Seahawks Look to Get Things Going Against Broncos

(Photo Courtesy of @RGray525)

By Wyatt Lyles

The Seahawks will be taking on the Broncos tonight at 6pm in the mile-high city. No doubt the focus of the national media on this game will be the Bronco’s QB situation. Specifically, that one guy. Ah, what was his name? Oh right, how could I forget? Tim Tebow. He’s no doubt going to dominate the conversation of this game. Well, in everywhere but Seattle that is.

All of us Seahawks’ fans couldn’t give a crap about that Tebow guy and whether he’s a 4th or 1st string QB. We care about seeing our 1st string offense finally getting some cohesion. We want to see the offensive line FINALLY give our QB some time to throw the ball. We pretty much just want to see everything that went wrong last Saturday go right this Saturday.

Look for the starters to play into the third quarter this week. Hopefully we see a better showing from Tarvaris Jackson this week, as his last two performances haven’t been anything to write home to mom about. I think a good 80% of that is going to hinge on the offensive line stepping up and giving him time to get some good looks. If they can step it up and give him help, I think Jackson can shut up a lot of people talking about the supposed “QB Controversy” that’s brewing in Seattle.

Speaking of which, this week will be another test for backup QB Charlie Whitehurst. Will he have another another good performance against the second string defense and add more fuel to the fire? Or will he finally level out and become mediocre again? I'm sure we'll find out by the conclusion of tonight's game.

With the starters playing into the second half, we’ll also get a prolonged look at our new offensive weapons that were acquired in this shortened off season. You’ve got wide receiver Sidney Rice, who didn’t get much of a chance to wow us last week against Minnesota. You’ve also got tight end Zach Miller, who I think we turn out great for us in the long run. I’m excited to see what those guys can bring to our team this week.

Also look out for what the guys on the defensive side of the ball will do, mainly the secondary. There’s quite a few guys out there who are on the fence and will be striving for a spot on the roster. Especially look at Josh Pinkard, starting in place of injured Kam Chancellor, and K.J. Wright, starting in place of injured David Hawthorne, to imprint their names into the minds of the coaches and fans alike tonight.

Let’s take a quick look at who’s going to be in or out for tonight’s game. Clare Farnsworth gave us some injury updates on Thursday on the Seahawks.com Blog. Defensive end Chris Clemons will play for the first time since his ankle surgery. Running back Marshawn Lynch AKA Beast Mode will not be in against the Broncos as he rests a sore ankle. Linebacker David Hawthorne (knee), safety Kam Chancellor (foot), tight end John Carlson (shoulder), defensive end Dexter Davis (hip), and defensive lineman Pierre Allen (hamstring) are also out for tonight’s game. Left tackle Russel Okung, while better, won’t be ready to play just yet. He is on track to be ready by the the season opener against the 49ers, however.

All in all, I’m really looking forward to this game. I can’t wait to (hopefully) see the first team offense put some points on the board finally.

With another preseason game in the books, that just means we're another week closer to the start of the season. Just 15 days folks, and the Seahawks 2011 season will finally be underway!