The Seattle Seahawks are back home Sunday afternoon and hoping some home cooking and a hostile 12’s Nation can help them get back on the winning track. The Hawks will host the 3-7 Las Vegas Raiders who have underperformed for much of the season but are coming off a big 22- 20 OT win over the Denver Broncos. The win over the Broncos snapped a three-game losing skid for the Raiders.
CAN THE SEAHAWKS STOP JOSH JACOBS?
The Raiders no doubt watched the tape of the Seahawks game versus Tampa Bay and saw the Buccaneer’s Rachaad White ramble for 105 yards on 22 carries against a porous Seahawks defense. The Seahawk’s defense will need to fix its run fits and poor tackling on Sunday.
Raiders running back Josh Jacobs has rushed for 903 yards and seven touchdowns and is averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Las Vegas’ 4.8 yards per rush ranks tied for seventh in the NFL. Against the Buccaneers Carroll and DC Clint Hurtt used a four-man front instead of the team’s customary five-person personal. The move was to offset Brady’s quick release. While he is no Tom Brady Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is just as savvy and dangerous.
The Seahawk’s front line will need to create a wall so Jacobs has nowhere to run and at the same time, the linebackers and edger rushers will need to be disciplined and sound when filling in lanes to plug up holes to contain Jacobs.
Everybody has a responsibility in it, whether it’s a defensive lineman taking on a double team and staying in their gap, or a linebacker and how he takes on a lead blocker or scraping over the top of a gap scheme on a power or counter and fitting that thing correctly so that you don’t get spaces and seams within a defense. Everyone can have a hand in that when that stuff starts to happen when you hear me talk about run fits. You have to make sure that you never have two guys in the same gap because then obviously you are short in some place and then that’s where seams end up happening. That’s what I am referring to when I am talking about run fits.
Seahawks DC Clint Hurtt on defensive improvements needed to improve the run defense
DAVANTE ADAMS VS TARIQ WOOLEN
Each week Tariq Woolen has been matched up against the other team’s premier receiver during the game. While he has struggled early in the season Woolen has risen to the top of the best defensive backs in the league. His 5 interceptions are second in the NFL and Woolen was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month. The Raiders Davante Adams could be the best receiver Woolen has seen.
In Week 11, WR Davante Adams reached 9,046 career receiving yards – his 126th career game. He has become just the fifth player in NFL history to record 9,000+ receiving yards and 80+ receiving touchdowns in their first 126 career games, joining four Hall of Fame receivers as the only players in NFL history to accomplish the feat.
Adams lead the Raiders with 64 receptions for 925 yards ad 10 touchdowns and his averaging 14.5 yards per reception.
“The guy can do everything. He plays big at the top of the route. He can run all the option routes. He’s a 6’2” guy, but he runs the option routes like he is 5’9”, 5’10”. It is unbelievable getting in and out of breaks for a guy that large. He’s really good at playing with late hands. You see a lot of receivers when they’re transitioning, the ball is in the air, and they already have their hands out. For a defensive backs, they know to go play hand-to-hand to get the ball out. For him, you’re running in phase with him, he kind of sees it, but at the last minute, he gets the ball. It’s hard, so now the defensive backs don’t have a chance to poke and get the ball out. He’s a very savvy football player and is dynamic after the catch. He can make you miss. The guy can do it all. He’s a really good, all-around receiver.”
Seahawsk Dc Clint Hurtt on the dificult task of stopping Raider Devante Adams
Adams is a five-time Pro Bowler (2017-21) and two-time Associated Press All-Pro First Team selection (2020-21), has appeared in 116 games with 109 starts, recording 669 receptions for 8,121 yards with 73 TDs
Woolen will get some help so he won’t be playing Adams, man, up the whole game but there is no doubt the Raiders will test him early and often. The key will be the Seahawk’s ability to create a pass rush and put pressure on Carr.
CAN THE SEAHAWKS FIND THEIR RUN GAME
Against the Buccaneers the Seahawk ground game came to a standstill. The team rushed for just 39 total yards with quarterback Geno Smith accounting for 22 of those yards. If doing the math running back Kenneth Walker had just 17 yards. With no ground game, the Seahawks were chasing the chains all game long and converted just 1 of 9 third-day attempts. The Raider’s defense is giving up 122.9 yards per game which is 20th in the league.
If the Seahawks are able to break the century mark their chances of winning will skyrocket.
To do that the line will need to get off its blocks and knock the Raider’s D line around. The coaching staff will in turn need to stick to the run and not abandon it if the Oline struggles early in the game.
I think from this past game there, just grinding away. We have had some success in the second half of games where it’s not always easy, again, every defense that we are going against has great players, stout players up front, stout inside, fast linebackers, so just finding the way to stay with it, stay with the run game, and then eventually at the end of the game like the Arizona game or the Chargers game, the fourth quarter runs really start to come through. It’s really that toughness, that effort, and that ability to finish through four quarters, that’s really the main part of the run game.
If we can get ourselves in a situation where we are playing even or ahead, then the run game becomes more and more important leaning on that in the second half. Unfortunately, when you do get behind in the game because we weren’t good enough on offense in the first half, you find yourself in that trailing position right there and you’re trying to figure out ways to really throw your way back into the game.
OC Shane Waldon on the Seahawks run game improvements
- Mariners end losing streak with solid 4-1 win versus Padres
- Loyd’s 37 points not enough to lead Storm over Sparks
- Kraken extend GM Ron Francis contract
- Mariners lose finale 12-3 as Rangers complete series sweep
- Mariners avoid serious injury with shortstop J.P. Crawford
