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When: Sun.
11/14 - 4:15 pm
ET FOX
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Satellite Radio
11/14 - 4:15 pm - SIRIUS Ch 126
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Televised: Sun.
11/14 - 4:15 pm
ET (DirecTV Sunday Ticket Channel 713)
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Overview
Last Game
Meet the Seahawks
Cardinals Roster
Cardinals
vs. Seattle Matchups
Overview:
Both teams are coming off demoralizing
losses - the Cardinals losing a heartbreaker after blowiing a
14-point 4th quarter lead in Minnesota; the Hasselbeck-less
Seahawks getting smoked by the G-men of NJ. The two teams are
looking over their shoulders at an upcoming St. Louis Ram team and
a Niner team that started slowly but has fought its way back. This
contest figures to be a game of emotions - which team will have
the most resliancy needed to bounce back.
Late Breaking - Injuries
(as of Sun. Nov. 14)
Seattle Seahawks |
Name |
Position |
Injury |
Practice Status |
Game Status |
Marshawn Lynch |
RB |
Thigh |
Limited Participation in Practice |
Probable |
Michael Robinson |
RB |
Hamstring |
Did Not Participate In Practice |
Doubtful |
Mike Williams |
WR |
Finger |
Limited Participation in Practice |
Probable |
Golden Tate |
WR |
Ankle |
Did Not Participate In Practice |
Out |
Brandon Stokely |
WR |
Calf |
Limited Participation in Practice |
Probable |
Chris Baker |
TE |
Foot |
Full Participation in Practice |
Probable |
Mike Gibson |
G |
Ankle |
Limited Participation in Practice |
Doubtful |
Russell Okung |
T |
Ankle |
Limited Participation in Practice |
Questionable |
Raheem Brock |
DE |
Back |
Did Not Participate In Practice |
Probable |
Colin Cole |
DT |
Ankle |
Did Not Participate In Practice |
Out |
Lofa Tatupu |
LB |
Knee |
Did Not Participate In Practice |
Probable |
Earl Thomas |
S |
Not Injury Related |
Did Not Participate In Practice |
-- |
Arizona Cardinals |
Name |
Position |
Injury |
Practice Status |
Game Status |
Chris Wells |
RB |
Knee |
Did Not Participate In Practice |
Questionable |
Darnell Dockett |
DT |
Shoulder |
Limited Participation in Practice |
Questionable |
Paris Lenon |
LB |
Ankle |
Did Not Participate In Practice |
Questionable |
Will Davis |
LB |
Knee |
Limited Participation in Practice |
Probable |
Clark Haggans |
LB |
Groin |
Limited Participation in Practice |
Questionable |
Joey Porter |
LB |
Knee |
Limited Participation in Practice |
Probable |
Kerry Rhodes |
S |
Hand |
Limited Participation in Practice |
Probable |
Last Game:
Seahawks were steamrolled by the Giants 41 -
7. Backup QB Charley Whitehurst started his first game in place of
Matt Hasselbeck (concussion). Althought the Giants' turnover edge
over the Seahawks was only 3 to 1, the G-Men dominated the Time of
Possession battle 42:34 to 17:26, suggesting that Seattle's
offense (without Hasselbeck) couldn't get much going, while their
defense couldn't get off the field.
First Quarter
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Seattle received the KO, started from its
16 and lost 5 yards on its way to a three and out. Giants got
the ball on their own 39 and managed to get to the Seattle 39
before Curry's tackle caused Boss to fumble (recovered by
Hawthorne) . Seattle started at their own 29 and this time
netted one yard while going 3 & out. Ryan's 27-yard punt (& a
Seattle penalty) put the ball on the NY 48. A 16-yard
interference call on Trufant moved the ball into the red zone
along with a couple of 8 - 9 yard completions set the stage
for a 2-yard TD run by Bradshaw.
Giants 7 - Seahawks 0.
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Leon Washington returned the KO to the
Seattle 21, where, this time they picked up 9 yards on the way
to their third consecutive 3 & out. Ryan's punt was a slight
improvement at 33 yards. Giants took over on their own
37 and scored their second TD on a 46-yarder from Manning to
Nicks. Giants 14 - Seahawks 0.
