NASHVILLE—The Seahawks dropped a tight preseason game to the Titans on Saturday night, falling 16-15 on a field goal as time expired. But despite the loss, there were also plenty of positives that came out Seattle's second preseason contest, not the least of which was the performance of quarterback Sam Howell, who started and played the entire first half with Geno Smith and the rest of the starters not playing.

Howell, who the Seahawks acquired in an offseason trade, has had plenty of good moments in training camp and in last week's preseason opener, but during his two quarters of action Saturday, he looked as good as he has since joining the team in a March trade with Washington.

Using a mixture of accuracy, touch, arm strength and mobility, Howell was nearly flawless after missing on an early third-down throw to Jake Bobo, finishing the half by leading three scoring drives, including one that ended with a perfectly placed 23-yard touchdown pass to Easop Winston Jr.

Howell finished his day 11 for 14 for 153 yards and a touchdown, giving him a 136.0 passer rating, and one of those incompletions was a great touch pass to Brady Russell that the tight end was unable to corral.

"Sam made great plays like he's done all training camp," said receiver Cody White, who had a 33-yard reception on a dart from Howell, the team's longest play from scrimmage.

Winston, who has been one of Howell's favorite targets in camp, added, "I love the way he competed tonight. That's my guy on and off the field. We have talked about what we're going to do every game, every practice. He has confidence in all the guys, and we have confidence in him. And he showed what type of quarterback he is."

Howell offered less effusive praise for his own performance, noting he'd have liked to have finished the first field goal drive that stalled out in the red zone.

"I thought it was pretty solid," he said. "Would have liked to finish that drive, I think it was kind of in the middle of the second quarter, with a touchdown. But for the most part, I thought it was pretty solid. Would have liked to score a few more points, but that is the only thing I would say."

But even if Howell wasn't looking to hype up his own performance, those around him did come away impressed, including his head coach, Mike Macdonald.

"I thought Sam was really sharp," Macdonald said. "I thought we moved the ball. I thought he made smart decisions. We were in and out of the huddle, which I felt like we could improve that in the second half. Just pleased he piggybacked on his performance last week and then in practices on Wednesday and Thursday."

The throws Howell made to Winston and White were two of the best he has made in his brief time with the Seahawks, but what might have been his best overall moment was the way he led the final drive of the half, taking the field at the 27-yard line with just 38 second on the clock and completing three quick passes to Bobo, Winston and Russell to get the Seahawks in range for a Jason Myers field goal.

Those two-minute drive situations, both in terms of the one the Seahawks executed well in the first half, and in the winning drive the Titans were able to put together at the end of the game, provided some valuable experiences both for the players and for a new coaching staff.

"It's great for us," Macdonald said. "I feel like we're on top of it for the most part as a coaching staff. But players talking through some of the situations, especially with the backups in the game, it's invaluable. So we're really going to take advantage of that time to watch the tape with the guys so everybody kind of hears what's the thinking. This is the first time going through it where they're hearing some of those alerts, things like that. So, it'll be valuable next couple of days."