The Seattle Seahawks (5-4) were in full practice mode Wednesday as they set their sights on the Klint Kubiak-led Las Vegas Raiders (4-5). The Seahawks are looking to win a second consecutive game for just the second time this season. Head coach Mike Macdonald and his coaching staff are hoping last week’s 17-3 win over the Arizona Cardinals was the start of the team turning a corner, finding its identity, and playing Seahawks football.
“ There were some situational things that I felt helped us win the game. There were a lot of details where I felt like, ‘Could we be further along at this point in the year? Yeah,’ said Macdonald. “ Should we be? Yes, but also, it’s an area of excitement to know that if we improve on those things, the return will be great.’ I think it’s also a nod to how I told our team today that the margins in our world are very small.”
ONE FAMILIAR FOE
Those small margins will be tested when the Seahawks line up against a team led by former Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak. When Kubiak left the Seahawks for the Raiders, he naturally took his offense with him.
“There are a lot of parallels. To their credit, they’ve evolved. They’re building it around the people that they have, and they’re doing it at a high level,” said Macdonald. “I respect how they operate, obviously, and they have great people and good players. They’re moving the ball and putting up a lot of points. “
UNKNOWN ENTITY
In addition to facing Kubiak, the Seahawks will face an unknown NFL entity: rookie quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. While Mendoza’s exploits are known on the college level, Sunday will mark his first NFL start.
“I think we have to do a great job of understanding how they operate and, by situation, probably at their core. It’s one of the things that you talk about at the beginning of the season too, where you want to use the information available to you. Still, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket on what’s going to happen or how you think the quarterback is going to play,’ said Macdonald. “It wouldn’t be wise. Obviously, we are going to watch his plays and lean on the information we had from coming out of the draft process and put our best foot forward.”
The Raiders traded starting quarterback Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings on November 10, the last day of the trade deadline. The Raiders offense had a potent passing game with Cousins before his departure. Las Vegas was averaging 259 yards per game, ranking them 5th in the league. Before his departure, Cousins completed 202 of 315 pass attempts for 2,340 yards, 20 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.
While he is green and new to the NFL, Cousins has a good arm and quick feet that can test the Seahawks’ defense if he is allowed to dance around in the pocket and find time to complete passes downfield. TE Brock Bowers is the Raiders’ leading receiver with 48 receptions for 658 yards and six touchdowns. Wideout Tre Tucker has 33 receptions for 529 yards and four touchdowns.
Both players are making big catches downfield. Tucker is averaging 16.0 yards per catch, and Bowers is slightly behind him at 13.7 yards per catch.
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