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L Washington fumbled the ensuing KO, with
Goff picking up the ball and returning it to the Seahawk 4.
Bradshaw blew up the middle for the Giants' 3rd TD of the
quarter. Giants 21 - Seahawks 0.
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Washington responded with a 57-yard return
of the ensuing KO. Seahawk ball on the Giants' 32.
Seattle picked up its first 1st down and were at the Giants'
12-yard line as the quarter ended. First Quarter
Score: Giants 21 - Seahawks 0.
Second Quarter
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On the first play of the quarter,
Whitehurst's pass intended for M. Williams was picked off in
the end zone and returned to the NY 27. Heavy doses of Brandon
Jacobs followed by a series of short completions followed by a
couple of runs by Bradshaw put the ball on the Seattle 6-yard
line where Manning hit Smith for the Giants' 4th touchdhown.
(Drive took 11 plays and used up 5:31) Giants 28 - Seahawks
0.
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Washington returned the short KO to the
Seattle 36. Seattle picked up a couple of first downs where -
at the Giants' 25 - Whitehurst's pass
intended for M Williams was picked off by Webster and the
Giants got the ball back at their own 14-yard line.
A 32 yard completion to Manningham followed by a series of
short-medium gains ranging from 4 - 13 yards set up a 5 yard
TD pass from Manning to Boss. Giants 35 - Seahawks
0.
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0:53 left til halftime. After another short
kickoff, Seattle started at their own 43, reached the Giant 40
before turning the ball over on downs. Manning took a knee to
end the half. Halftime Score:
Giants 35 - Seahawks 0.
Third Quarter
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Giants received the 2H kickoff and -
undermined by two flags - were forced to punt from their own
24. Seattle took over at their own 32 and went 3 & out. A
22-yard punt return and Seattle penalty gave the Giants the
ball at the Seattle 47. First play from scrimmage - a 38-yard
ramble around RE by Brandon Jacobs. Drive stalled at the
Seattle 7 and Tynes kicked a 25-yard FG. Giants 38 - Seahawks
0.
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Morrah returned the short kickoff to the
Seattle 39 where they went 3 & out. Giants took over at their
own 20 and made it to the Seahawk 12, where they apparently
kicked a 30-yard FG, but an illegal formation call on Seattle
nullified the play and 5 plays later (including an offsides
call on Clemons), the Giant drive stalled anyway at the 2-yard
line and Tynes kicked a 20-yarder to end the quarter (T the
15-play drive consumed 8:29). Third Quarter Score:
Giants 41 - Seahawks 0.
Fourth Quarter
Highlights/Lowlights
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Time of Possession: Giants 42:34. Seattle
17:26
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Giants picked up 30 first downs (Seattle
picked up 8).
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Giants' offense netted 487 yards (vs.
Seattle's162)
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Giants ran 79 offensive plays (Seahawks
ran 37).
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Seattle ran for 47 yards (Giants ran for
197)
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Seattle passed 23 times/ran just 14 times
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Whitehurst passed for 113 yards (average
gain per pass play 4.9 yards). He went 12 for 23.
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Seattle's net punting average was 36 ypp
(vs. 44 for the Giants)
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Seattle was penalized 9 times for 70 yards
(Giants picked up 5 penalties)
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Seattle turned the ball over 3 times (the
Giants once)
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Lynch carried 11 times for 47 yards, 2
interceptions, a TD and a 44.3 passer rating.
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Whitehurst was 12 for 23 for 113 yards.
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Butler led receivers with 3 catches (of 6
thrown to him). Williams went 2 for 8 and Stokely went 2 for
3.
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Hawthorne led Seattle tacklers with12,
followed by Trufant 9) Tatupo (9) and Balmer (8)
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K Jennings defended against 2 passes (4 or
5 others defended against 1 pass).
Meet the Seahawks
Red
= Underperforming vs. Opponent Totals.
