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When: Sun. 9/18
4:15 pm ET in Seattle
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Televised: Sun. 9/18
4:15 pm ET (DirecTV Sunday Ticket Channel TBD)
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Satellite Radio: Sun. 9/18
4:15 pm ET (SIRIUS Radio - Channel TBD)
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Setup
Overview
Seattle's Last Game
Meet the
Seahawks
Cardinals Roster
Seahawks vs. Cardinals Matchups
Setup:
Last game of the season. Both teams are 7 & 8
and trying to reach .500. Question remains: "Do the players and
coaches of either team view this as a "pride" game against a
division rival? Or merely a U-Haul tilt (as in players already
anticipating moving day. Last week I observed that how the Cardinals
and Bengals looked on the opening kickoff would be a clue of how
the game would be played and what the final outcome would be. It
pretty much worked out that way. Seattle played the Niners tight
for most of the game, but faded a bit in the stretch.
Overview
I'll update the Pro Football Focus (PFF)
rating numbers as Week #2 stats become available. (Note - Any
postitive rating of more than +2.0 is pretty good. Any negative
rating of less than minus-2.0 should be reason for concern. The
closer to zero, the closer to "average").
Seattle has been decent up front
defending against the run, but they haven't been able to mount
much of a pass rush so far and they appear to have a potential
gaping hole at one of the two CB positions.
Seattle's
Last Game:
They lost to the Niners 19 - 17 on an Akers
FG with 3:01 left on the clock.
Quick down & dirty game summary:
First Quarter
Touchback on the KO. Seattle came out with
guns ablazing. On the second play from scrimmage, Tavaris Jackson
hit Lockette for 44 yards followed by successive gains of +3, +3,
+9 and +8 followed by a 13-yard Jackson-to-Baldwin TD completion.
Seattle 7 - Niners 0.
Niners returned the KO to their own 31. They
managed to nibble their way to the Seattle 35 where the drive
stalled and Akers missed a 52-yard FG. Seahawks took over on their
own 43. Jackson immediately took a minus-10 yard sack, but
this was countered by an 18-yard run by Lynch. Drive stalled at
the Niner 40 and Seattle punted. Fair caught at the Niner 9. Runs
by Gore of +14 and +5 along with a defensive holding flag on
Browner helped the Niners move to their own 39. A 10 yard run by
Hunter and runs and short passes for +13, 0 and +6 featuring Gore
moved them to the Seattle 31 to end the quarter.
1st Quarter Score: Seattle 7 - Niners 0.
Second Quarter
After Hill sacked Alex Smith for minus-4,
Akers kicked a 53 -yard FG. Seattle 7 - Niners 3.
Washington returned the KO to the Seattle 20. The first 9 plays of
Seattle's possession featured 4 runs by Lynch and 1 by Forsett. An
offensive pass interference penalty followed by a sack for minus-4
helped stall the Seahawk drive at the Niner 46, where Ryan's punt
was downed at the SF 15. A penalty moved the Niners back to their
own 5-yard line. They went 3 & out and punted from their own 10.
Washington muffed the punt but Seattle recovered it at the Niner
43. Four straight Seattler running plays moved them to the Niner
22. Their drive ended when they couldn't punch it in on 3 straight
plays inside the 7 and settled for a 19-yard Hauschka chip shot.
Seattle 10 - Niners 3.
1:30 left til halftime. Touchback on the KO. KO went into end
zone. The two teams exchanged non-descript possessions to end the
half. Halftime Score:
Seattle 10 - Niners 3.
Third Quarter
Niners returned the 2H kickoff to their own
25. A 28-yard completion to Crabtree and a 16 and 17-yard
completions to Vernon Davis helped move SF to the Seahawk 4, where
Gore ran it in for the tying TD.
Seattle 10 - Niners 10.
