The old "Does Pre-Season Matter"?

I've heard many times over the years that pre-season doesn't matter. While that is true in one sense, it is an indicator of days ahead it seems. Before Pete Carroll, there seemed to be a correlation between our pre-season results and our regular season results (i.e. loosing seasons). With Carroll I think he has said pre -eason matters and we see how players compete. It appears our first 2 pre-season games show a recurring theme of all the same things that haunted us last year. So at this point, do these games matter?

From last night, We haven't established the running game (58 yds on 16 attempts) and we default to Wilson's arm (282 yds on 36 attempts). Penalties were much better (6 for 50), and 3rd down conversion on offense 6-13. We still have Red Zone issues and perhaps the absence of Graham will hurt us here.

On defense we gave up 176 yds rushing and 146 yds passing. If that holds during the regular season it seems teams will be able to grind it out on the ground and wear us out.

What we don't know yet is how good the Chargers or Colts are (or will be this season) or how good the Seahawks will be once the new coaches and players get it going. But does pre-season matter? I just don't know?

Well the Lions looked unstoppable a few years ago in Preseason and easily went 4-0. For that regular season they posted a 0-16 record. I don’t put much stock into preseason games.


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What was the hawks preseason record in 2017?


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The Browns won every pre season game last year.

They don’t matter when we add up wins/loses for playoff spots.


They sure as Hell matter for a multitude of other reasons.

YMMV
:{)

- Our first three drives we made it to the Chargers 10 yard line. All without Baldwin, Lockett, and Penny. The offense was moving. Yes the redzone issues are still a concern but I have confidence they will fix it. One drive ended on a fumble on the goal line. Another was a ball where if Wilson just led Vannett a little more we convert that TD pass. Russ knew it as soon as he threw it. Good learning experience

- The Chargers scored a punt return off the punter who will not be on the team this year. Dickson wouldn’t have allowed the Chargers to get set before the return team got downfield.

- Austin Davis is a terrible QB. You want proof Kap is getting blackballed? Guys like him playing in the NFL is your evidence. Kind of hard to win preseason games when they have guys like him playing 20 minutes.

- Defense is a concern, however we know we don’t have prime LOB anymore and the Chargers have always had their way with us on offense. Even in our elite defense years. To be expected.

All good points so far. Interesting about teams going 4-0 in preseason then getting blanked the rest of the year.

Two things I was looking for last night:

1. Shotts commitment to the run and the OL blocking - both not answered in last nights performance.

2. DB's and somewhat DL, both have a long way to go, but very young also so hope is there.

Our first SB under Holmgren was a young team also. Tatupu was a rookie that year if I remember right and similar things were said of that team that are being said of us this year, i.e. rebuilding.

Last night's pre season game has left me disappointed and worried for the upcoming season.

Pre season for the Hawks typically correlate to the upcoming season as the OP said.

In the 2013 pre season, Seattle destroyed the Broncos. The exact same result occurred in the Superbowl.

I think it's best if we just lower our expectations for this season. It'll have to be a throw away season, and an unfortunate wasted one in the prime of Wagner and Wilson's careers, but in the end it may be necessary to take a step back before moving forward.

Jerhawk":7nqscuhr said:

Last night's pre season game has left me disappointed and worried for the upcoming season.

Pre season for the Hawks typically correlate to the upcoming season as the OP said.

In the 2013 pre season, Seattle destroyed the Broncos. The exact same result occurred in the Superbowl.

I think it's best if we just lower our expectations for this season. It'll have to be a throw away season, and an unfortunate wasted one in the prime of Wagner and Wilson's careers, but in the end it may be necessary to take a step back before moving forward.

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You’re not going to win preseason games with Austin Davis getting the bulk of the second half reps. He’s one of the worst back up QBs in the NFL. We were dominant in preseason in 2012 because Wilson was going HAM on practice squad players, and 2013-2016 with TJacks experience and Boykins athleticism.


Teams who win preseason games have backup QBs who can actually play.

Meh, I just don't get too fired up either way when it comes to preseason. Neither team is showing their hand, there is no real scheming and game planning...They are nothing more than glorified practices.

4-0, 0-4...Neither matters when the bullets fly for real.

The results of prseason dont matter. Some details and tidbits might matter.

I don't care about winning or losing that much. The issues that worried me are the starting run defense, pass rush, red zone offense, and run blocking.