Green
= Underperforming vs. Opponent Totals. Black =
Close to the Same as Opponent Totals. (Note - Last week's drubbing
by the Giants may have made the numbers below look a lot worse
than they would have had they not played the Giants.
|
Seahawks |
Opponents |
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS |
113 |
159 |
FIRST DOWNS
(RUSHING-PASSING-BY-PENALTY) |
32-71-10 |
46-103-10 |
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS |
38/113 |
41/119 |
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS |
3/8 |
5/11 |
TOTAL OFFENSIVE YARDS |
2,090 |
3,065 |
OFFENSE (PLAYS-AVERAGE YARDS) |
470-4.4 |
552-5.6 |
TOTAL RUSHING YARDS |
669 |
901 |
RUSHING (PLAYS-AVERAGE YARDS) |
188-3.6 |
226-4.0 |
TOTAL PASSING YARDS |
1,421 |
2,164 |
PASSING (COMP-ATT-INT-AVG) |
148-260-9-6 |
168-305-6-7.5 |
SACKS |
21.0 |
22.0 |
FIELD GOALS |
10/12 |
15/17 |
TOUCHDOWNS |
14 |
19 |
TOUCHDOWNS
(RUSHING-PASSING-RETURNS-DEFENSIVE) |
4-7-2-1 |
7-11-1-0 |
TIME OF POSSESSION |
26:44 |
33:15 |
TURNOVER RATIO |
+0 |
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Hasselbeck has a 70.8 passer rating (6
TD's/7 Picks) and has been sacked 22 times.
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Although Forsett (76 carries for 333 yds)
is the leading rusher, recently acquired Marshawn Lynch (61
for 188) now gets most of the carries.
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Mike Williams leads in receptions with 35
catches for 400 yards, 2nd best receiver is their TE (Carlson
(22 for 220).
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Obamanu and Butler lead in TD catches with
just 2 apiece.
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Mare has been perfect in FG's with the
exception of one miss inside the 30 and one inside the 50.
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Although Tate has returned 15 punts (to
Washington's 3) Leon's average punt return yardage is 22.7.
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Washington has returned 24 kickoffs for an
average of 31.4 ypr.
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Trufant and Taputo lead the defense in
tackles with 44. Right behind them are Milloy (43) and
Thomas (39).
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Clemons leads the team in sacks with 5.5
followed by Milloy and Brock, each who have 3.0.
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Thomas leads the defense with 4
interceptions (Seahawks only have a total of 6, compared to 9
by their opponents).
Quarterbacks
08
Hasselbeck, Matt
QB 6-4 225 35 12 Boston College
06 Whitehurst, Charlie
QB 6-5 225 28 5 Clemson
Hasselbeck has a 70.8 QB Rating; Whitehurst 44.3. Hasselbeck
suffered a concussion two weeks ago and didn't play against the
Giants. His replacement's (Whitehurst) performance reminded
us of the same rust/lack of game-experience we saw from
Anderson and Hall. (We don't know Hasselbeck's status for Sunday,
but are guessing he should be good to go). All we know is that when
Hasselbeck's healthy, you
know you'll have to defend against a very bright, well-grounded,
resourceful, quick-drop QB who spreads the ball around to a lot
guys and is surprisingly mobile. In the first game against us, we
failed to contain against his roll-outs and play action boots to
the right, and he killed us. However, if we get to face
Whitehurst, instead, our challenge becomes considerably less
formidable.
Running Backs
24 Lynch, Marshawn
RB 5-11 215 24 4 California 20 Forsett, Justin
RB 5-8 198 24 3 California 33
Washington, Leon RB 5-8 203 28 5 Florida State
26 Robinson, Michael
FB 6-1 223 27 5 Penn State
In our first game, Lynch (in his second game since arriving from
Buffalo) flat-out pounded us. Our guys simply looked as though
they were on roller skates trying to bring him down. Washington's
forte is primarily the return game, but that doesn't mean he
wouldn't be dangerous lined up in the backfield. Forsett is
getting used to being the backup RB and is solid in that role.
Wide Receivers
11 Butler, Deon
WR 5-10 182 24 2 Penn State
15
Stokley, Brandon WR 6-0 192 34 12 Southwestern La. xx Martin,
Ruvel, WR (No info from roster)
17 Williams, Mike WR 6-5 235 26 4 USC
87 Obomanu, Benjamin
WR 6-1 204 26 5 Auburn
81 Tate, Golden
WR 5-10 202 22 R Notre Dame
We had humongousd problems covering Mike Williams - he simply
out-physicalled our CB's. He leads all Seattle receivers with 35
grabs for 400 yards. Butler is 3rd in catches (behind the TE
Carlson) with 19 catches for 180 yards and playing at a high
level. While not quite the receiver he was in Indy, Stokely
provides veteran clutch stability. Obamanu a TD pass last week. We
had Tate near the top of our draft list this past Spring.
