Week 1 Game Recap: Seattle Seahawks 14, Jacksonville Jaguars 26

What you need to know

Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks’ offensive line gave Hasselbeck ample time on the majority of his first half passing plays. In the first half, Seattle put together a couple of nice drives, a pair of touchdowns and a strong fantasy half of performance for Hasselbeck. The second half was a different story, as Jacksonville blitzed repeatedly and Seattle’s o-line was unable to handle it. Hasselbeck was hurried often, sacked twice and made several poor decisions. On the Seahawk’s last offensive play of the game, Hasselbeck threw an interception as he was hit hard and left the field favoring his throwing arm.

Shaun Alexander had a game unworthy of his early first round fantasy draft selection. Half of his 73 yard performance came on a single 36 yard scamper in the second quarter. He didn’t find pay dirt and had only red zone carry.

Turnovers killed the Seahawks. Matt Hasselbeck threw three interceptions and fumbled once, killing any chance Seattle had at winning this game. It’s hard to fault Hasselbeck on the fumble, as he was blindsided by an untouched Jaguar, but two of his three interceptions were poor throws into tight coverage. The Seahawk offense visited Jaguars’ territory only once in the second half, that visit coming in the waning seconds of the game.

Bobby Engram and Darrell Jackson shared 20 targets evenly, with Jackson finding the end zone, but Engram netting more catches and yardage. The big news here could be the absence of dropped passes. Both receivers showed excellent concentration and good hands by reeling in anything that was catchable, often in traffic.

Josh Scobey, the Seahawk’s new primary kick returner, lost a fumble on the game’s opening kickoff from Josh Scobee, the Jaguar’s place kicker. Most of Scobee’s remaining kicks sailed over Scobey’s head for touchbacks. Confusing, eh?

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars’ new “attacking offense” was a popular topic of conversation for game commentators. Under this new plan, Byron Leftwich took a healthy percentage of his snaps out of the shotgun and the Jaguars attacked with a few trick plays featuring rookie wide receiver Matt Jones.

Many football fans have taken to adding the adjective “aging” in front of Jimmy Smith’s name. It’s time to stop. Smith had a strong game, burning Seattle’s secondary repeatedly en route to a 130 yard, two touchdowns game. He made it look easy.

The Jaguar rush defense kept Shaun Alexander out of stride from the start. They limited him to only 73 yards with half of those coming on a single carry. In the second half, the pass defense came to life and made Matt Hasselbeck’s day miserable. They successfully blitzed him from all sides and forced poor decisions and turnovers. The Seahawk offense was barred from the Jaguar’s side of the field for the first 29 minutes of the second half.

What you ought to know

QB Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 21 - 37 - 246 - 2 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 2 - 16 - 0

Hasselbeck looked sharp to start the game, completing his first two pass attempts to Darrell Jackson, both for double-digit gains, and picking up eight yards on a scramble. His second quarter touchdown pass to Joe Jurevicious showed the strength of his offensive line. Hasselbeck looked right seemingly forever and then checked down to Jurevicius who was alone in the left corner of the end zone. On the next drive, he overthrew Darrell Jackson on a sideline go route and then badly overthrew Bobby Engram for a Jacksonville interception. He capped the first half by leading his team on a strong drive, culminating in a Darrell Jackson touchdown. In the second half, things started falling apart. The Jaguars’ defense made some halftime adjustments that kept Hasselbeck off balance for the rest of the game. On a crucial drive in the fourth quarter, with the Seahawks still in the game, Hasselbeck made his most damaging poor decision in throwing an interception into heavy coverage.

RB Shaun Alexander, Rush: 14 - 73 - 0 (1 targets)

Alexander did not have the kind of day worthy of an early first round fantasy pick. His 73 yards on the ground isn’t dismal, but consider that 36 of those yards came on a single play when he scampered around the right side and accelerated into the Jaguars’ secondary. The Seahawks were still in this game well into the fourth quarter, so his performance can’t be chalked up to an abandoning of the running game. He simply wasn’t finding the holes necessary to succeed against a daunting Jacksonville defense. Obviously no need to panic, but this was certainly less than his owners were expecting.

RB Mack Strong, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0, Rec: 1 - -3 - 0 (3 targets)

Strong was not a fantasy factor.

RB Maurice Morris, Rush: 2 - 6 - 0

Morris had his customary handful of carries spelling Alexander’s lone long run.

WR Bobby Engram, Rec: 8 - 79 - 0 (10 targets)

Engram is officially a threat to cut into Darrell Jackson’s numbers. He and Jackson split 20 targets evenly and Engram turned his eight catches into a respectable 79 yards. Still operating primarily out of the slot, Engram is reliable and opportunistic.

WR Darrell Jackson, Rec: 6 - 65 - 1 (10 targets)

Jackson caught Hasselbeck’s first two passes of the game, but wasn’t targeted again until midway through the second quarter. He showed great concentration in catching his second quarter touchdown pass with a Jacksonville safety riding on his back. If this game is a sign of things to come, Bobby Engram will steal valuable fantasy points from Jackson owners.

WR Joe Jurevicius, Rec: 3 - 64 - 1 (4 targets)

Jurevicius’ second quarter touchdown was likely the easiest he’d ever seen as the safety was confused by Hasselbeck’s late check down and Jurevicius was all alone in the end zone. He was shaken up after being hit hard and holding on to a nice fourth quarter reception. Alex Bannister appeared to take his place for the balance of the game.

