Man, what a gut punch. Our Super Bowl-champion Seahawks got flat outplayed in a late-August joint practice with the Titans, a team whose defense finished way down in the bottom third of the league last year. The connection between our Pro Bowl QB Sam Darnold and Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba still looked sharp, thank goodness, but the run game went absolutely nowhere all day.
New Playcaller, Major Hiccups
This wasn’t just some bad practice. It was a wake-up call, especially with the Titans’ secondary, who struggled against backups in preseason, making big plays against our passing game, including a pick-six off Darnold from cornerback Alontae Taylor. All signs point to the growing pains with our new offensive coordinator, Brian Fleury, a first-time playcaller. This is the biggest storyline hitting our champs as we gear up to host the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl LX rematch this Wednesday night.
Darnold kept it real about building that rhythm with Fleury after that joint practice, saying, “He’s been around some really, really good playcallers. I think for him, it’s just learning the flow of it. When to call a certain play. When to get the play in. How much time we’re going to have on the play clock.” But he’s confident, adding, “He’s super, super smart, and we know he can handle it.” Fleury was hired back in February, taking over from Klink Kubiak, who left to become the Raiders’ head coach. The 47-year-old Fleury comes from the Kyle Shanahan tree, most recently as the 49ers’ run game coordinator and tight ends coach. He’s got massive shoes to fill, no doubt.
The Bar Is High, The Backfield Is Thin
Last year, under Kubiak, this offense was straight fire. We ranked third in scoring with 28.4 points per game and pressure rate allowed at 27.8%, according to Next Gen Stats. We were seventh in yards per game (351.4), and top-10 in both passing (229.1 yards per game) and rushing (123.3 yards per game). Darnold threw for his second straight 4,000-yard season, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the entire league in receiving! That’s the standard Fleury has to sustain and build on.
But here’s the kicker: Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III is now with the Chiefs, and Zach Charbonnet, who led us in combined rushing and receiving touchdowns last year, is out for at least the first four games after a torn ACL in January. Ouch. Even with those hits, Darnold told me the desire to establish the run is still priority number one. Fleury, coming from that Shanahan system like Kubiak, wants to use the rushing attack to set up play-action. Good news is, a lot of the terminology is the same, and Darnold got a taste of it back in 2023 as a Niners backup.
So, here we go, Emerald City! Our Super Bowl LX rematch against the Patriots kicks off this Wednesday night. It’s not just another game; it’s our first real look at Brian Fleury’s offense when it truly counts, especially with our run game looking a little different. Get ready to see how our champs respond!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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