I didn't think this was allowed. (Photo credit: AP - Mark J. Terrill.)

Here's what I saw in yesterday's game:

1. The Seahawks take the field and played football. Halleh-fuckin’-lujah.
2. My dreams of Russell Okung as a healthy, dominant left tackle for the Seattle Seahawks get flushed down the toilet. High ankle sprains are chronic and I’m not sure the team can rely on him to stay healthy for 16+ games a season. My gut says the Seahawks select a LT in the first round of the 2013 draft if his injuries don’t cease.
3. PI Machine Brandon Browner get really, really lucky on multiple occasions. There will be a ref dedicated to just Brandon Browner each defensive snap this season and that ref will carry 20-30 flags, at the very minimum. Nearly half way through the season, said ref will have a third, bionic arm attached to increase his maximum penalties called per second. I mean, you can only throw so many flags with two human arms.
4. Good push from the starting offensive line on running plays. These guys are strong. Mean. After so little practice, I came away impressed (and drunk) with them after their first game.
5. HORRIBLE pull blocking from the starting offensive line on running plays. On one early play, I saw the push and thought "Nice hole! UNLEASH THE BEAST MOD----- shit. 3 yards? Really? Poop."
6. Kam Chancellor blow. people. up.  Lawyer Milloy is smiling somewhere. So are most Seahawks fans.
7. Josh Portis’ damn near PERFECTLY pull off a hummingbird impression. He failed, however, because his heart indeed did NOT explode. Holy SHIT did that guy look nervous in his first series. Afterwards, however, he did an admirable impression of a NFL quarterback.
8. Leon Washington on offense. And here I was thinking there was some kind of obscure rule in the NFL rulebook that prevented men named "Leon Washington" from participating on offensive NFL downs. I guess I was wrong.
9. A really, really shitty defensive back play WAY too many snaps. I don’t want to ruin it, so I’ll give you a hint: his name starts with "K" and ends with "elly Jennings". How is this guy still in the NFL. That wasn’t a question, but some kind of odd statement.
10. Pete Carroll fist pump. This is about a rare occurrence as Charlie Sheen doing lines of coke between episodes of yelling the word "WINNING". Pretty sure Pete fist pumps after every successful shit he takes. I can just picture him sitting on the john, head tilted up, eyes gently close, slowly fist-pumping over and over again. 
11. The Seahawks average 5.1 yards per passing attempt. Starting receivers that are talented and able to get open and consistently catch a football are incredibly overrated. (EDITOR’S NOTE: I forgot to reinstall the sarcasm font after I wiped my machine. I hope bold text can be a suitable short-term replacement.)
12. Charlie Whitehurst is secretly competing with Michael Robinson for the guy that’s paid to run with the ball, but can also throw it. That or he’s dyslexic. Either wouldn’t shock me.
13. [No religion]
14. Myself drinking too many beers, leading to 15 bullets that aren’t terribly insightful or useful because I can’t honestly recall many specifics from that game, other than crying in my beer when Russell was carted off the field. But does it matter? Pre-season really isn’t that insightful, especially when a portion of the team practiced what? Five times before their first game? It was a fun game. Minus the whole Okung thing. That sucked.
15. Shoot. I forgot this one. How about YOU guys add something you saw that was interesting, funny or insightful to help me with #15?

This free agency has been a wild ride, hasn't it? I'm pretty thrilled with what the Seahawks have done. Finally, our team has some talent after years and years of aging, post-prime players gasping for their last breaths of NFL football. But I'm not here to talk about that. 

Admittedly, I haven't payed very close attention to the 49ers' offseason moves this year, but many have been hard to miss: Spikes departs, Baas departs, Lawson departs, Breaston departs (EDIT: I'm an idiot, Breaston was a Cardinal DERP DERP), Franklin departs ... holy cow. 

I've been a bit jealous of your roster for a few seasons - it's strong just about everywhere, save for the QB position. I've said it for a while now: had the 49ers fielded an above average quarterback, a run for the Super Bowl was not out of the question. 

But man ... what is going on!? How do you guys feel about these guys leaving? Are you frustrated at Harbaugh and/or your front office for letting these guys slip away? Are there suitable players on your roster that will fill in admirably? Do you feel there's a plan behind all of this? 

I'm curious. Thanks in advance for your responses. I look forward to reading them!

It’s been a while since I’ve written about football. Aside from a few comments and tweets here and there, the last six months of my life have been mostly void of football. I expected the void to be crushing, like the end of a high school relationship. Instead, it was voluntary. I used to write for my own blog. I may start writing for Field Gulls. Danny was kind enough to offer while we spoke over beers at a mostly empty Great Nabob in Seattle. Nothing beats a PBR and good company. And I just might do it. But who am I kidding? You don’t care! Onward.