Ifedi I can understand. He's going to lose around 1/3 snaps to guys on Ingram's level. We can maybe work around that with scheme if Schotty is up to it. The problem comes when we have to go against two edge rushers of that caliber... Namely Ingram and his running mate Bosa.

Steve2222":23jc9igh said:

Austin Davis is a terrible QB. You want proof Kap is getting blackballed? Guys like him playing in the NFL is your evidence. Kind of hard to win preseason games when they have guys like him playing 20 minutes.

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Not to derail this thread or get political, but Austin Davis is competing for a backup QB spot at $880k. Do you have information to suggest that Kap is looking to play for a cheap backup contract? Publicly available information indicates that he is not.

I’m not trying to get political. Im just tired of watching trash like Austin Davis out there when there are clearly better alternatives. Do we even know if the Hawks offered him a contract? And if so, how much did they offer?

Steve2222":8pyozobc said:

I’m not trying to get political. Im just tired of watching trash like Austin Davis out there when there are clearly better alternatives. Do we even know if the Hawks offered him a contract? And if so, how much did they offer?

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Seahawks were the only team to let Kaepernick visit, but it’s unclear whether an actual offer was made. Carroll’s public statement at the time was that Kaepernick should be “a starter in this league,” which implied that Kaepernick was not satisfied with being a backup or accepting backup money. He’s been out of football so long that the potential negatives begin to more clearly outweigh the positives of such a signing.

Preseason is all about dress rehearsals, and getting to see the guys in an environment that simulates a real game. It is a time for experimentation, finding out what works and what doesn't. You will see teams running plays in the preseason that they wouldn't otherwise draw up in the regular season. A good example of this is Schottenheimers redzone offense. For the most part it looked like he looked like he was trying to get our short yardage running game hammered out.

Certain elements in the preseason can be dissected, for example: How well is an individual playing. In players such as Tedric Thompson and Delano Hills case, I don't think they are going to magically get better when the regular season starts. On the flip side, guys like Green are showing good technique, speed, and pass rushing abilities, that kind of thing might translate over to the regular season.

Now, what about the good ol' preseason heroes that don't amount to much? Well, lets analyse some of them here. That tiny defensive end, Reed from Oregon that always led the preseason in sacks, why didn't he work out? Reed was undersized and he only had one good move. He could make fools out of guys who weren't going to be in the NFL for much longer. When he got put against NFL caliber talent they simply just pancaked, and threw him around.

What about Kasen Williams? Again, he is a story of a very one dimensional player. He did one thing well, and that was the go-route. When put into real situations he struggled to get anything going last season. The other parts of his game were lacking.

Generally the guys that succeed in preseason, that don't make it in the NFL are very one dimensional or simply lack the athleticism or measurables needed to succeed. They are one trick ponies, and that doesn't usually work very well in the NFL.

I get why the Seahawks released Kasen Williams last year. He’s a fringe player, who was not great at blocking or special teams. But the Colts reportedly love Kasen Williams. He’s been making a lot of catches for them in training camp and had three catches for 46 yards against the Seahawks last week.

With the roster churn we are doing our pre season is about looking at match ups and situational stuff, I am not worried, guys like Moore who showed they can catch in traffic, go up and fight for a ball and get deep get bonus points, Brown may be the Richardson replacement based on how we used him, stuff like that is what I look at. On defense it is harder, without game film we don't see the play being ran in stop sequence, but reads and reaction time and where players need to be is important, a step late and a play can explode on you. The reaction to reads is a lot of inexperience, how much of that was happening. The thinking instead of playing concept portion of learning how to play in the NFL.

Goal line and the power blocking scheme, are our guys getting leverage or getting pushed back, technique there to get a hole for Carson to run through, Madden using leverage to take on a LB to allow Carson to cut and plunge, another aspect.

The biggest disappointment has been the fullback position. Madden sucks as a blocker, but unfortunately injuries decimated this position battle. It seems we are doomed to not have a decent lead blocker unless a veteran addition is made at the cutdown.

It's a young team, with little experience together. Give it time, I still think this will be a good team. The starting d line looked like it improved within the game. To me, it's clear that Naz and Green should start next pre season game, tho.

Edit: Getting Maxie, Doug, Tyler and hopefully Jordan back is going to greatly improve this team, too.