The Seattle Seahawks (1-0) put the finishing touches on their last practice at the VMAC Friday afternoon, quickly grabbed their gear and hopped on the teams charter flight to Pittsburgh to take on the 0-1 Steelers. The Hawks are looking to start the season 2-0 while the Steelers will no doubt be looking to play the role of rude hosts after their 33-3 loss at New England.
INJURY REPORT NOTABLES
The biggest news coming out of the injury report is that Defensive Tackle Poona Ford ( calf), and Safety Tedric Thompson ( Hamstring ) will likely miss the game due to injuries. . While Center Joey Hunt, WR David Moore ( shoulder), and CB Neiko Thorpe will also miss the contest , the absence of Thompson and Ford will have a major impact on the defense. In the Hawks win over the Bengals Thompson participated in the defenses 75 snaps while Ford participated in 42 defensive snaps (56%). Thompson had three tackles while Ford finished the game with two. Thompson’s absence will mean Bradley McDougald will shift to free safety and Lano Hill step into the Strong Safety spot.
The good news for the Seahawks is that DE Ziggy Ansah’s shoulder is strong enough for him to participate after sitting out the last weeks season opener. Quinton Jefferson‘s play in the Cincinnati win is another bright spot going into the Steelers game. Jefferson had his best game as a Seahawk recording six tackles and two sacks.
TEAM COMPARISONS
HEAD TO HEAD COMPARISON
| 2018 Regular Season | SEAHAWKS | STEELERS |
| Record | 1-0 | 0-1 |
| Total Yards Gained | 233 | 308 |
| Total Offense ( NFL Ranks) | 233.0 (29) | 308(24) |
| Rush Offense | 72.0 (25) | 32.0 (30) |
| Pass Offense | 161.0 (29) | 276.0 (13) |
| Points Per Game | 21.0(20) | 3.0 (T31) |
| Total Yards Allowed | 429 | 465 |
| Total Defense | 429.0 (23) | 465(26) |
| Rush Defense | 34.0(4) | 99.0(15) |
| Pass Defense | 395.0 (31) | 366.0(27) |
| Points Allowed/Game | 20.0(12) | 33.0(28) |
| Possession Avg | 24:10 | 27:27 |
| Sacked /Yds. Lost | 4/35 | 1/0 |
| Sacks Made/Yds. Lost | 5/23 | 1/7 |
| Interceptions By | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties/ Yds | 8/55 | 6/54 |
| Punts/Avg | 8/47.0 | 5/45.6 |
| Turnover Differential | +2(T5) | -1(T20) |
INJURY REPORT
CARROLL QUOTES
(On how Ziggy Ansah made it through the week)
“He practiced all week long. He did all right. He practiced all week. He wasn’t limited at all. At this point, he’s almost there. He may be there, we’ll find out. See if we can get him to play this week. He’s getting really close. If he doesn’t go this week, he certainly has a great chance for next week.”
(On Bryan Mone playing a lot in last week’s game)“Yeah, really he’s just in the rotation and we’re not going to think twice about him playing in any of the situations we like him in. He’s done well. He’s doing a great job really to be that far along right now. We trust him that much.”
(On Mike Iupati) “Mike had a really good week. He was able to take the workload and Mike’s got a great chance to play in this game.”
(On if he’ll return at the left guard spot) “He’s done that.”
(On how L.J collier has bounced back)“L.J. is back. He’s ready to play in this game if we want to put him up, he can go. He had a great week and that’s a real good return for him. He worked really hard. He maintained his conditioning through the rehab. He looked really well conditioned in the practice, wasn’t overburdening him at all. In our mind, he can play, and we just have to wait and see what the rotation would be if we put him up.”
(On when he adopted the plan to leave two days early for the game and why he thinks it works)“It’s more a San Francisco 49ers thing from Coach [Bill] Walsh way back when. We did it for years in college as well and we’ve just done it forever. We have a real good feel for how that works. It allows us, where some teams go and they stay on the road and all that, we don’t have to do that to get acclimated. Our players prefer going on two-day trips. If we had a trip that’s like some of the shorter trips we can take, they’d rather go two days than one day because they like the rhythm of it. It’s worked out well.”
(On Shaquill Griffin’s weight loss and if they noticed he needed to lose weight last year)“Let’s just say it this way. He reported in great shape, both the brothers did. They worked extra hard. They adjusted their diet. Their sculpted differently than they were last time around to the benefit, totally. Shaq looks great. He’s had terrific play so far out there. His confidence is really there and all of that. He feels great about his ability to make the plays he’s trying to make. It’s all added to just a really great mentality for him.”
(On when he realized Marquise had the skill set to play free safety too)“Well, he did in college and he did both. They moved him later in the year and played the lot early. So, we’d seen him do everything and we just worked with him and felt like he had the flexibility to do it. The variety of stuff that you do back there is a little less and so it helps a young guy some. We know that he’s a runner and a hitter and so we just want to make sure that we give him he’s best chance to be out there and to contribute and feel confident in what he’s doing and all that, we thought this would be the best way to do that.”
(On if Lano can play both as well)“Yeah. Probably as well.”
(On if Marquise can play there on Sunday)“He could, yes. Our confidence in him is growing because he’s back out here and we know that he’s well and all that. He’s been a big factor on special teams because he’s a really good ball player. It’s just a matter of time before he works his way in. We don’t need to rush it. We’re in good shape and we like playing with the experience when you can and so guys that have been around this are a little bit ahead of him. It’s not that he can’t play. He can definitely ball for us and so it’s just a matter of time.”
(On how Jamar Taylor transitioned back in on defense)“He did really well. Obviously, he has fresh legs and all that, the benefit of that. He’s a really smart kid, he didn’t miss a beat coming back to us, so he’s ready to play.”
(On David Moore returning to practice)“David [Moore] did practice, David practiced really well. Next week’s a really big week for him. He has a chance to come back to us. He won’t make it this week but, he has a chance next week to come out and play for us. He looked great; he feels really good. Like we said all along, he’s going to feel better than the tests show but, the scans that he had this week really gave us an optimistic thought that he has a chance next week.”
The Seahawks always are a force to be reconned with. #GoHawks