I’m excited about the Seahawks’ new (and existing) offensive line talent. One could argue the merit of using your first two picks on offensive linemen with as many glaring needs as the Seahawks (still) have, but that’s what happened and James Carpenter and John Moffitt are who we’ve got.

I’ve been seeing a lot of chatter (not necessarily here, but in general) that the Seahawks have a shiny new offensive line (which conveniently includes a free agent named Robert Gallery) and an amazing new line coach to whip them into shape. Things are peachy and domination is nigh. Peachy enough to re-sign and start Matt Hasselbeck, in fact. Excuse my rolling eyes. They’ve got minds of their own.

Well I’m here to slap those rose colored glasses off your face. (In the case that you're a large, imposing person: to ask politely for you to remove them from your face).

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To say I'm soaked is an understatement. That was a soggy practice. Here are some of my notes:

• Bummer for Isaiah Stanback: he was carted off the field early in practice. He limped heavily and required the help of a few guys to help him off the cart. I didn't see what happened; he was part of the the WR drills on the far side of the field. EDIT: Turns out he tore his achilles (thx Vasilii). 
• Whitehurst and Losman took all the snaps in scrimmages. I only saw Hasselbeck participate in drills (in which most of his passes looked fairly flat - coulda been the rain). 
• I'll be honest: Losman looked awful. On one play he did the Seneca Wallace infinite drop back and was saved by a coaches whistle. In a game, he'd have been brutally strip-sacked (he was mid pass) that would have been an easy defensive TD.
• He later botched a snap and immediately turned away to walk toward the huddle spot. 
• He quickly resorted to check downs on a lot of his snaps. Either that or throwing into coverage a frightening amount of times. I'd really rather have Teel or someone ... not named Losman.
• Whitehurst had a few VERY nice plays. He's developing a nice rapport with Housh and Tate. I saw him target Carlson once. It appears he doesn't have the rapport with Carlson like Hasselbeck does. 
• Tate excecuted a perfect curl, and Whitehurst timed his pass perfectly. He hit Tate just as he curled. It made me smile. They're becoming best friends. 
• On another play, Tate streaked from the right side of the field to the left and Whitehurst perfectly timed a deep pass that hit Tate in stride and he walked into the end zone. Definitely elicited cheers from the soaked crowd. 
• Whitehurst is indeed mobile. He seems to roll out with ease, and is able to tuck and run and not embarrass himself. 
• Carroll really does love throwing the football. He played QB on a quite a few of the DB coverage drills.
• A great catch was made in double coverage, and the guy behind me yelled: "GREAT CATCH, TATE!" It was definitely Housh. It made me smile. In a different way.
• Tate will be a big part of the offense. He motions a lot, was targeted a lot, and catches the ball nearly every time.
• The offense had a tough time running up the gut. Most successful run plays were around the edges. 
• Owen Schmitt stood out to me. On one play, he identified and hit the hole with Forsett in tow. He put a great block on a linebacker and Force ran for another 6-7 yards. 
• On another play with Force in tow, Schmitt led around right end, put a VICIOUS block on a linebacker that allowed Force to run around him and along the sideline for a good 15 yards. 
• Interestingly, I saw little of Okung or Thomas. The offense was moving from left to right, so Okung was on the far side of the offensive line. I saw little QB pressure from that side. Thomas I didn't see much of. Interestingly, there wasn't any picks during any of the scrimmages. 
• Lastly, there's definitely more emotion in these practices. In fact, a little scrum broke out between the offense and defense. I like seeing this because that means they're really out there competing (and I don't mean it in the fluffy, Pete Carroll win forever way). 

My brain is a sponge (as are my clothes right now) and that's about as much as I could squeeze out. Time to wring my clothes out.

In the spirit of my love/hate/huh?! post, I thought I'd post another topic similar in thread, mostly just for fun. 

If you had the chance to pick the fate of our first three draft picks (Okung, Thomas, Tate), who would you assign the following fates?

1. Hall of Famer (will live in infamy) 

2. Pro-Bowl caliber (will be great, but not the best ever)

3. Total, unequivocal bust (Ryan Leaf's 'success' makes this guy jealous)

I can't wait to see the responses. 

EDIT: I guess I wasn't specific enough. Each 'fate' can only be used ONCE. Meaning you must pick one of the top 3 to bust, be a pro-bowler, and one must be a hall of famer. 

Pretty simple. List what you loved about this year's draft, hated about this year's draft, and the one thing that made you go "huh!?". I'll start:

Loved - The fact that none of our NFC West rivals had an "oh, shit" draft. Each team made solid moves, but none of the teams had a three day 'haul' that I'll lose sleep over. I'm betting each of the three teams can't say the same about the Hawks' draft, however. Our pass defense has the potential to be very good, our run offense will likely get better, pass protection better, punt/kick returning much better, etc. 