Tight Ends
89
Carlson, John TE 6-5 251 26 3 Notre Dame
86 Baker, Chris
TE 6-3 261 30 9 Michigan State
88
Morrah, Cameron TE 6-3 251 23 2 California
85 McCoy, Anthony
TE 6-5 259 22 R USC
Carlson is emerging as one of the best receiving TE's in the
league (2nd among Seattle receivers with 22 catches for 240
yards). He presents another receiving option for our LB's and DB's
to keep track of. We were impressed by Morrah prior to the draft a couple of
years ago. McCoy is said to be one of those USC guys Carroll knows
more than a little about.
Offensive Line
76 Okung, Russell
LT 6-5 310 23 R
Oklahoma State
78
Polumbus, Tyler T 6-8 300 25 3 Colorado 69
Pitts, Chester LG 6-4 308 31 9 San Diego State
64
Gibson, Mike G 6-3 298 24 3 California
67
Barbre, Allen T/G 6-4 300 26 4 Missouri Southern
65
Spencer, Chris C 6-3 309 28 6 Mississippi
xx White, Chris C (no info from roster)
77
Andrews, Stacy RG 6-7 340 29 7 Mississippi
75
Locklear, Sean
RT 6-4 310 29 7 North Carolina State
Little change in the starters since our last game with them.Okung was a top draft pick and, for a rookie, gets to start
(at a position carrying a huge responsibility). Former guard
Locklear holds down the right bookend spot. Andrews and
Spencer were hightly regarded when they were drafted. Pitts
returns from injury. These are the guys who determine how well
guys like Forsett, Lynch and Washington can run and whether or
not Hasselbeck remains upright. (Note - Hasselbeck's been
sacked 22 times and Seattle runners are averaging 3.6 yards
per carry).
1
Defensive Line
91 Clemons, Chris LDE 6-3 254 28 7
Georgia
98
Brock, Raheem DE 6-4 274 32 9 Temple
58
Davis, Dexter DE 6-1 244 23 R Arizona State
92
Mebane, Brandon LDT 6-1 311 25 4
California
94
Siavii, Junior DT 6-5 315 31 5 Oregon
90 Cole, Colin RDT 6-2 328 30 8 Iowa
93
Terrill, Craig DT 6-2 296 30 7 Purdue 73 Okam, Frank DT 6-5
350 3 Texas 95
Balmer, Kentwan RDE 6-5 315 23 3 North Carolina
97
Wilson, E.J. DE 6-2 289 22 R North Carolina 99 Jay
Richardson DE, 6-6 280
Seahawks employ a 4-man front, but ,man the right side with
Balme who - at 315 lbs more in line with those big 3-4 type DE's.
As pass rushers, Clemons and Brock can bring it. Mebane,
Siavi, Okam and Balmer bring
toughness. Clemons leads the team in sacks with 5½. Brock is
3rd with 3.0
Linebacker
57 Hawthorne, David
OLB1 6-0 246 25 3 Texas Christian
54 Herring, Will
LB 6-3 241 27 4 Auburn
51
Tatupu, Lofa
MLB 6-0 250 27 6 USC
59
Curry, Aaron OLB2 6-2 255 24 2 Wake Forest
52
McCoy, Matt OLB 6-0 232 27 6 San Diego State
Their front-line LB's (Hawthorne, Taputo
and Curry) are world class but - with just 5 guys on this
unit, they're just one or two injuries away from disaster.
Tatupo is always close to the top of the team in tackles. Curry is an emerging
superstar.