WR Alex Bannister (2 targets)

Bannister was targeted on a big third down play in the second quarter and failed to grab a difficult, but catchable ball.

TE Jerramy Stevens, Rec: 3 - 41 - 0 (7 targets)

Stevens had a game typical of Seahawk’s tight ends, a handful of catches and yardage.

TE Ryan Hannam (2 targets)

With Ituli Mili out ill, Hannam saw action in two tight end sets.

PK Josh Brown 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points

Brown converted both his extra points and was not given a field goal opportunity.

SEA Rush Defense

Seattle’s run stoppers frustrated Fred Taylor for most of the first half, but gave up a big end around gain to rookie receiver Matt Jones. The defensive line appeared to tire in the second half and Fred Taylor found some small holes, finishing the game with 76 rushing yards. Game commentators pointed out that the Seahawks only dressed seven defensive linemen, a possible cause of their fatigue.

SEA Pass Defense

Through the first quarter of play, Byron Leftwich completed seven of ten pass attempts and the Seahawks’ pass rush never even found his zip code, though Grant Wistrom did manage to tip one at the line of scrimmage. The pass rush fared better early in the second quarter with a handful of hits on Leftwich, but the Seahawks’ secondary gave Jimmy Smith way too much room and an easy touchdown. Seattle blitzes found some success, particularly in the third quarter, forcing a Leftwich fumble that should have been recovered by the Seahawks and forcing the mobile quarterback to scramble more than usual. Following a fourth quarter Hasselbeck interception, Jamie Sharper came up with a clutch sack with the Jaguars deep in Seattle territory, holding Jacksonville to a field goal.

QB Byron Leftwich, Pass: 17 - 31 - 252 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 9 - 0

Leftwich played an efficient, virtually mistake-free game. He began the game by completing his first four passes with ease. Jimmy Smith was by far his most popular target as he was wide open more often than not. Leftwich’s scrambling ability limited the Seattle defense to only two sacks and generated minimal positive yardage. With the Jaguars defense firing on all cylinders, Leftwich simply wasn’t asked to do anything spectacular.

RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 20 - 76 - 0, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (2 targets)

On Taylor’s first carry, he was unable to convert a red zone third and one. He was continually frustrated for most of the first three quarters, finding little room to operate. He showed some of his nifty old moves on a couple of occasions, but the Seattle defensive line did an excellent job in limiting his opportunities. Most important to Taylor owners, he didn’t look to be playing hurt. He wore the knee brace as he did during the preseason but commented earlier that it was no problem. He said he’d worn a similar brace for many games in college and it was not a problem hampering his speed or mobility.

RB LaBrandon Toefield, Rush: 4 - 4 - 0 (2 targets)

The back up tailback spelled Taylor.

RB Alvin Pearman, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0

He was not a fantasy factor.

RB Greg Jones, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (1 targets)

The fullback had a single catch for a first down.

WR Jimmy Smith, Rec: 7 - 130 - 2 (13 targets)

Smith had a very strong game to open the season. His 45 yard reception in the second quarter could have gone for a touchdown had Leftwich led him just a bit. He had single coverage beaten by a few steps, but the slightly under thrown pass allowed a saving ankle tackle by Kelly Herndon. Two plays later, Smith found himself alone in the end zone with ball in hand. Smith continued to have his way with the Seattle secondary, drawing mismatches or just flat beating the corners.

WR Matt Jones, Pass: 1 - 1 - 6 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 28 - 0, Rec: 2 - 22 - 0 (5 targets)

His primary contributions came on trick plays, once even lining up at the familiar quarterback position. In the third quarter, Jones caught a pass in the back of the end zone, but came down out of bounds. It was close to being a force out, but the official ruled he wouldn’t have gotten two feet in.

WR Reggie Williams, Rec: 4 - 41 - 0 (5 targets)

The big wideout, coming off a disappointing rookie season, had a decent game. He used his size to gain separation from coverage and made the best of his five targets.

WR Ernest Wilford, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (2 targets)

Wilford was not a fantasy factor.

TE George Wrighster, Rec: 1 - 27 - 0 (1 targets)

Wrighster showed excellent concentration in catching a tipped pass on his only target.

TE Kyle Brady

The starting tight end was not asked to contribute.

PK Josh Scobee 4 - 5 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 14 points

Eighty percent is nothing to scoff at after a rookie campaign that saw him finish at 75%. More important to the Jaguars, he sailed five of his seven kickoffs into the end zone. Fantasy owners need not worry about a kicker change in Jacksonville as long as that trend continues.

JAX Rush Defense

Jacksonville’s run defense kept Shaun Alexander and Maurice Morris in check from minute one. Alexander’s stats would have been miserable if not for a single 36 yard run.

JAX Pass Defense

Jacksonville started blitzing Hasselbeck with some success in the third quarter and enormous success in the fourth. They recorded only two sacks, but forced Hasselbeck into a number of poor decisions, resulting in three interceptions and a fumble. This was the key to the game for the Jaguars as Hasselbeck’s frustrations spread to the entire team and kept the Seattle offense off the field.