Seahawks’ defense can’t hold up late in loss to Titans on last-second FG

NASHVILLE – The point of the joint practices the Seahawks held here Wednesday and Thursday against the Tennessee Titans was to get the starters a lot of work in a controlled setting and then take the weekend off.

So it was that no player who is assured of a starting spot on the team was in action for Seattle’s second preseason game at Nissan Stadium on Saturday.

That included backup quarterback Sam Howell again getting the start with Geno Smith getting the night off.

Howell performed well, leading Seattle to a 12-7 edge at halftime before he headed to the sideline in place of PJ Walker.

The Titans used some sloppy play by the Seahawks reserves – especially on defense where there were too many penalties and too many missed tackles – to take a 13-12 lead in the fourth quarter.

Seattle appeared in line to get the win anyway when Jason Myers booted a 50-yard field goal with 1:55 left, a kick set up when second-year safety Ty Okada intercepted a tipped pass to give Seattle the ball at its own 47 with 3:29 to play.

But the Seattle defense couldn’t hold, allowing a nine-play, 42-yard drive to get the Titans position for a 46-yard field goal by Brayden Narveson as time ran out to give Tennessee a 16-15 win.

Seattle is now 1-1 on the preseason.

Here’s what stood out:

Howell shines in second preseason start

Howell seemed even more comfortable in his second preseason start than his first – though it’s worth noting that the Titans also rested all of their starters on both side of the ball.

Howell was 11 of 14 in the first half for 153 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions in the first half, seeming to thrive after Seattle went to more of an up-tempo offense following its second series.

Howell was 4 of 4 for 53 yards to lead Seattle to its first score, which he capped with maybe his best throw of the preseason, a 23-yarder that landed perfectly in the hands of Easop Winston Jr. and just over a Titans defender in the back of the end zone. That capped an eight-play, 84-yard drive.

He then led Seattle 78 yards for another score, a 27-yard Myers field goal. Howell was 3 of 3 on that drive for 61 yards, the key play a 33-yarder to Cody White, who almost broke it for an 82-yard TD but instead was tackled at the 49.

Howell then hit on 3 of 4 passes when Seattle got the ball back with 33 seconds left following a Tennessee TD – passes of 14 to Jake Bobo, 15 to Winston and then 9 to tight end Brady Russell, who made a tiptoe catch at the sideline with three seconds left to set up Myers for a 48-yard field goal as time ran out to put Seattle up 12-7.

McIntosh takes lead in RB3 battle?

Second-year player Kenny McIntosh, in a battle with undrafted rookie free agent George Holani of Boise State for the third running back spot, may have taken a lead in the competition with his best game as a Seahawk.

McIntosh finished the first half with 47 yards on six carries; he also had a 10-yard catch.

McIntosh had consecutive runs of 12 and 11 yards just before Howell’s TD toss to Winston and then runs of 5, 8 and 6 yards on the first field goal drive.

McIntosh played into the second half and finished with 46 yards on eight carries and 17 yards on two receptions.

Holani had 3 yards on two carries in the first half and did not have a carry in the second half.

But while McIntosh’s raw numbers looked good, Seahawks coaches will scour the film to review how he did in pass protection, which has been thought to be the area of his game that needs the most work. Holani has mostly excelled blocking in camp.

Hall continues strong preseason, Mafe gets more snaps

With the team’s starting defensive line getting the night off, Derick Hall and Boye Mafe got the starts as the rush ends/outside linebackers.

That Hall got time was not a surprise as the Seahawks need the 37th overall pick from last year to get as much experience as he can to try to improve on last year’s sackless season.

Hall responded the way the team would have hoped, getting his second sack in two games in the first quarter and finishing with three tackles in the first half before departing.

That Mafe led Seattle with nine sacks last season might seem to make his status with the team pretty clear.

But apparent evidence that the Seahawks still want Mafe to prove a few things, he started and played into the second quarter.

And it’s worth noting Mafe officially is not a starter, listed behind Dre’Mont Jones at rush end.

Mafe had a good rush early in the game to arrive at the quarterback just after Hall on the sack credited to Hall.

But Mafe had a chance to get a sack of his own in the second quarter when he instead let quarterback Malik Willis slip away. Still, the pressure helped force a hurried third-down incompletion.

Offensive line intrigue

The Seahawks did start two players who are listed as starters on their public depth chart – center Olu Oluwatimi and right guard Anthony Bradford.

Oluwatimi, though, will likely soon cede that designation to veteran Connor Williams, a recent signee. Williams was in attendance but not in uniform and may start practicing this week.

Bradford, meanwhile, is battling with rookie Christian Haynes to win that spot for the regular season – and on Thursday worked with the second team in joint practices with Haynes going with the starters.

Interestingly, both got starts against the Titans – Bradford on the right side and Haynes on the left. Haynes has played mostly on the right in camp but did get three snaps on the left side against the Chargers.

Laken Tomlinson has been the starter throughout camp at left guard and it’s thought the spot is still his to lose and the Seahawks mostly wanted to see how things looked Saturday with Haynes at left guard, as well as simply giving him some significant time.

Haynes and Bradford played the entire first half on a line that had backups at the tackle spots – Stone Forsythe on the left side and McClendon Curtis on the right.

Haynes, from UConn, drew a false start penalty that helped derail Seattle’s second drive, but seemed to settle down from there.

Rookie Knight gets a lot of tackles and snaps

The game served as another good crash course for fourth-round pick Tyrice Knight, who has been working with the starting defense at weakside linebacker with Jerome Baker out with a hamstring injury.

Knight, from UTEP, played into the fourth quarter. And as might be expected of a rookie in his second preseason game, there were ups and downs. He got blocked out of the way on a Tennessee screen pass early in the third quarter that went for 16 yards. But he later sniffed out a short pass to make the tackle for a 5-yard loss and finished with eight tackles to lead Seattle.