Washington returned the KO to his own 15 before Seattle went 3 &
out. Niners returned the punt to 36 yards to the Seattle 48. After
a scramble for +12 and a Gore run for +11, a horse-collar penalty
moved the Niners to the Seattle 8. They couldn't punch it in and
settled for another Akers FG (a 29 yarder) to give SF their first
lead of the game.
Niners 13 - Seattle 10.
Washington returned the KO to the Seattle 14. An illegal use
of the hands penalty moved them back to their own 7 where they
went 3 & out. A Niner penalty on the punt gave SF the ball at
their own 34. Three straight running plays moved them to the Niner
47 as the quarter ended.
3rd Quarter Score: Niners 13 - Seattle 10.
Fourth Quarter
SF stayed fairly conservative and eventually
fizzled at the Seattle 26, where Akers kicked a 44 yard FG.
Niners 16 - Seattle 10.
Washington returned the KO to his own 16. A defensive pass
interference penalty helped move Seattle to their own 49, but
Jackson got sacked for minus-8 and the drive eventually sputtered
at the Niner 45. Punt went into the end zone for a touchback. 9:24
left to play. After a 17-yard completion to Vernon Davis on their
first play of the series, the Niners stalled out at thir own 38
and were forced to punt. Punt was blocked by Fairwell and Seahawks
recovered at the Niner 4-yard line where Lynch ran it in on the
first play from scrimmage to regain the lead for the Seahawks.
Seattle 17 - Niners 16.
6:41 left. A roughness penalty against Seattle on the KO gave the
Niners good field position at their own 39. An offensive pass
interference call made it 1st & 20 at their own 29. But Smith hit
Crabtree for +41 to move SF to the Seattle 28. They nudged 'er
closer and, with 3:01 left to play, Akers booted his 4th FG (a
39-yarder) to give the Niners a 2-point lead.
Niners 19 - Seattle 17.
Washington returned the KO to the Seattle 19. 2:52 left. Seattle
mixed runs, short passes and scrambles to get to the Niner 48 with
1:25 left to play, but on 3rd & 3 three, Jackson picked up 2 yards
on a scramble only to have the ball stripped away by Whitner.
Seattle ball. 1:07 left. Run-run-sack-punt (with 3 Seattle time
outs mixed in). Washington returned the punt from his own 2 to the
Seattle 26 with 0:52 left on the clock. Seahawks went 4 & out.
Smith took a knee. Game over. Final Score:
Niners 19 - Seattle 17.
Meaningful Stats
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Jackson completed 15 of 28 attempts for
163 yards, 1 TD and no Interceptions.
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Lynch gained 107 yards on 21 carries and
picked up one TD. (Longest gain was for +18).
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Tate led Seattle with 3 catches (5 others
had 2 catches. Baldwin had the only receiving TD).
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Only Seahawk give-away was Jackson's
fumble near the end of the game.
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Seattle had no take-aways.
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Seattle pass rushers were credited with 2
sacks (by Branch and by Hill).
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Jackson was sacked 3 times.
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Chancellor led the team (by far) in
tackles with 10 (all unassisted). He was followed by Mebane
and Hawthorn (with 7 apiece) and Hill (6).
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The two teams were equally penalized (6
apiece)
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Niners won the Time of Possession battle
32:54 to 27:06
Meet
the Seahawks
"Weak 'O'/Strong 'D'": Their offense has been
chewed up (especially the O-line) and they've earned their
money on defense. That plus the running of Marshawn Lynch (i.e..
"Beast Mode") and scrambling and playmaking ability of Tavaris
Jackson (that compensates somewhat for his other "issues" in the
passing game). Cardinal killer Mike Williams has gone but rookie
receiver Baldwin (out of Stanford) has emerged as a go-to guy to
compliment Tate and Obomanu.
Quarterbacks
7
Jackson,
Tarvaris QB 6-2 225 28 6 Alabama State (122 Snaps.
+1.5 Passing Rating).