Secondary
23 Trufant, Marcus LCB 5-11 197 29 8
Washington State
28
Thurmond, Walter DB 5-11 190 23 R Oregon 39
Cox, Kennard DB 6-0 191 25 1 Pittsburgh 21
Jennings, Kelly CB 5-11 180 27 5
Miami
34
Lewis, Roy CB 5-10 190 25 3 Washington 36
Milloy, Lawyer SS 6-0 211 36 15
Washington 31
Chancellor, Kam DB 6-3 232 22 R Virginia Tech
29 Thomas, Earl FS 5-10 202 21 R
Texas 27
Babineaux, Jordan FS 6-0 210 28 7 Southern Arkansas
Seattle is solid at the corners (with Trufant and Jennings),
have a 15-year veteran (Milloy) paired with a playmaking
rookie (Thomas) - who leads the team in interceptions
with 4 - at the safeties. Rookie phenom Thomas leads
the team in picks. Lewis and Babineaux provide
solid depth. Rookie, Chancellor has LB size. Milloy is tied
for 2nd on the team with 3 sacks.Trufant is tied with Tatupo
for most total tackles with 44 (followed by Malloy
and (42) and Thomas and another LB (Hawthorne) follow with 39.
Special Teams
10 Mare, Olindo K 5-11 192 37 15
Syracuse 49 Gresham, Clint LS 6-3 240 24 R
Texas Christian
09 Ryan, Jon P 6-0 217 28 5 Regina 33 Washington, Leon
KR/PR/RB 5-8 203 28 5
Florida State
Mare is a dependible veteran who's only missed 2 FG's (one
outside the 50 and one for two outside the 40).. We're not sure how Ryan stacks up
against other punters in the league, but it could be argued
that his position-punting is as good as it gets.
Washington is the most dangerous kick returner in pro
football. Although Washington is listed on the depth chart as
both PR and KR, Golden Tate leads the team with 14 returns
(but Washington's 19.5 ypr average compare's favorably to
Tate's 11.5) Seahawk coverage teams are as iffy as their return
teams are good.
Coaching Staff
Pete Carroll
Head Coach
Jeremy Bates
Offensive
Coordinator
Casey Bradley
Defensive Coordinator
Brian Schneider
Special Teams Coordinator
Carroll is the darling of the media, as he
runs up and down the sideline, patting players on the tush and
shouting words of encouragement. He certainly has USC creds to
go with an earlier stretch of coaching in the pros. The MO
Carroll exhibited in the Chicago game seems to highly
respect (a) field position, (b) special teams and (c)
take-aways. We're impressed with the production he's been able
to get out of Mike Williams (i.e. great at USC under Carroll;
awful in his early years as a pro; lighting things up once
reunited with his old college coach)
Cardinal Roster
QB - 03
Anderson,06 Hall, 19 Skelton,
Assuming he doesn't regress, Anderson
seems to have reached the point where he's making conscious
decisions not to risk a bunch of turnovers, and when he remains
under control, the team can win more than its share of victories.
Unfortunately, he has not yet demonstrated that he has progressed
to a point where he can perform in clutch situations - to come
from behind or preserve a lead. When under pressure, he has no
sense of "where daylight is" and too often will step on or back
into a blocker and take unecessary sacks. It's pretty evident now
that Hall (despite his poise and smarts) isn't yet ready for prime
time and may lack enough size and arm strength to ever be more
than a marginal backup.
RB -
34 Hightower, 31 Wright, 36 Stephens-Howling (KR/PR),
26, Wells
Hightower's ratio of big plays to miscues
isn't as good as it needs to be. He'll still make bad
cutting-decisions in the hole and his drop of a quick pass in the
flat prevented us from picking up a critical first down that would
have moved us out of the shadow of our end zone and probably
preserved a win over the Vikings. He is, however, considered a
better pass blocker than Beanie Wells. Beanie has been nicked up
of late and, although he could have handled more action last week,
was held out by Wiz due to "game conditions." The big surprise of
this group has been Stephens-Howling, but mostly in the return
game. Still, he appears to have earned more touches from scrimmage
as the season has progressed.
FB - 45 Mau'ia
Seems to be doing OK as a lead blocker,
but given our anemic yardage in the run game and use of of
one-back sets, it's hard to get much of a line on Mau'ia..
