Setting the Stage
Moved to Sunday, October 25 at 5:20 p.m. AZ time. NBC - Al Michaels (play-by-play), Cris Collinsworth (analyst) and Michele Tafoya (sideline)
"Seahawks are coming off a Bye week (which HC Pete Carroll deemed "productive." . CB D.J. Reed and TE Colby Parkinson both returned to practice from the non-football injury list. 'Hawks are one of three unbeaten NFL teams.
According to Seattle homer, Nate Burleson: "It rains a lot in Seattle, and...they are making it rain touchdowns all over the field. Not every game is perfect, but it seems like the pieces of the puzzle are working together. Russell Wilson has been fantastic. Even when he has a slow start he finishes strong. DK Metcalf has turned into an absolute beast....Just for the simple fact that we're talking about Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf in the light, that's one hell of a duo."
4 & 2 Cards are coming off lopsided victories over two marginal contenderrs (Jets and Cowboys). Media takes range from "In Dallas and the Jets, they really haven't beaten anybody to ": Super Bowl"). Our take - The Cards "are what we think they are" (playing to the level expexted of them and winning more than their share of winnable games.
Note - Cards and Giants agreed to a trade of LB Markus Golden (fr Giants) for a 6th round pick (fr Cards) but it's unclear whether Golden will be required to sit for a game per latest contractual attrangements.
Most Recent Seattle Game
Bye Week,.
Seattle Offense
Quarterbacks
QB ...03 R Wilson...07 G Smith
Running Backs
RB...32 Carson...30 Hyde...25 Homer...31 Dallas
FB...44 Bellore
Wide Receivers
WR... 14 Metcalf...83 Moore...19 Hart.
WR...16 Lockett...18 Swain
Tight Ends
TE...88 Olsen...89 Dissly...82 L Wilson..86 .Holister
Offensive Line
LT...76 D Brown...74 Ogbuehi
LG...70 Iupati...66 Simmons
OC..77 Pocik...67 Finney...61 Fuller
RG...68 D Lewis...73 J Jones
RT...72 Shell
Seattle Defense
Defensive Line
DE....91 Collier...93 Bullard.
DT ...90 J Reed...92 Mone
NT.....97 P Ford...63 Rush
LEO...95 Mayowa...98 A Robinson...99 D Moore
Linebackers
OLB...56 Brooks ...49 Griffin
MLB...54 Wagner...57 Barton
OLB...50 KJ Wright...55 Burr-Kirven
Secondary
LCB...26 Griffin...35 Neal
RCB...22 Dunbar...21 Flowers...34 Stephens
SS....33 Adams...42 Hill
FS....37 Q Diggs...28 Amadi
Special Teams
P......04 Dickson
K.....05 Myers
LS...69 Ott
H ....04 Dickson
PR ..83 Moore...16 Lockett
KR ..25 Homer...16 Lockett
Statistics
Stat..............................Seattle....Opponents........Cards........Opponents
1st Downs......................111..................140...................150..............137
Offensive Yds...............1979...............2356.................2415............2077
Rushing Yards...............577.................504....................966...........718
Rush Yds Per Play........4.9....................3.9.....................5.3............4.4
Passing Yds................1402..................1852................1449...........1359
Pass Yds Per Play......8.9.....................7.9.......................7.3............6.7
Intercepted................3..........................7...........................6................3
Sacks...........................9.....................15.........................17.............9
TDs...............................20....................20.......................21..............12
Turnover Ratio.............+6...............................................--...............
Time of Possession.....28:22...........31:37....................28:58........31:01
Player Stats
Passing
Murray 135 of 205 for 1487 yds, 65.9% 10 TDs, 6 INT, 9 sacks...91.3 Rating
R Wilson 123 of 169 for 1502 72.3% 19 TDs 3 INT Sacked 15 Times111 129.8 Rating
Rushing
Murray 51 for 370, 7.3 YPA 6 TDs
Drake 105 for 478...4.6 YPA...4 TDs
Carson 61 for 289...Wilson 23 for 153...Hyde 16 for 57
Receiving
Hopkins 47 for 601, 2 TDs
Fitzgerald 21 for 145 0 TD
Edmonds 19 for 135 2 TDs
Lockett 30 for 342 4 TDs
Metcalf 22 for 496 5 TDs
Carson 21 for 140 3 TDs
Tackles -
Hicks 52
Campbell 48
Baker 45
Murphy 22
Wagner 52
Griffin 30
Wright 27
Adams 23
Interceptions
Peterson, Kirkpatrick Baker 1 each
Griffin 2
Neal 2
Cardinals Depth Chart
Quarterbacks
01 Murray, 15 Streveler, 07 Hundley
Running Back
41 Drake, 29 Edmonds, 38 Ward 26 Benjamin
Wide Receivers
WR - 11 Fitzgerald...17 Isabella
WR - 13 Kirk....19 KS Johnson
WR - 10 Hopkins 16 Sherfield
Tight Ends
TE - 82 Arnold 81 Daniels 80 J Thomas...89 Baylis
Offensive Line
LT- ...74 Humphries ....66 Miles
LG - 67 Pugh 73 Garcia
OC- 52 Cole 65 Galliard
RG- 64 Murray
RT - 68 Beachum...79 J Jones
Defensive Interior Line
DT - 94 Z Allen 95 Fotu
NT - 98 Peters
DT - 97 Phillips 92 Blackson
Linebackers
OLB - 43 Reddick...49 Fitts...54 Irving
ILB - ..59 Campbell 48 Simmons 47 Z Turner
ILB - 58 Hicks 51 Vallejo
OLB - 42 Kennard 45 Gardeck
Defensive Backs
CB - 21 P Peterson...27 K Peterson
CB - 20 Kirkpatrick 33 Murphy Jr
S - 38 Banjo...28 C Washington
S - 32 Baker...35 D Thompson . 40 Tillman*
Matchup: Seattle Passing Attack vs. Cardinal Pass Defense
Russell Wilson is close to the Gold Standard in mobile QBs who can throw on the run. (Runner up is considered by many to be Kyler Murray). He has two super receivers in Metcalf and Lockett, and their TE Olsen provides Wilson with a third deadly option.
