Opener Satisfies Erickson Quarterback, Defense Show Improvement For Seahawks

If the Seattle Seahawks are finally going to make the playoffs again, they’re going to need dramatic improvement from Rick Mirer and more sacks.

Coach Dennis Erickson said Sunday he liked what he saw from his starting quarterback and his defense in the Seahawks’ 19-17 exhibition-opening victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Mirer, benched by Erickson for the first time in his pro career last season, completed seven of 10 passes for 90 yards and led the Seahawks to a 99-yard touchdown drive in the first half Saturday night. He was not intercepted.

The Seahawks’ defense, which ranked 28th in the NFL with 28 sacks last season, had six sacks against the Falcons. They included a third-quarter sack of Perry Klein in the end zone by Michael McCrary for a safety.

“I thought Rick executed pretty well,” Erickson said. “His choices and the decisions that he made were really good. A couple of times he stepped up in the pocket and once he scrambled and stepped up in the pocket. He did things that, a year ago, he wouldn’t do.”

Mirer, 26, is in his fourth year with the Seahawks and his second under Erickson. He threw a career-worst 20 interceptions last season when the Seahawks were 8-8 and missed the playoffs for the eighth year in a row.

“He’s more confident, more under control, knowing what’s going on, knowing where everybody’s at,” Erickson said.

Erickson liked the way his first-team defense went after Falcons starting quarterback Bobby Hebert.

“We got a lot of pressure on Hebert on the two series he played in,” he said.

The Seahawks sustained two major injuries in their opener. Second-year defensive tackle Keif Bryant was lost for the season with a torn left Achilles tendon and James Logan, a top Seahawks special teams player and a reserve linebacker, was lost from four to six games with a broken left fibula. Bryant, Seattle’s 1995 seventh-round draft choice, was operated on Sunday afternoon.

In addition, rookie defensive end Phillip Daniels sprained his left ankle on the next-to-last play of the game.

Seattle’s punting against the Falcons was done by Josh Miller, who was signed as a free agent during the offseason because of salary problems with Rick Tuten. Miller, who kicked for the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League the past two seasons, punted four times for an average of 40 yards per punt.