Bring on the Broncos! Seahawks wrap up winless preseason with loss to Raiders



SEATTLE – Bring on the games that matter.

The Seattle Seahawks completed a winless preseason Thursday night at CenturyLink Field, losing 30-19 to the Oakland Raiders in a game in which many of their starters saw little if any time on the field.

Coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider will quickly shift their focus to Saturday, when they’ll have to trim the roster to 53 players by 1 p.m. They’ll then have until 9 a.m. Sunday to claim waived players and put together their 10-man pactice squad. Once all that’s taken care of, they’re free to begin concentrating on the season opener in Denver against the Broncos on Sept. 9.

What did we learn from Thursday night’s game?

Well, for one, neither Austin Davis nor Alex McGough has any intention of rolling over in the fight to be the team’s backup quarterback. Hours after the Seahawks completed a trade with the Packers to bring in quarterback Brett Hundley, Davis completed 13-of-20 passes for 194 yards and a beautiful touchdown to Damore'ea Stringfellow.  McGough made a case as well, completing 12-of-23 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown pass of his own.

Running back Mike Davis made a strong case to stay on the roster as well, carrying the ball nine times for 45 yards and a 1-yard touchdown.

Stringfellow also made a solid late push to stick around, catching two passes for 90 yards and that touchdown.

Over on the defensive side, Shaquem Griffin made the case that the Seahawks will be just fine if weakside linebacker K.J. Wright does indeed miss the season opener after this week’s arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Griffin led Seattle in tackles with eight, while Austin Calitro had seven tackles and a sack.

Michael Dickson had yet another strong game, punting six times for 248 yards – including a long of 54. Sebastian Janikowski? Not so strong of a game. The man they call Seabass hit only one of his three extra-point attempts.

Keon Hatcher clearly wants a job with the Raiders. The rookie receiver put on a show, catching eight passes for 128 yards and three touchdowns.