6
Whitehurst,
Charlie QB 6-5 225 29 6 Clemson
2
Portis,
Josh QB 6-3 211 24 R California University
Evaluation
Jackson 60.7% of his attempted passes for 12 TD's and
12 interceptions for an NFL passer rating of 79.2. He is rated
#15th best QB overall by Pro Football Focus (PFF). By cibtrast,
Skelton is ranked #38 (2nd to last). Jackson is ranked #13 as a
passer, but a surprising #31 as a runner. He's in the middle of
the pack when it comes to taking penalties. He runs 4.1% of the
times he drops back (By comparison, Rodgers runs 7.4% of the time
and Brees only heads for the hills 2.0% of the time).
Running Backs
24 Lynch, Marshawn
RB 5-11 215 25 5 California
20 Forsett, Justin
RB 5-8 198 25 4 California.
33 Washington, Leon
RB 5-8 203 29 6 Florida State.
26 Robinson, Michael
RB 6-1 240 28 6 Penn State.
Evaluation
Compared to his
clippings, Lynch is having a subpar year (he's ranked #46 of 64
RB's overall). But there are games where Lynch finds himself in a
zone (aka "Beast Mode"), and when that happens, he's
close-to unstoppable. Forsett is a capable backup (rated #53
overall) and Washington has home-run potential (although this
season may prove to be an "off" year). Robinson was a former
option-tee QB and is capable of throwing on a gadget play. Back to
Lynch. He's considered the 21st best runner, 45th best receiving
RB and 6th worst blocker, but he's a "touchdown machine" (11 TD's
- 3rd best among RB's) and his longest gain was for 47
yards.Forsett is a slightly better receiver than runner (he's
ranked #22 best receiving RB). Robinson ranks 25th out of 29 FB's
and is a slightly better receiver than runner.
Wide Receivers
87 Obomanu, Benjamin
WR 6-1 204 27 6 Auburn
11 Butler, Deon WR 5-10 182 25 3 Penn State
16 Durham, Kris
WR 6-6 216 23 R Georgia
81 Tate, Golden
WR 5-10 202 23 2 Notre Dame
15 Baldwin, Doug
WR 5-10 189 22 R Stanford
83 Lockette, Ricardo WR 6-2 211
25 R Fort Valley State
Evaluation
Baldwin has emerged as the 14th best overall.
out of 115 wideouts, (Tate ranks #31. Obomanu ranks #87). Baldwin
is 18th best at catching the ball and 16th best blocker. He
catches 61.3% of the balls thrown at him ( #50th in the NFL). Tate
is #26 best pass catcher and 70th best blocker. He catches 64.3 of
the passes thrown in his direction (36th best in the NFL). Omomanu
is #90 at catching the football and tied with Tate at #70 as a
blocker. He catches 68.% of the passes thrown to him (18th highest
percentage among all NFL receivers measured). Seahawk QB's threw
at Baldwin 75 times and Tate 42.
Tight Ends
86 Miller, Zach TE 6-5 255 25 5
Arizona State
85 McCoy, Anthony TE 6-5 259 23 2
USC
88 Morrah, Cameron TE 6-3 251 24 3
California
Evaluation
Poorly performing unit.Miller is considered
a perennial pro bowl player but is ranked 5th to last among 62
TE's overall. His deficiencies are greatest as a receiver and run
blocker. McCoy ranks 2nd-to-last overall, with significant
negatives in every rated aspect of play. Neither TE has caught a
TD pass.
OffensiveLine
67 67 McQuistan, Paul
T 6-6 315 28 7 Weber State
77
King,
Jarriel OT 6-5 321 24 R South Carolina
72 Gallery, Robert
LG 6-7 325 31 8 Iowa
64 Gibson, Mike G/C 6-3 298 26 4 California
60 Unger, Max
C 6-5 305 25 3 Oregon (122 Snaps).