Hated - The very slight caveat of my "Loved": Taylor Mays going to SF. If anyone can squeeze production out of a cover-deficient, pain-inducing Safety like Taylor Mays, it's Mike Singletary. I honestly do not look forward to playing against Mays, on a Singletary-led defense, twice a year. I swore profusely after that pick. Hass better learn to slide. And better learn quick. 

Huh?! - Everything quarterback. Bradford wasn't a huge surprise, but Tebow!?!? Clausen?! Campbell?! Roethlisberger staying put?! Hawks not drafting even ONE QB, despite Schneider's pedigree regarding frequently drafting QBs?! I will admit, I'm pretty confused/scared about what Carroll/Schneider think in regards to the Hawks' QB position. It's not a stretch to say it's unlikely we get a ton of production out of that position, even if our run game does significantly improve based upon a beefed up line and new talent at RB. 

What are your love/hate/huh?! thoughts? 

EDIT: Kerney is not getting a roster bonus, and is due a little over $5 million this year. There's not much reason to cut him before March 5th. 

There's only a few days left before the official start of the 2010 season, and the Hawks org has been mostly mum on the three somewhat "controversial" players: Patrick Kerney (age, injury, declining performance), Deion Branch (age, injury) and Walter Jones (age, injury). 

What do you guys think the outcome will be? Here are my thoughts:

Patrick Kerney - He's due to make a little over $5 million with NO roster bonus. It's unlikely anything happens with him any time soon. My guess is the team will try to restructure or trade. If neither, they'll cut him. He's expensive and his multiple labrum surgeries make it quite unlikely he'll be dominant. 

Walter Jones - They'll pay him his roster bonus ($400k) and then let him retire. It's the right thing to do. Big Walt's the best Seahawks that's ever worn green and blue. 

Deion Branch - I was conflicted, but I think he'll stay a Hawk (without a restructure). He seemed to gain a bit of steam the end of last season, and with the likely departure of Nate Burleson, we'll need a #2. When healthy (many of you may be thinking 'if healthy'), Branch tends to play better than Burleson (my observation). 

Thoughts? Likely outcomes? I'm not football expert, so if I'm dead wrong, please tell me why!

God knows why (most likely extreme boredom at work) led me to click on a blog post of this approximate title within a recent Google Alert I received by email. It was from the Bleacher Report. I knew it was the Bleacher Report. Yeah, yeah. Spare me. 

I'm suddenly having a hard time finding the article (weird) but the author listed the following as his top 5: Josh Wilson, David Hawthorne, Justin Forsett, Nate Burleson and Olindo Mare.

I'll give a few of those the nod. A few are utterly baffling. So I thought I'd pose the question here!

Who are your top 5 Seahawks moving forward? Who will be the difference makers in the coming years? Think a few years ahead. Try not to bog down your thinking with contract lengths, offensive/defensive schemes or scheme changes, etc. Just gut feeling.  

Here are my top 5 (in order of perceive important/value): 

1. Brandon Mebane - Utterly dominant, young and healthy. I pray we pair him with someone of equal or greater talent and our D-line will be ridiculous. 
2. Aaron Curry - He flashed ability, but needs to dominate and become the new face of the franchise, defensively. Especially for the money we're paying him. Plus he's a DAMNED nice kid.
3. John Carlson - Man crush? Oh, God - definitely. I've got TWO of his sigs on my jersey. Talented as hell and will be a legitimate receiving and blocking threat.
4. Josh Wilson - Silenced a lot of his criticisms this year. He wasn't perfect, but is showing rapid growth. I can't wait to see him ball in a few years.
5. Max Unger - Within his first year, he moved from starting RG to starting Center. Looked comfortable and able after just a few games. He's intelligent, technically sound and hopefully will become the anchor of a new, young, dominant offensive line for years to come. 

Let's hear yours! And feel free to debate my picks!

With most work done (at work), I drafted a spreadsheet of the week 17 results and likely draft order. 

The wild card seedings aren't correct, so I believe that means if the Jets and Ravens win and clinch both wild card slots (what I'm assuming), Denver would pick after the Steelers and Falcons due to strength of schedule. If I am correct in that assumption, here are draft picks of interest to us:

SEA - first round: 7th, 19th (from DEN); second round: 39th
SF - first round: 11th (from CAR), 13th; second round: 46th
STL - first round: 1st; second round: 33rd
ARI - first round: likely 23rd, unless they make to super bowl

Here's my spreadsheet:

via img43.imageshack.us

What's pretty sweet, albeit unlikely? If Denver loses to KC and goes 8-8, the pick jumps up to the #14 spot. Sexy. Now go pray hard.