Rapid Reaction: Seahawks Go Ice Cold in Second Half, Fall 16-15 to Titans

Picking up only two first downs after halftime, the Seahawks squandered an early lead and weren't able to muster any second half points to drop to 1-1 in the preseason.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cody White (82) is pulled down by Tennessee Titans safety Mike Brown (44) during the second quarter at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Squandering a five-point halftime lead in the fourth quarter and only picking up two first downs on offense in the second half, the Seattle Seahawks dropped to 1-1 in preseason play by losing a 16-15 exhibition contest to the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night.

Playing sharp football under center in his second start as a Seahawk, Sam Howell completed 11 out of 14 passes for 153 yards and threw a touchdown to receiver Easop Winston Jr. to open the scoring. Amending for an earlier missed extra point, kicker Jason Myers connected on all three of his field goal attempts, including narrowly slicing a 50-yarder inside the left upright at the 1:57 mark in the fourth quarter, but it ended up not being enough with the Titans responding with a game-winning field goal by Brayden Narveson as the clock expired.

With one preseason game left to play before the real bullets start flying in August, here are five quick takeaways from Seattle's win/loss at Nissan Stadium:

Out of the gate, Howell's first pass attempt wasn't a pretty one, as his arm got hit by an oncoming defender and he overthrew a wide-open Jake Bobo. On the next series, he fumbled after tackle Stone Forsythe got tripped up, and the ball fortunately was recovered by Seattle. But from that point, the third-year gunslinger heated up and couldn't have been much better running Ryan Grubb's offense, engineering three scoring drives in his final four series before checking out after halftime while completing 11 of his final 13 passes and added a pair of runs for 11 yards.

Kicking off the scoring, Howell kept Seattle's lone touchdown drive alive when he managed to slither his way out of a potential sack by stepping up in the pocket on 3rd and 3 to dump the ball off to tight end AJ Barner, who ended up picking up 16 yards on his first NFL catch. Three plays later, with nobody in the same zip code around him, he launched a perfectly thrown fade ball to Winston for a 23-yard score, hitting the receiver in stride and right on his hands for six points. On the next possession, he threw a dart to receiver Cody White for 33 yards, eventually leading Seattle to a 27-yard field goal by Jason Myers, and then he completed three out of four throws inside 38 seconds to play to set up another field goal by Myers to give his team a 12-7 lead at the half.

2. Capitalizing on starting opportunity, Kenny McIntosh asserts himself in Seattle's third down competition.

Still very much in a tight battle against undrafted rookie George Holani, McIntosh earned the start for the second straight week and played a starring role in two of Seattle's first half scoring drives. After Howell's clutch third down completion to Barner, the second-year back exploded through a massive crease created by center Olu Oluwatimi and guard Anthony Bradford for a 12-yard gain. On the very next play, flashing his ball carrier vision and lighting quick cuts, he bounced a run to the right back to his left, following behind tight end Tyler Mabry on a wham block for an 11-yard pickup to move the chains again.

Again pitching in to set up Myers' first field goal, McIntosh ripped off an eight yard run early on the ensuing drive and then hauled in a 10-yard catch for another first down to move the Seahawks into opposing territory. He later turned nothing into something on a second catch, evading multiple tacklers for a seven-yard pickup. Overall, he finished the night with 63 total yards on 10 touches, contributing north of six yards per touch and providing a spark out of the backfield for the Seahawks that likely closed the gap against Holani, who only carried twice for three yards.

3. Rough start aside, Seahawks young offensive line generally played great football in first half.

On two ugly opening possessions, the Seahawks offensive line looked like it was missing three expected starters with tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas as well as center Connor Williams not suiting up. Howell was under immediate pressure while his arm got hit on his first throw and his fumble on a sack resulted from Forsythe getting dominated off the edge and losing his footing, which came after rookie guard Christian Haynes was nailed for a false start to set up second and long. At that stage, the offense couldn't get out of its own way because of shaky line play.

Fortunately for the Seahawks, the group settled down and then some from the third possession on. On Howell's touchdown toss to Winston, the line couldn't have created a more picturesque pocket for him to work with, thwarting the pass rush across the board to make it feel like the quarterback was playing catch in an OTA practice. Before that play, Bradford and Oluwatimi bullied a nose tackle on a double team, springing McIntosh for his longest run of the night. While Howell did take two sacks, the second one was mostly due to great coverage on the back end, and they did a fine job creating space for the running backs to operate along with protecting during three scoring drives, a positive sign for new line coach Scott Huff moving closer to the season.

4. Derick Hall continues his transformational August leading a feisty Seattle pass rush.

Since camp opened in late July, Hall has made it tough to argue against him being the most improved player on Seattle's roster compared to a year ago, and he continued to make a strong statement of his arrival in the first half of Saturday's exhibition contest. After recording a sack and two pressures in a win over Los Angeles, he immediately wreaked havoc on Tennessee's offensive line, setting a firm edge and blasting Julius Chestnut at the line of scrimmage to set up third and long before finding Malik Willis for the sack on the ensuing play to force a punt.

Seeing action into the third quarter, Hall finished with three tackles, a sack, and three pressures, helping limit the Titans to seven points in the first half. Playing at a different confidence level this year, he continues to do damage with raw power as a rusher, but his improved quickness off the line and a more polished set of counters have made all of the difference this preseason, positioning himself for a big role behind Uchenna Nwosu and Dre'Mont Jones in Seattle's edge rushing rotation.

5. Missed tackles, penalties more prevalent for Seattle than in preseason opener.

After generally being pleased with how his defense played last week, Macdonald will certainly have more teaching tape to dissect with his team after Saturday's game, particularly when it comes to leaving tackles on the field and extending drives with flags. On the Titans first scoring drive late in the first half, cornerback D.J. James and safety Coby Bryant both whiffed on chances to bring down Chestnut on what turned into a 22-yard run and James got dragged by receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhane at the end of a 15-yard slant that resulted in six points.

Several more tackles were left unfinished in the final two quarters, but extending drives via penalty ultimately undid the Seahawks as the Titans came back in the second half. Helping Tennessee drive down the field for a field goal on its second drive of the third quarter, James got busted for defensive holding and a face mask penalty, with the first infraction negating what would have been a third down stop on 3rd and 15. Defensive tackle Kyon Barrs also got nailed for a hold that wiped out a run stop by Tyrice Knight and James earlier on the possession. On the following drive, linebacker Patrick O'Connell got busted for defensive holding on 3rd and 2, wiping out a sack by Jamie Sheriff and extending the possession to lead to a 59-yard field goal by Brayden Narveson. Overall, the Titans earned four first downs via penalty, which will make it tougher for Macdonald to sleep tonight.