WR -
15 Breaston, 12
Roberts, 80
Doucet,
WR -11 Fitzgerald,
18 Komar,
14 S Williams,
Fitz and Anderson are finally
looking more comfortable with one another. Breaston's return has
helped our passing attack for two reasons: (1) the added presence
of Breaston as a weapon and (2) less doubling of Fitz. Doucet is
back, but is usually only good for one or two catches. Roberts had
his first TD last week off a nifty 30-yard broken field catch &
run. Williams and Komar have kind of faded into the sunset.
TE - 89 Patrick,
83 Spach,
81
Dray
Patrick's penalty on the first play of the
opening drive in Minnesota was not exactly what you'd call a
momentum-builder. Spach and Dray each had nice clutch grabs in
Minnesota game.
LT- 75 L Brown,
73
Bridges
LG-
66
Faneca, 70 Hadnot
OC- 63Sendlein,
(70 Hadnot),
62
Claxton,
RG-
76
Lutui
RT
72 Keith
We don't set very high
standards for this unit -When they're able to keep pass rushers
off our QB's, we're ecstatic. But they don't run block very well,
and even though our QB's generally remain upright, they usually
face sufficient pressure to force them to make decisions and pull
the trigger earlier than the play calls for. One other unnerving
observation - too often we see Keith standing around at the second
level near the end of a play instead of finishing his blocksd or
seeking out someone else to hit.
DE - 93
Campbell
NT - 97 B Robinson,
92 D Williams, 98 Watson,
DT - 90 Dockett, 78 Branch
Better than decent on paper, but they have occasionally been
pushed around more than they should be. There's too much
inconsistency anchoring the edge and containing QB's who roll out
(either right or left). Dockett played his guts out last Sunday
(it seemed to be his ribs) and was down on the field at least two
or three times; yet he always came back. Iwebema may be done for
the season. Either Campbell is fighting nagging injuries or other
teams have figured him out (He may have to adjust to their
adjustments). Branch has been the most pleasant surprise of the
Front Seven, but we'd like to see the occasional big play turn
into something big on every down.
OLB1 - 55 Porter
ILB
51
Lenon,
52 Obiozor
ILB-
58 D Washington,
56 Walker,
OLB2
59
W Davis, 50 Schofield,
-
53
Haggans,
Porter had his best day as a Cardinal pass
rusher last week. Lenon (who was also injured) got picked on in
coverage by Favre. Haggans (injury) didn't play last week.
Schofield saw significant action for the first time since coming
off a major injury in his rookie year. He immediately made his
presence felt by stripping the ball on special teams to set up
Adams' TD. Washington's play has ranged from steady to spectacular
from game to game, but we're hoping to see more spectacular and
less steady as we move along in the season.
RCB -
28 Toler,
MacDonald,
37 McBride,
LCB-
29 Rodgers-Cromartie,
27 Adams
SS- 24 Wilson,
22
Ware,
41 Abdullah,
40
Tillman
FS- 25 Rhodes,
49
Rash Johnson
OurFavre picked this unit apart - especially during the 4Q and
Overtime last Sunday. It's hard to know if this was due to
individual players or coverage schemes. (Or, perhaps, it might
have been due to the lights-out play of Favre who was plain and
simple "on-fire"). We would have liked to see a little bit more
production from DRC and Toler. Michael Adams is playing at an
extremely high level within the context of filling the specialized
roles he's asked to fill. (i.e. he'd be likely overmatched as a
starting corner, but confined to a nickel or dime role, he's
playing at a Pro Bowl level).
K-04
Feely P- 05 B
Graham,
H - 05 B Graham
LS-
82 Leach
KR -
37Stephens-Howling
PR -
12 Roberts, 18
Komar, 15 Breaston,
37Stephens-Howling
Feely is reliable. Graham
had an uncharacteristically bad game last Sunday. (Til that point,
he had become close-to-legendary for dropping punts inside the 10 - 15). LSH
continues to solidify his reputation for being the real deal when it
comes to long KR returns. Roberts continues to look more and more
solid as a punt returner.
Cardinals
vs. Seattle Matchups
Injuries:
Cardinals:
DNP: TBA LP:
TBA Probable: TBA
Seattle:
DNP: TBA . LP: TBA . Probable: TBA .
