Reviewing the tape-Seahawks pan Niners in Carroll debut

Spent the afternoon reviewing the tape (or disc in this case) of the Seahawks 31-6 thumping of the San Francisco 49ers and was surprised at the Seahawks defense.
Not that the Hawks used a "bend but don't break" style of defense,but that they didn't break early in the game when San Francisco was moving the football and generally shut them down thereafter.Matt Hasselbeck tossed two TD's and ran for another with Marcus Trufant grabbing an errant Alex Smith pass and returning it for a score.
Seattle travels to Denver Sunday against the 0-1 Broncos.

Puget Sounds

1) Watching this game for the first quarter and a half made me question who really won this game.
San Francisco moved at will and the Seahawks mustered next to zero offense.
The reason that the score was only 6-0 when Seattle woke up?
Alex Smith,who continued to over and underthrow receivers and waste time outs due to poor clock management.
If this is the guy that is leading the team that many picked to win the NFC West,maybe the Hawks do have a shot at the division title...

2) Matt Hasselbeck started slowly with a first pass interception by Nate Clements,but finished 18 of 23 for 170 yards.
Nothing long other than the 35 yarder to Mike Williams,who just missed getting into the end zone,lots of dink and dump stuff.
Hasselbeck made his career using this style,so it suits him well,but he will need to be able to open things up a bit in different situations.

3) Seattle is definitely using the runner by committee for now.
Eight carries for Julius Jones,seven for Justin Forsett and six for Leon Washington.
Forsett finished with the most yards of the bunch and if anyone breaks from the pack,it is likely to be Forsett...

4) Mike Williams finished the game with the most catches (4) and the most targets (6).
What numbers Williams finishes with is hard to say,but Williams is being used as the number one receiver for now..

5) Eight different players caught passes for Seattle in the game.
Pretty nice job of spreading the ball around,although fantasy players likely aren't thrilled.

6) Starting guard Max Unger was injured in the game and placed on IR yesterday.
Unger's spot in the lineup will be taken by former Bengal starter Stacy Andrews,who Seattle traded for with the Eagles late in camp.
Former Hawk lineman Mansfield Wrotto was signed to replace Andrews as a backup.

7) Defensively,the secondary was the star of this game.
Released in camp and brought back at lower salary,Jordan Babineaux led the team in tackles on the day.
Babineaux can be burned occasionally on the big play,but makes plenty himself.

8)Marcus Trufant not only scored six points on a pick,he shut down Michael Crabtree (2 catches for 12 yds) for the game as well.
Trufant was hampered with injuries the last two years,but at his best,Trufant is the shutdown corner that so many teams attempt to draft every season.

9) Finally,one more secondary player with kudos.
I really liked the way safety Earl Thomas flew around the field.
Even when Thomas didn't make the play,he seemingly was around the ball on every running play.
Thomas is going to be fun to watch develop,that's for sure...

10) Give the 49ers credit for going back to their true uniforms.
Now let's hope some other teams start correcting mistakes-starting with this weeks opponent-the Broncos!

Photo Credits-Otto Greule,Jr-Getty Images