61 Jeanpierre, Lemuel RG/C 6-3 301 24 2 South Carolina
68
Giacomini,
Breno RT 6-7 318 25 4 Louisville
78 Barbre, Allen T/G 6-4 300 27 5 Missouri Southern
Evaluation
:
A patchwork group riddled with injury and
change.Some of the guys who started against the Cards a few weeks
ago (including Okung) are starting, and others are no longer
active parts of this unit. Of the tackles, only Giacomini is
rated by PFF, and ranks 49th among 76 tackles with negative
ratings across the board.
McQuistan is listed as a guard by PFF and
ranked 44th of 78 OGs with a negative rating as a run blocker but
a neutral rating as a pass blocker. Gallery ranks #71 (with
negative ratings in every category except screen blocking). Unger
is rated the 16th best center with his only deficiency run
blocking.
Defensive Line
91 Clemons, Chris LDE 6-3 254 29 8
Georgia
98
Brock,
Raheem DE 6-4 274 33 10 Temple
99
Branch,
Alan LDT 6-6 325 26 5 Michigan
69
McDonald,
Clinton DT 6-2 297 24 3 Memphis
92
Mebane,
Brandon RDT 6-1 311 26 5 California
93 Levingston, Lazarius DE 6-4 292 24 R
LS
79
Bryant,
Red RDE 6-4 323 27 4 Texas A&M
94
Hargrove,
Anthony RDT/DE 6-3 272 28 7 Georgia Tech
Evaluation
:
Aside from Clemons (who's good at everything) the Seattle
D-Linemen are mainly run-stoppers more than they are pass rushers.
Clemons is ranked 10th best DE overall (& 6th best pass rusher in
the NFL). Defensive spiritual leader, Bryant is ranked #44
overall. He's a poor pass rusher (ranked 5th to last) but #12 vs.
the run.
All four Seattle DT's have positive overall
ratings. Former Cardinal Branch is considered the 6th best (4-3
system) DT out of 85). He's 3rd best vs. the run/55th at rushing
the passer. Mebane is 25th overall (but weak as a pass rusher).
Hargrove ranks #39, McDonald #42.
Linebacker
56 Hill, Leroy
WLB 6-1 238 29 7 Clemson
53 Smith, Malcolm
LB 6-0 226 22 R USC48 Morgan,
Mike LB 6-3 226 23 R USC
57 Hawthorne, David MLB 6-0
246 26 4 Texas Christian
55 Farwell, Heath LB 6-0 235
29 7 San Diego State
50 Wright, K.J.
SLB 6-4 246 22 R Mississippi State
59 Moten,
Adrian LB 6-2 230 23 R Maryland
Evaluation
Extremely strong on the outside. They can blitz, stop the run and
cover. Wright is ranked #11th overall (out of 43 OLB's who
play the 4-3. Hill ranks #17. Wright is considered the 4th best
blitzing OLB in the NFL (16th best vs. the run and 9th best cover
OLB). Hill ranks #28 as a pass rusher (23rd against the run and
5th best OLB in covrerage).
Hawthorne is ranked #21 out of 49 ILB's - 16th best in
coverage, 31st as a pass rusher, 29th vs. the run. These are not
very hot-shot stats, but I'd argue that Hawthorne "plays better
than his stats" - for example, in terms of opposing passer
ratings, Hawthorne ranks #9 with opposing QB's averaging 80.0.
Curry (who struggled in coverage) was traded.
Secondary
25 Sherman, Richard
LCB 6-3 195 23 R Stanford
34 Lewis, Roy CB 5-10 190 26 4 Washington
39 Cox, Kennard
CB 6-0 191 26 4 Pittsburgh
39 Browner, Brandon
RCB 6-4 221 27 1 Oregon State
41 Maxwell, Byron
CB 6-1 207 23 R Clemson
40 Adams, Phillip DB 5-11 192 23
2 South Carolina State
31
Chancellor,
Kam SS 6-3 232 23 2 Virginia Tech
27 Bigby, Atari
DB 5-11 213 30 6 Central Florida
32 Johnson, Jeron
DB 5-10 212 23 R Boise State
29
Thomas,
Earl FS 5-10 202 22 2 Texas
42 Maragos, Chris
CB 5-10 200 24 2 Wisconsin
Evaluation:
Trufant is gone, and Sherman (a rook) is starting LCB.