Seattle Passing Attack
vs. Cardinal Pass Defense
It's unclear whether Hasselbeck (concussion) will be ready to
come back or whether we'll face Whitehurst (who seemed to be
suffering from the same rust/lack of action problems that we've
seen from Hall and Anderson). Hasselbeck, when healthy is efficient in the short game. While
no speedster, he's nimble-footed and killed us last game with naked
boots/waggles. (At the very least, it buys him extra time to
locate open receivers). He likes to spread
the ball around, and Seattle has a multiplicity of targets -
including Mike Williams, Golden Tate and Stokely at WR, Carlson
(second most catches) at TE and both Lynch and Forsett coming out
of the backfield. This
sort of multi-pronged passing attack had given the Cardinal
defense the most trouble (though they did solve it briefly vs. NO).
In the past, Cards have discovered that, if Hasselbeck has to face
constant pressure back there, he can be contained, but they were
unable to do so in their first game.
Toler struggled against Berrian last week and
will have his hands full again vs. the big and physical Williams. It will be up to Adrian Wilson, Kerry Rhodes and Cardinal LB's to
keep Carlson and Lynch (or Forsett) in check. Wilson has been
successfully challenge one-on-one at times this year. Someone on either
edge must be responsible for making certain they're in
Hasselbeck's face when he runs boots or escapes the pocket. (This
did not happen in Game #1 and we paid).
Seattle Running Attack vs.
Cardinal Run Defense Cards could not stop the
physical running of Lynch in the first game. They'd better man-up
and challenge him square-up or Sunday will be a long day. Facing Hasselbeck, there will
be a natural tension created between containing the run and
covering Hasselbeck and Seahawk receivers.
Cardinal Passing Attack
vs. Seattle
Pass Defense Anderson showed vs. Minnesotathe
ability to learn - he was more inclined to throw the ball away
than to risk interceptions by forcing the ball through overly
tight windows. He's far from being a compleat QB (he'll
occasionally throw directly at a defender - like the near pick at
the beginning of the Viking game - get clumsy-footed when
pressured and too often throws 2 or 3 yards short of the
first-down marker on third downs) but he and Fitzgerald did look
somewhat more compatable and Breaston's return has made a huge
difference as well.
Anderson and his receivers will be going up
against a top-notch Seattle secondary that knows how disrupt
routes and harass receivers thru tight coverage. Trufant and
Jenkins are top-notch corners. Milloy is both cagey and
hard-hitting. Thomas (with 4 interceptions and a leading tackler)
is definitely a candidate for Rookie of the Year.While not known
for being sack-masters, the Seattle pass rushers (21 sacks) can
still get after it .
Cardinal Running Attack
vs. Seattle
Run Defense Seattle's run defense has given
up 901 yards so far (4.0 ypc average). Yet they did hold
Chicago to 61 yards rushing (31 of which came from Chester
Taylor). Given the Seahawk strength covering passes, this might be
the right time for the Cardinals to finally unleash some
semblance of a running attack.
The Cardinal run-game has been spotty - not only
game to game but play to play. Sometimes, Hightower, Wells or LSH
will spring for sizable gains. But more often they'll run into
non-existant holes or get caught in the backfield by backside
tacklers.
We've been consistent in advocating enough
Cardinal running plays - whether successful or not - to keep enemy
pass rushers honest. But in this game, our guys may have to
frequently and consistently pick up significant yardage in order
to beat the Seahawks.
Special Teams
Both teams excel in the return game ( L Washington vs. LSH).
Both have excellent position punters in Graham and Ryan. Both have
reliable kickers in Feely and Mare. We might have a slight edge in
punt coverage.
Final Word
Welcome to a cat fight for NFC West supremacy. Seattle and the
Rams are 4 & 4. The Cardinals are 3 & 5. (SF is 2 & 6). So far,
none of the four teams has separated itself from the rest of the
pack - all have demonstrated the ability to play well enough to
win and also to totally suck. It figures to be that way for the
rest of the season. I truly believe that the Cardinals - even with
Anderson (with all his flaws) at QB - has the most talent and
depth of any of the four teams; yet each game (and the entire
season) figures to all boil down to "mind set." Which of the four
teams will play the most mistake-free football? Which will display
the most poise. Which will be the most resiliant at overcoming
adversity? Which will never give up? Which will keep playing hard
through the last whistle?
Who wants it most?
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