Seahawks Offense Plays 'Good Complementary Football' In First Game Under OC Klint Kubiak

Debuting a new-look offense in their preseason opener, the Seahawks ran the ball, as promised, and got off to an encouraging start under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.

Aug 08, 2025 at 12:52 AM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

Two offensive plays into their first preseason game, the Seahawks showed what they want to be on offense this season.

With rookie fullback Robbie Ouzts in front of him as a lead blocker, George Holani took a handoff from Drew Lock, bounced the run outside behind Ouzts' block, and scampered 19 yards for a first down. Later in the first quarter, with the Seahawks again in I-formation—a staple in football for decades but a rarity in today's NFL—Ouzts again threw a key block as Holani raced 24 yards for a touchdown.

The Seahawks weren't able to hold on to the big lead they built in the first half Thursday night, settling for a 23-23 tie with the Raiders in their preseason opener, but more important than the end result was the encouraging debut of Seattle's new-look offense under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.

The Seahawks' first drive showed promise, but ended with a Drew Lock interception, but after that, the offense, made up mostly of backups with a few starting linemen, scored on three of their next four possessions, building a 16-3 halftime lead behind touchdowns by Holani and rookie receiver Tory Horton, as well as a Jason Myers field goal.

"We did a great job in the first drive; I've got to take care of the ball," said Lock. "I felt like we handled our business out there. We drove down and got points, what was it, 16 in the first half. Guys were making plays, we were able to run the ball, which was huge. We played pretty well in that first half. Guys were making plays when the opportunities came to them."

Lock, like many modern quarterbacks, has spent a lot of his career in shotgun, but he welcomes the under-center looks the Seahawks mixed in on Thursday, especially with a fullback in the mix.

"You get under center, and you can pound the run like we did, or in turn get some play-action of it, or in turn, under-center drop back," he said. "That's how it used to be played, quite often, and us being able to do that, it's got to be tough for defenses. We're under center, it's not always run, we can pass out of it; it's not always play action, we're going to drop back; it's not always pass, we're going to run. It's good complementary football, and it definitely helps us."

With Holani leading the way with 61 rushing yards—he added 20 more receiving yards—the Seahawks rushed for 170 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. There's still a lot of growth left for the offense, and Seattle's top two backs, Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet, didn't play Thursday, but Thursday's game was a good place to start.

"You shoved the rock and then a couple play action (plays) mixed in there, that's a receivers dream," receiver Jake Bobo said. "You have the safeties bite on the run and just running by them. It's a lot of fun. Honestly, it's just dipping the toe in the water. There's a lot more where that came from and I'm excited to see how he develops the scheme."

And to Bobo's point, the Seahawks didn't just run the ball, they also were able to make explosive plays in the passing game, several of which came on play-action passes. In addition to long runs from Holani and rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe, who had a 27-yard run, the Seahawks also had several big plays in the passing game, including a 31-yard catch for Dareke Young, and 17-yarder from Ouzts, a 15-yarder from Tyrone Broden and a 10-yard touchdown from rookie Tory Horton.

With that mix, the Seahawks went 8 for 15 on third down, including 7 for 10 in the first half, and averaged 5.7 yards per play.

"I thought situationally we did a great job," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "(Kubiak) and I are getting on a pretty good cadence communication wise, it's great to hear the communication on the headset with everybody on the staff, everybody's contributing, play call is in fast. All the things we saw in practice were there. There's some stuff we'll go back and recalibrate and learn from and improve some, but solid first start.

"I thought we ran the ball well, I'm not sure on the stats but it felt like we were moving it."

Macdonald was particularly pleased with Holani, who made the team as an undrafted rookie last season, and who is pushing to win the No. 3 running back job this year, which also showing his value on special teams.

"I feel like we don't talk about George enough," Macdonald said. "He's just the guy that does everything right all the time. It's great to see him have success because of how hard he works. You saw the runs, but the kickoff tackle was a big play for us. He's a pretty well-rounded player."