Chancellor is the one shining star of this unit - in coverage, run
support and overall. For someone so highly regarded, Thomas is
having a rather ordinary season thus far - nothing bad/nothing
good. Kind of trending toward average. Browner had experienced what
some might term a "steep learning curve early on.
Sherman has stepped up to the task and enjoys
an overall CB ranking of #11. His only weakness, getting penalized
(part of the territory when you're covering the other teams' top
receivers). Only 47.8% of the balls thrown in his direction are
caught (11th best in the NFL). Browner is ranked #47 (of 108 CB's
rated). He ranks #14 in terms of coverage, but is the second worst
penalized CB in the NFL.
Seattle's safeties are terrific. Chancellor is
the 6th
highest-rated safety overall.
Thomas is 10th. Thomas is 5th best vs. the run.
Chancellor may be ranked only #27 but he's a playmaker, a
game-changer and (from personal observation) an outright terror.
(He's rated the 2nd best safety out of 87 in coverage).They like
to send Chancellor on the blitz and he ranks #7 as a pass rusher.
Special Teams
04 Hauschka, Steven
K 6-4 210 26 4 North Carolina State
09 Ryan, Jon
P 6-0 217 29 6 Regina
49 Gresham, Clint
LS 6-3 250 25 2 Texas Christian
33 Washington, Leon
KR/PR/RB 5-8 203 29 6 Florida State
Evaluation:
Hauschka is rated 16th best kicker (14th longest average kickoff
length/2 of 4 FG's outside the 50 and a FG percent of 83.3%). Ryan
is rated #5 in the NFL overall/10th best net yardage figure). Washington
is 8th best return man overall, but far scarier in terms of his
potential home-run ability. #156 as a kickoff returner but 4th
best punt returner in the nation. (Note: Peterson ranks #1).
Coaching Staff
Pete Carroll Head Coach
Darrell Bevell Offensive Coordinator
Gus Bradley Defensive Coordinator
Brian Schneider Special Teams
Coordinator
Former USC head coach, Carroll is in his
second year as HC. In recent weeks, he has really put his stamp on
this team, elevating a host of rookies and 2nd year men to his
active roster - especially on the offensive line and the Seahawk
secondary. Both he and Ken Whisenhunt are treating this upcoming
game as a regular, hotly-contested division face-off with .500
records on the line. There will be no "check out the rookies "
stuff (Carroll observes that Seattle is already playing most of
their rookies and they are stepping up and delivering). Both teams
are playing to win.
Fox
Coordinator
FoxCardinal Roster
QB - 19 Skelton, 4 Kolb, 02 Bartel
Kolb (concussion) has been held out of
the most recent games. (This after missing a couple of games due
to an injured toe). This has made his replacement (Skelton) the
defacto starting QB for most of the season. Skelton has the
disquieting habit of stinking up the joint for the first 2 or 3
quarters of each game, only to come back with guns ablazing to
bring his team back to victory late in games. (Last week, he fell
one play short when Early Doucet tripped, and he watched Skelton's
eleventh-hour pass float over his head to landin a totally empty
part of the end zone.
It's unclear whether Ken Whisenhunt
will let Kolb (who is still fighting minor occurances of possibly
concussion-related symptoms) close out the season. My guess is
that it will be Skelton on Sunday. Why Skelton is such a slow
starter and brilliant finisher is a mystery - both to him and his
coaches. This may be due to the poor pass blocking of the
offensive line and the adjustments that, out of necessity, must be
made to play-calling and protection-schemes in order to keep the
QB upright. Strictly one person's opinion but - after either QB
has dug himself into a hole, Skelton does a better job than Kolb
somehow finding a way to come back and win. (Note - depending on
the situation, this game might be a good time for the coaches to
take a good look at Bartel in the second half).
