Takeaways from Seattle Seahawks 23-23 preseason tie with Raiders

SEATTLE - It seems fitting that an exhibition battle against friends in Pete Carroll and Geno Smith ended in a 23-23 draw.

Jalen Gaines blocked Daniel Carlson's 55-yard field goal as time expired to preserve the tie for the Seattle Seahawks against Carroll, Smith and the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night in the preseason opener for both teams.

Even if it is just the preseason with deep roster reserves on the field for the majority of the night, head coach Mike Macdonald isn't going to love the fact his defense couldn't hold onto a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter over the final 10 minutes.

"Obviously, you know, we want to be able to close games out in the fourth quarter," Macdonald said. "So, you know, both sides, this would be something we'll look at. A lot of stuff we're going to learn from too, as a coaching staff and how we operate, players as well."

There were many things to like from the performance, particularly from the offense led by Drew Lock that played throughout the first half. The intent of running the football preached by the organization all offseason also appears to be real with an even 50-50 split of running plays and pass attempts.

And while the defense did surrender the lead in the closing stretch of the game, they did deliver two interceptions against quarterback Aidan O'Connell as Josh Jobe and Nehemiah Pritchett both came up with picks.

Here are the takeaways from the preseason opener for the Seahawks:

Don't forget about George Holani.

Second-year running back George Holani got the start at running back for Seattle with both Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet given the night off.

While some may reasonably assume the third running back job belongs to rookie seventh-round pick Damien Martinez, Holani is making it clear he's putting up a fight for the job. Holani had seven carries for 61 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown run for the opening score of the game.

"I feel like we don't talk about George enough, but he's just the guy that does everything right all the time," Macdonald said. "It's great to see him have success because of how hard he works. You saw the runs, but the kickoff tackle was a big play for us. I think he's a pretty well-rounded player."

Fullback Robbie Outzs had a good block to spring Holani, who used his speed to gain the corner and beat safety Isaiah Pola-Mao to the goal line.

"Shout out to Ouzts, man," Holani said. "He’s a big, physical fullback. He does everything right in practice, from run blocking to pass pro, whatever it is. We can depend on that guy to go out there and get the job done."

Beyond the touchdown, he had a 20-yard gain on a screen pass, and had another run where he made Raiders linebacker Devin White whiff on a tackle attempt in space.

Holani split time with Martinez in the backfield for most of the first half and out-shined his younger counterpart. Is that everything when it comes to a position battle? Of course not. But Holani is absolutely a real part of the running back discussion for the Seahawks come roster cuts at the end of the month.

Top rookies made a good first impression.

The rookies you'd expect to be a contributing part of the Seattle lineup this season all seemed to make a good impression in their preseason debuts.

First-round pick Grey Zabel looked comfortable during his limited snaps at right guard. He made the start with most of the first-team offensive line, which had Josh Jones (playing for an injured Charles Cross) at left tackle, Jalen Sundell starting at center with Olu Oluwatimi out with back tightness, Anthony Bradford at right guard and Abe Lucas at right tackle.

"You felt the line of scrimmage, you felt the physicality," Macdonald said. "They gave us a couple pressures there early where we weren't necessarily expecting, so being able to identify the front, get everything targeted the right way, and sustaining blocks, I thought that was really good. Thought we kept the quarterback clean for the most part, especially in the first half. A lot of good stuff."

Safety Nick Emmanwori had a few strong plays before taking a seat on the bench as well. He had a pressure of quarterback Geno Smith on the opening drive, and had an impression run stop on running back Ashton Jeanty as well.

On the Jeanty stop, Emmanwori held the backside edge before closing down on the run for a tackle for no-gain.

"We want him to get his feet wet, go affect the game as best he could," Macdonald said. "From when he was in there we felt him. We sent him on a couple pressures and did a good job. Did a good job. I think it was a couple series and then we felt like that was good."

Tight end Elijah Arroyo played most of the first half for Seattle. He caught two passes for 14 yards with a 10-yard catch for a third-down conversion.

And as noted earlier, fullback Robbie Outzs made some nice blocks in the running game, including on Holani's 24-yard touchdown run. He also had a catch for 17 yards that saw him barrel through two defenders at the end of the run.

"You can trust Robbie. That's number one. This is a guy who's going to put his head down and work," quarterback Jalen Milroe said.

Macdonald credited Ouzts with adjusting on the fly to a play early in the game. The Raiders brought a safety down into a look Seattle hadn't worked much against with Ouzts eventually blocking star pass rusher Maxx Crosby. The play sprung Holani for a 19-yard gain around left end.

"They brought a SAM strong safety, something that we haven't really repped much with that run scheme," Macdonald said. "But to be able to follow those rules, and ended up blocking Maxx on that play, which was pretty cool. So definitely felt him. Just like, hey, what is that, your second play as an NFL player and you just go execute at a high level and pop an explosive run? That was pretty cool."

Finally, wide receiver Tory Horton continued his strong run for the Seahawks with a good punt return and a touchdown catch as part of his effort. Horton finished with three catches for 31 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown that saw him make a catch in traffic and spin past a safety into the end zone.

"You hate to say it this early, but what he went out and did tonight was everything I expected of him to go out and do based on how he's been performing in training camp," quarterback Drew Lock said. "Just a really, really solid player. Runs the right routes. Goes up and gets contested catches. And when the ball gets in his hand, he makes the plays. High praise for a rookie. He's still got a long way to go, but, man, he's on the right track and works hard."

Horton's nifty feet also showed up on the punt return as he made a handful of Raiders miss. He was the first option Seattle turned to for their punt returns Thursday night, which could be a role Horton also handles this season.

"To see him catch the punt was awesome," Macdonald said. "I'm not sure how long that return was, but that helped us there. Then obviously the touchdown and you just felt him out there in those situations, which was a continuation of what we're seeing in practice. Great to see it in a game setting."

Jalen Milroe steady in his preseason debut.

Rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe handled quarterback duties for the entire second half for Seattle on Thursday night.

Milroe flashed his athleticism and made a few nice plays with his arm for the Seahawks, which included one touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter.

"He's fast. He's really fast," Lock said. "You know, definitely saw it tonight. Made great decisions with the ball in his hand as far as passing goes. I mentioned this to him; getting into those fourth quarter preseason games it's all about making the right decisions, right footwork, right reads. From the sideline, I felt like he did that tonight. He did a great job. I was proud of him."

Milroe completed 6-of-10 passes for 61 yards, and had three carries for 38 yards. A 27-yard gain on a read-option was his highlight on the ground, and a 15-yard completion to Tyrone Broden sprinting to his right was the highlight with the arm.

"I thought Jalen played well," Macdonald said. "I thought he made good decisions. Operation-wise there are some things we want to be a little cleaner on. Throwing the ball accurately, throwing it on time, and then when it wasn't there, extending plays with his legs I thought was really cool. 

The Seahawks went 65 yards on nine plays for their touchdown drive with Milroe at the helm. While the drive relied on seven carries from running backs, Milroe had back-to-back completions to tight end Marshall Lang for 14 yards, and the completion to Broden for 15 to get down to the Raiders' 11-yard line. Two carries from Jacardia Wright later and Seattle had a 23-13 lead.

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