Some of the age-old bugaboos showed up in the home opener as the Seahawks committed penalties, gave up sacks and surrendered big chunks of yardage in the short passing game.
They committed 12 infractions, costing them 111 yards. It’s to be expected in preseason games, with lots of young guys shuttling in and out, so not a real big deal. And let’s remember: The Hawks led the league in flags in both Super Bowl seasons.
Sacks were a big problem early last year, with Wilson being taken down more than four times a game through the first eight. On Thursday, the Vikings got him four times — mostly due to him holding the ball too long or getting caught by blitzes.
Wilson took the blame for two of the sacks, and Pete Carroll said the offense did not react to Wilson’s blitz pickup call on another.
On defense, the Hawks ran into the same problem that has plagued them for most of Carroll’s tenure: short passes. Veteran QB Shaun Hill picked them apart with his running backs and tight ends in the first half, hitting 11 of 17 passes for 127 yards and leading the Vikings to a touchdown.
Here’s a look at what else we saw, by position:
Continue reading Old bugaboos return, plus positional observations
The Seahawks didn’t have a so-called “championship offseason” last year, and the results were pretty predictable: no championship.
Everyone always laughs at the instant draft grades handed out by analysts — the argument being that it is impossible to know how well a team did until its draft class has shown itself over a couple of years.
John Schneider has built a reputation as a draft pick collector. He’s such a pick hoarder that he had surrendered picks to move up just twice in his first six drafts. 
For the first time since 2010, the Seahawks did not do anything offbeat — and it looks like it could turn out to be their best draft in four years.
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 