RB - 26, Wells,
36
Stephens-Howling (KR/PR),
29 C Taylor, 46 A. Smith
Beanie continues to play through a bum knee.
While he's able to execute some plays well enough to remain a
starter, he's better running straight ahead than he is making cuts
and the coaches are very careful not to make him carry too much of
the load - which generally means their offensive game plans are
unlikely to be "run-heavy." The Howler, Taylor and Smith are
competent if not full-package replacements for Wells, with LSH
especially dangerous on screens (when they're properly executed).
FB - 435 Sherman
A rookie. A good blocker. The coaches aren't
afraid to give him the ball at crunch time and gave him a crack at
the end zone on an upback dive play vs. Cincy, but Sherman, a
pulling guard and Skelton botched the handoff.
WR -
12 Roberts, 85 Doucet
, 17 Stuckey,
WR -11 Fitzgerald, 14 S Williams,
89 Sampson
Fitzgerald deservedly made the
Pro Bowl (again) in competition with a deep pool of talented
wideouts. He continues to be a one-man highlight reel. The problem
has been opposite #11 where neither Roberts or Doucet has become
100% reliable at making tough catches at key times in deeply
contested circumstances. Roberts has been the more reliable of the
pair (& tends to more often come down with more than 4 passes per
game) but there have been times when he and his QB have been a
half-step "off" in their timing or have a deflected pass bounce
into the arms of an enemy DB. The Cards (probably due to their
pass blocking "issues") have seldom put 4 WR's out there at one
time, but when they do, either Stuckey or Sampson has gotten the
nod. (Last week, though, Sampson and S Williams were
de-activated).
TE - 86
Heap,
87 King,
84 Housler, 81
Dray
Heap has been injured for most of the season
and saw limited action when he returned, but he's pretty close to
being completely healthy now, and has had one or two big
(multi-reception) games. He definitely upgrades our run blocking
when he's in there. King is a steady (though unspectacular) backup
who can do everything well. Housler has also suffered from nagging
injuries and has not capitalized fully on those limiited
opportunities he's had to shine. Dray is our #4. He gets to see a
lot of action, but has done little to impress me (though I'll
concede that sometimes a player can be valuable due to the
unspectacular, unseen things he does off-camera - perhaps that's
where Dray contributes to the Cardinals' cause).
LT- 75 L Brown,
,
LG-
71 Colledge,
OC- 63Sendlein
RG-
70 Hadnot (C), 76
Lutui
RT
73 Bridges,
72 Keith,
74 Batiste
It could be argued that many of our problems in other aspects of
play flow downhill from this dysfunctional O-line. Our tackles
(starters Brown and Keith and backup Bridges) were ranked worst,
second to worst and third to worst in the NFL by Pro Football
Focus - you can't get much worse than that. Bridges takes over for
the injured Keith. Our interior linemen (Colledge, Sendlein and
Hadnot - with Lutui finally seeing some action last week) has
performed better, but this may be simply a matter of their
lookiing "less sucky" than their tackle-brethren. (There have been
too many instances where our center and guards have failed to pick
up pass rushers zooming up the middle).
DE - 93 Campbell,
96
Talley
NT - 79 Carter,
98
Eason
DT - 90 Dockett,
91 Holliday
Dockett made the Pro Bowl (as an alternate)
and Campbell should have. Both have done yeoman work from their
respective outside positions, and it could be argued that - in
terms of sacks, stripped balls, bat-downs and other big plays -
Campbell was the bigger impact player of the two. (But the pool of
DE talent in the NFL was pretty impressive and it's hard to argue
that the guys who made it didn't deserve to. When Williams was
IR'd, it meant that all three members of "Stonehenge" (Branch,
Watkins & Williams) were no longer on the roster. Carter and Eason
have filled in admirably, but we've had to replace the huge,
wide-bodied physical presence inside with a quicker, more agile
force. Carter and Eason have done surprisingly well, and (since
neither weighs much more than 300 lbs) it's amazing they don't
wear down more against physical O-lines late in games).
