RENTON, Wash. -- Typically, the final preseason game each summer is the most meaningless of them all, filled with a lot of guys on the field who find themselves on the cut list a few days later.
But the Seattle Seahawks remember this summer's last preseason game as the night they got torched by a rookie quarterback -- the man they will face this weekend.
Derek Carr's performance against the Seattle defense that night earned him the starting job for the Oakland Raiders. The Seahawks haven't forgotten how well he played -- 11 of 13 passing for 143 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-31 Raiders victory.
"He hit everything," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "He tore us up and came in boldly. And they didn't just kind of dink it around. They showed that they had some belief that he could be a down-the-field guy. They certainly have gone that way.
"We saw [Carr] move, we saw him throw the deep ball, we saw him throw some timing-quick stuff underneath and he just showed a lot of poise. He's demonstrated that now and he's got good numbers.”
The Raiders are 0-7, but Carr has thrown for 1,517 yards and nine touchdowns, along with five interceptions.
"He's a gunslinger," Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman said of Carr. "They've made him throw the ball a little bit more in these past couple of games. I don't know if that has something to do with the score or schematically, but they've done a good job. He's done a good job of taking care of the ball for the most part.”
Sherman was asked if it surprised him the way Carr went after him and the rest of the Seattle secondary in the preseason game.
"I wasn't really surprised at all," Sherman said. "I mean, he doesn't really know any better.”
Carr says he knows a lot more now than he did that night.
"Honestly that game was just the fourth preseason game,” Carr said. "For me, I just wanted to go out and compete against the best. That's all it was for me. They are the best at what they do and I was just excited to get the opportunity to compete against that defense.
"This is the real deal. This is the regular season against the defending Super Bowl champs. So I know it's going to be a tough task, especially going into their environment. I know how much of challenge it's going to be.”
Sherman said he expects Carr to let it fly Sunday
"Yeah, he's been slinging the ball around,” Sherman said. "I mean, I don't think he thinks about who's guarding anybody or anything like that, he just slings it. He's got nothing to lose, obviously.”