Seahawks-Raiders Postgame

[travisduncan]

By Travis Duncan

"We feel we made some progress in areas we needed to, moving ahead on the offensive side in particular," Pete Carroll said after Friday's 20-3 win over the Oakland Raiders in the final preseason game of the year.

Carroll added "We protected very well tonight, we took a sack we didn't have to take. I thought it was a nice finish to win here at Century Link, to get that feeling for our guys in the locker room, it really left a bad taste the last time here."

The player of the game was wide receiver Golden Tate. The word earlier in the week was that he was in jeopardy of not making the team, though there is significant reason to believe the the second-round pick from a year ago would have made the team no matter what.

"It took a little pressure off of me," Tate said after the game.

"I definitely saw the blogs saying I could be cut, released, traded or whatever so hopefully I showed the coaches that I can play this game and they'll keep me around a little longer."

Tate's chemistry and timing with Tarvaris Jackson was tremendous. Tate finished with five catches for 79 yards.

"It was great to see him really have be the focal point guy," Carroll said.

"Golden had a call tonight that it was going to be him. He did the things we've him do in practice so much. It was really fun to see him play ball."

-Jackson had a good game and moved the offense well. His lone blemish was an ill-advised pass in the redzone intended for Tate.

Tate was catching everything, so you can see why Jackson might take a chance, albeit ill-advised.

Jackson and the Seahawks had taken the ball 65-yards in 10 plays on the opening possession when the QB tried to squeeze a pass into Tate on a post route. The pass was intercepted by Raiders defensive back Tyvon Branch who jumped out in front of Tate for the pick.

A week ago Jackson didn't have enough time and took sacks. Jackson had time this week. Carroll would rather Jackson not force things but did not seem overly displeased with that singular play and continues to evaluate Jackson with the big picture in mind.

"He did a classic thing of trying to do a little more on that first drive and jamming it in," Carroll said. "It's probably a good thing. We don't need him to play like that . We need him to play in the system and not try too hard and he's going to fine for us."

"I really feel very good about Tarvaris. We know what he can do. He's got terrific potential to make plays. He's running the offense really well."

Jackson finished with 88 yards on 5 of 7 passing. While he was in game, just for the first quarter, the Seahawks moved the ball 108 yards on 15 offensive plays and gained five first downs. And those numbers were without the benefit of having starting running back Marshawn Lynch on the field to balance the attack. Lynch sat out the game as a precaution with an ankle injury.

-Left guard Robert Gallery and defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson both suffered knee strains. The injuries are significant enough that the team will have MRI's conducted and monitor the ailments.

-Russell Okung could have played Friday night with his left ankle but was held out for precautionary reasons and will be ready to go for the season opener a week from Sunday.

-First round pick and rookie James Carpenter at right tackle has struggled quite a bit in his young career.

Carpenter will split time Breno Giacomini at the right tackle position. Carroll was non-commital on who the starter will be agains the Niners in the opener.

"We'll do a really thorough job of evaluating [Carpenter and Giacommini]," Carroll said.

"Both guys can play. It's not that they can't play and we have a problem. It's how far has James come?"

"It's been an extraordinary hard to do this in just one camp's time. As we evaluate, we know he's getting better. He's a monster blocker. He's going to be a terrific blocker for us.

"It's just a matter does he have everything together enough that we can go with him this early in the season. He's going to play a ton this year, whether we go to decide with him in this week coming we'll just find out."

The Seahawks will make final roster cuts at 3 p.m. P.T on Saturday.

We'll have more in the coming days looking towards Sunday's season opener against the 49ers.