WLB -94
Acho,
xx
B Williams
ILB
51
Lenon,
52 Bradley
ILB-
558 D Washington,
56 Walker,
SLB
-
53
Haggans,
50 Schofield
Both Acho and Schofield have taken advantage
of steadily increased playing time with active play
resulting in sacks, pressures, strips and fumble-recoveries. It
can be validly argued that the re-emergance of the Cardinal
defense during the second half of the season has been mainly a
function of the play of youngsters Acho, Schofield and Darrell
Washington (who leads the team in tackles in just about every
game). Porter had been counted on to provide some pass rush spark,
but he had been plagued by injury and finally put on IR. But both
Acho and Schofield have more than picked up the slack and are a
joy to watch each Sunday.
RCB -
21 Peterson,
31
Marshall,
22 Butler
LCB-
20 Jefferson,
27 Adams,
32 Lindsay
SS- 24 Wilson,
41 Abdullah,
40
Tillman
FS- 25 Rhodes,
49
Rash Johnson
The starting Cardinal secondary (when healthy) can best be
described as "2 young corners experiencing growing pains backed up
by 2 Pro Bowl caliber safeties and trustworthy backup depth."
Peterson tweaked his Achilles last week in Cincy and (although MRI
results were negative) you have to question whether the medics
will let him play. If he can't go, he'll be replaced by the slower
but more dependable Marshall with Adams as the nickel corner. This
might be a good time for the coaches to take a good look at backup
youngsters Lindsay and Butler. Rhodes returned last week,
and you could already see him making a few key plays. The
percentage of plays where our corners stick with their receivers
or come up aggressively to break up passes (without being
penalized) is improving, but far from fail-safe - we still have a
long way to go.
K- 04
Feely
P- 09 Zastudil
H - 009
Zastudil
LS-
82 Leach
KR -
37Stephens-Howling, 20 Jefferson
PR -
21
Peterson
After one or two funky
outings,Feely' seems to have returned to his old reliable self. Zastudil
can get enough distance to often get us out of Field Position
Hell, but he's not 100% consistent or all that good as a
directional "drop 'em inside the 10-yard line" punter. The Howler
hasn't done all that muchas expected returning kicks this season
and (for reasons unexplained) replaced by AJ Jefferson in Cincy. Peterson
(4 punt return TD's) earned a trip to Hawaii as a punt-returner,
but the coaches may want to be super-cautious about his bum
Achilles.
Seahawks
vs. Cardinals Matchups
Seattle Passing Attack
vs. Cardinal
Pass Defense
The Seattle passing attack is more workmanlike and less
"vertical" than it is explosive, mixing Tavaris Jackson's mobility
and evasiveness with a more conservative, low-key passing offense
featuring receivers, Benjamin Obomanu, Golden Tate, the speedy
Darius Butler and rookie sensation Doug Baldwin. Baldwin leads the
team with 15.7 Yards Per Catch, but this only ranks #31 in
the NFL. Obomanu (11.7) and Tate (11.2) rank #89 and #96
respectively. Neither Miller or McCoy are having good years as
receivers and Lynch (who rates negatively as a pass blocker) is
just "average" catching out of the backfield. The Seahawk
offensive line has been chewed up due to injury and has negative
ratings across the board almost to a man.
You'd think this would present a field day for
Cardinal pass rushers, but there's always the twin dangers of (a)
Jackson scrambling for big yardage and (b) t Marshawn Lynch
gashing us badly if we overplay the pass.
Despite this, I like the matchups. Our pass
rushers, Dockett, Campbell, Acho, Schofield and Washington should
have a big day against Seattle's pass blockers. Marshall might
actually turn out to be a better match up against Baldwin than the
less experienced Peterson. And we may be able to move Wilson down
into the box to either key on Lynch or spy on Jackson.