Card DBs feasted on Jets and Cowboys receivers - so much so that it's difficult to gauge how much of this was due to "great coverage" and how much from subpar receiving.
Card pass rushers enjoy a 17 - 9 advantage in Sacks Earned vs Sacks Permitted. (By contrast, Seattle ratio is 9 Sacks Earned vs 15 Permitted). With C Jones out for the season, the Cardinal pass rush figures to be kind of "a group thing" (although Gardeck has made the coaches sit up and take notice).
Although it could be claimed that "80% of Patrick Peterson is better than 100% of most corners", he could be under the microscope for having a a down year. Nevertheless, he and Budda Baker give the Cardinal secondary the reputation for solid play. (Just pray that Budda doesn't aggravate his surgically-repaired thumb).
When you face athletic freaks like Metcalf, you never know whether they'll have a breakout game where they flat out can't get stopped. Challenge: Paying so much attention to Metcalf that Olsen is permitted to run wild. And then we still have Russell Wilson to worry about.
Key Matchups - P Peterson vs. Metcalf. Baker vs Olsen...Wilson vs. Gardeck
Matchup: Seattle Rushing Attack vs. Cardinal Run Defense
We sometimes get the impression that, if Pete Carroll had his 'druthers, he'd just as soon repeatedly run RBs (Carson and Hyde) up the gut . (Who knows. Maybe that's what he'll do).
Key Matchups
Carson and Hyde vs. Hicks and Campbell. Seattle OL vs. Cards Front 7.
Matchup: Cardinal Passing Attack vs. Seattle Pass Defense
When Kyler Murray is good, he is very very good. But lately, he's been somewhat less than good. (Forget the 38 points he laid on Dallas - He only completed 9 passes).
When Kyler brings his "A" game, the Cards can beat anyone. Problem is - you never know which Kyler Murray will show up. This is not meant to be a knock on Murray - it's just part of the process of growing into the position of leadership.
My long-term impression of Seattle is that Pete Carroll builds a sound roster and then dares his opponents to out-execute his team. It doesn't always bear out - roughly two of every ten years, the Seahawks run into a rash of injuries, contract-disputes or bad luck, and wind up being vulnerable to young teams on the rise, say...like...last-year's Cardinals.
We're not sure the Seattle team we'll face this Sunday will be as vulnerable as they were a year ago.Note - Christian Kirk had a big game last week vs. Dallas. The more attention he can require, the less attention the "Hawks can spend on Hopkins. This also might prove to be the game when Chase Edmonds, as a receiver, has his coming out party.
Come to think of it, although, you'd think that Pete Carroll might try to turn this contest into a "war of attrition", things could go the other way and we could be witnessing an old fashion "shoot-out."
Key Matchups:
Hopkins vs. Griffin... Kirk vs. Dunbar...Edmonds vs. Q Diggs
Matchup: Cardinal Running Attack vs. Seattle Run Defense
Drake's most recent pattern is to "start slowly" but build mon=mentum as the game wears on and a legitimate ball-control weapon later in the game. He and Edmonds currently share run responsibilities but we may see each of them fill specific roles as HC KIngsbury gets to better know what each RB is best at.
Key Matchups
Drake vs...Adams ...Edmonds vs Diggs. ...Seattle Front 7 vs. Card OL.
Special Teams
Seattle Special Teams
P......04 Dickson
K.....05 Myers
LS...69 Ott
H ....04 Dickson
PR ..83 Moore...16 Lockett
KR ..25 Homer...16 Lockett
Cardinals Special Teams
P - ...02 Lee
K- ....05 Gonzalez
H - ...02 Lee
LS - 46 Brewer
KR -29 Edmonds
PR - 17 Isabella
Matchup Seattle Special Teams vs. Cardinal Special Teams
Don't know much about Dickson and Myers and will assume the Cards have the edge with Gonzalez and Lee. In the return game, if Lockett is relegated to a backup role, Moore ans Homer figure to be pretty good.
We are still waiting for Isabella and Edmonds to blossom in the return game.
Key Matchups
Card kicker and punter have an edge over Dickson and Myers...Moore, Homer and Lockett are even or better matched up with Isabella and Edmonds Last Word
Typical Seattle teams will out-physical and out-execute the other teams in their division. Last year's Seahawk team was one of those exceptions that appear every half dozen years.
This year's Seattle team looks like a return to the old days, and has Playoffs written all over them. As such they should represesent a good measuring stick for an up & coming (but unpredictable) Cardinal football team. |
