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Danny O'Neil covers the Seahawks for The Seattle Times.

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Programming schedule: Monday - Surprise Index | Tuesday - Chat at 12 p.m. | Wednesday - News & notes | Thursday - Chat at 12 p.m. |Friday - Mailbag and injury report

September 3, 2009 at 11:13 PM

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Post-game notes from Seahawks vs. Raiders

Posted by Danny O'Neil

If Thursday's game decided the final few roster spots for Seattle, coach Jim Mora wasn't telling who.

"A lot of men in that room are making our job awfully tough because of the way they performed in the preseason," coach Jim Mora said, indicating the locker room. "And that's a good thing."

  • One of the closest competitions in camp was for the fifth and possibly sixth receivers on the roster. Ben Obomanu caught two passes for 58 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown reception. He also made a special-teams tackle and fielded punts.

    So, coach Mora, did anyone distinguish himself in the pursuit of that roster spot?

    "It's tough to say because Jordan [Kent] got hurt, and that certainly hurt his chances to show us what he can do," Mora said. "I thought Courtney did some good things, Courtney Taylor, and I thought Ben did some really nice things.

    "I've said all along that part of the issue, part of the evaluation will be what those guys can do on special teams, and I felt that all three of them through the preseason showed an ability to go out and help us on special teams. And tonight, Ben seemed to be the guy that showed up on special teams.

    "But we've got to go back and we've got to look at everything on those guys. We've got to look at every practice, we've got to look at everything they've done and decide who's the best man that fits this team. It's going to be a difficult decision, very difficult."

    OK, well how about the kicker then. That's a clear cut competition between two men, Brandon Coutu and Olindo Mare. Mare made the only field goal Seattle attempted Thursday, a 24-yarder and he also booted each of his four kickoffs into the end zone. Three went for touchbacks.

    Coutu has missed only one field-goal attempt in eight exhibition games in his career, but doesn't have the same distance on his kickoffs.

    So who's it going to be?

    "You know, I don't know," Mora said. "We're going to have to talk that through, tonight and tomorrow and come to a decision."

    So, what do you value more at this point, kickoff distance or other things?

    "That's a good question," Mora said. "That will be part of the discussion. We have to go through all that and decide, and I can't tell you right now what we value more."

    And finally, there's the defensive line where rookies Michael Bennett and Nick Reed have made a very strong push to make the roster. Bennett recovered a fumble and pretty much set up residence in the Raiders' backfield. Reed recovered a fumble, had a sack on which he forced a fumble, and was stout against the run. Derek Walker was also impressive. He forced the fumble Bennett recovered. One of those three is certainly going to make the roster, possibly two. That's just another tough decision Seattle must make.

  • Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company

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    For those on the Craig Terrill cut watch, the music man led the team out of the tunnel for the second straight home game. Terrill is a pro bowler...  Posted on September 4, 2009 at 12:00 AM by tompage. Jump to comment
    One more observation, Ray Willis looks like he has bad knees. Big guys running out of the tunnel look funny anyway, Big Walt has looked a little...  Posted on September 4, 2009 at 12:10 AM by tompage. Jump to comment
    No way you can even try to put Reed or Bennett on the practice squad--another team will take them. Reed's one arm tackle after going through...  Posted on September 4, 2009 at 12:01 PM by sunburn. Jump to comment

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