Seattle Running Attack vs.
Cardinal Run Defense
Lynch
has emerged as 14th highest-rated runner (with a great deal of
media hype about his "Beast Mode"). Clearly the biggest Cardinal
defensive priority should be to contain Lynch - this will involve
the combination of gap-discipline and sound, physical tackling
(Back down for even an eye-blink and he will blacktop us).
The Cardinals have had good days vs. the run
(when they've set their minds to the task) but occasionally will
take their eyes off the ball (see: first half vs. Cincy) and find
themselves with tire-tracks across their chests.
Bottom Line - This matchup will have more to do
with "want-to" than it does pure talent.
Cardinal Passing Attack
vs. Seattle Pass Defense
Seattle
has a good pass rush. We have a porous offensive line. (Do the
math). No none's sure why Skelton starts so slowly (27.9 first
quarter passer rating vs. Cincy but finishes so high (100.5 in the
4th quarter). I suspect it might have to do with halftime
adjustments in play-calling and blocking schemes. Whatever the
case, the Cardinal pass blockers will have to deal with Clemons
(6th top NFL pass rusher among DE's), Wright (4th best pass rusher
among LB's) and Chancellor (7th best pass rusher among safeties
It will be up to Fitz, Doucet and Roberts to get
open quickly. They will be going up against the 11th best cover
corner in the rookie Sherman and Chancellor (2nd best cover safety
in the NFL).
Perhaps one saving factor is that Chancellor
cannot be everywhere at once, and we can use our short passing
game (involving our TE's - Heap and King - and RB - The Howler -
to best advantage.
Cardinal Running Attack
vs. Seattle Run Defense
Unless he's
shown remarkable progress in recovery, Beanie can't cut and
opposing defenses are adjusting accordingly. Our perimeter threat
is diminished and it's often Beanie running straight ahead in the
hope of picking up chump yardage and being of more value as a
play-action decoy than as an actual runner. Sometimes Beanie's
knee feels better. More often it doesn't. If it's improved enough,
perhaps he can replicate the effort that helped him churn out 228
yards a few weeks ago.
Problem is - former Cardinal, Branch, is the 3rd
best ranked DT in the NFL vs. the run and Bryant is 12th
run-stopping DE. Thomas is the 5th best safety vs. the run but
we're more frightened of Chancellor and his ability to make big
plays as a run stopper.
This does not look like a good week for us to
make "running the football" a high priority. One thing everyone
seems to be pretty sure of though - even when running attack
matchups don't favor us (like....er...now), it's important we run
enough times to keep pass rushers out of Skelton's face.
Special Teams
Ryan is 5th top punter in the NFL - which plays well within
Seattles conservative "run the ball/punt the ball/stop the
run?field position approach to football. Hauschka is more
middle-of-the-pack (16th) among kickers. Washington (who had been
a punt and kickoff return terror over the past few seasons) has
been having an off year, but he's still considered the 4th best
punt returner in the nation (Peterson is #)1).
Cardinal kicking and punting games are solid
enough, but if Peterson (as expected) can't go, we will be at a
disadvantage in our punt return game. We still don't know what the
deal is with regard to Jefferson returning KO's instead of the
Howler, but without LSH in there, we definitely lose something.
Punt and kickoff coverage - like run defense -
is very much a matter of "want-to." It's the last game of the
season with both teams playing for pride (and .500). If either one
of the two teams wants it a little less than the other team, watch
out! It could be the deciding factor in the outcome of this game.
Final Word|
Interesting matchup. Pretty even-Steven pairing of two teams (both
division rivals; both 7 & 8 and wanting to reach .500; both
similar in talent (though different in talent by position). It
would be nice to enter the offseason on a positive note (& kind of
a drag spending the season knowing we went out on a loss). Who
wants it more, baby?
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