatimi had appeared to have a slight lead in that competition before being injured.
Sundell has also played well, with a 77.0 grade from PFF that is seventh among all Seattle offensive players in the preseason.
Sundell started in practice all week with Oluwatimi out including on Tuesday when the Seahawks held a roughly two-and-a-half-hour workout in 91-degree heat that general manager John Schneider said on the team’s pregame radio show on Seattle Sports 710 was the team’s best practice the team in two years.
A key part of a center’s job is to make sure the line is set on its blocking before the snap. After the game, Macdonald noted how well the offense functioned against the Chiefs.
“I think just right now our offensive operation I’m very pleased with,” he said. “How we take the ball, the decisiveness in how we move and shift. Felt like we called our targets right. Just felt like we were going to the right guys for the most part really until about the fourth quarter.”
The Seahawks might decide to wait until after a joint practice Thursday against the Green Bay Packers to officially and publicly settle on the line.
But given the way the line has played so far, the decision may well have already been made.
Quarterback pecking order is clear
Mike Macdonald made clear from the start that in his eyes there was no question that Sam Darnold was the Seahawks’ starting quarterback.
But that didn’t stop the speculation that maybe, somehow, Darnold could lose the job, specifically if rookie third-round pick Jalen Milroe were to make a big run at it in the preseason.
In practices open to the media and public, however, there has never been any variance in which quarterback is running which offense during team drills — Darnold has always been with the ones, Drew Lock the twos and Milroe the threes.
Darnold got what might be his only preseason work Saturday night, leading Seattle 81 yards in 10 plays on its opening drive, capped by Zach Charbonnet’s 15-yard TD run. He completed all four of his passes for 34 yards, twice rolling out and throwing accurately on the run.
“Really sharp,” Macdonald said of Darnold. “I’m sure he wanted to keep going but you know he showed what he can do. Really great drive.”
Lock then ran the next four drives, leading Seattle to three touchdowns and completing 10 of 12 passes for 129 yards and two TDs — and no interceptions, compared to the first week when he threw a pick that killed a promising drive to start the game. He also rushed twice for 34 yards.
“I thought Drew was really sharp,” Macdonald said. “He’s decisive. I felt his footwork and timing, which is something we wanted to work obviously on coming off the first game. … Drew is doing a great job.”
Milroe then quarterbacked the final four series, which ended in three punts and one field goal, though it’s worth noting Seattle appeared in run-out-the-clock mode on his final two series, which each went three-and-out.
Milroe completed three of five passes for 46 yards and ran five times for 18.
The Seahawks also were forced to call a timeout to avoid a delay penalty as he called signals from under center early in the fourth quarter.
“There are some things operationally we still want to improve on,” Macdonald said of Milroe, “… just getting in and out of the huddle, motion, shifting.”
Milroe did get one snap early in the game, coming on the field for a third-and-one and picking up 2 yards on a play that resembled the Eagles’ famed Tush Push with Darnold lined up in the backfield.
“That’s something we’re looking at,” Macdonald said of the Milroe play.
So maybe the Seahawks can figure out ways to use Milroe in some specific situations this year. Otherwise, the QB depth chart for the Seahawks is clear.