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- #1
blstoker
Bill Bergen for HoF!
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- Joined
- Apr 17, 2013
- Location
- WA
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- $ 9,816.00
- Fav. Team #1
- Fav. Team #2
- Fav. Team #3
Positives
CLink - There has been so much chatter about how the crowd doesn't matter, and that the home field advantage isn't really that much of an advantage, One TH actually said that the advantage is now New Orleans' because they've now been there before, tell SF how that is supposed to work.
Turnovers - The Seahawks are #1 in the NFL in takeaways, including 15 games with at least 1 and 12 with 2 or more, while the Saints are ranked 29th in takeaways and have only 4 over their last 10 games. Seattle also has a +20 TO dif. while NO was even. With the weather looking to be pretty nasty, turnovers could come more often than the game earlier this season, which had 1.
Percy Harvin - No matter how healthy he really is, he's a weapon that has to be accounted for. The last time the two teams met, NO actually ran defenses with 9 in the box on several occasions and were almost always in sets with 8 in the box. Putting a weapon that should be feared outside will either force Ryan to soften the running lanes for Lynch or risk being burned again like he was several times last time.
Injuries - The Saints have been very unlucky when it comes to injuries, including 4 guys who were starters on defense (and one free agent that could've been a starter but was IRed before the season). Their top CB and their SS are both gone, as is their best run defender. Seattle has only one significant injury, and Malcolm Smith has been playing pretty well in Wright's absence.
Bobby Wagner - Wagner has been unreal the last few games. He has once again emerged as the best LB on the team (after a horrible showing the few games after his injury) and he has been all over the field. He's gonna be a huge part of the game plan that will shut down the Saints running game. The big advantage the Hawks D has against high power offenses is the speed and skill of their LBs.
Negatives
Drew Brees - As good as Brees has been in the regular season throughout his career, he's been even better in the playoffs with a career 101.9 qb rating. I don't see him getting his playoff average of 323 yards passing, but the defense is gonna have to force him into mistakes (even in his losses, he's got a 10-4 TD/INT ratio).
13-12 - In the previous 25 times that a playoff game was between teams that met in the regular season where one team beat the other by 27 or more, the team that won the blowout only won 13 of those meetings.
Stalled - Seattle's offense has been struggling since their 34-7 drubbing of New Orleans. Bevell has been calling a much more conservative game plan since then, possibly to make it more difficult for playoff teams to know what Seattle will actually come out with in the playoffs. Whether that's true or not, the offense needs to click more than they have been, you just can't get 4 turnovers at home and still lose (like they did against Arizona).
Sproles & Graham - Last game, the Hawks held Sproles and Graham pretty much in check (3-11; 10-72-1), and they will need to do that again this time. Brees loves throwing to his TEs and RBs, and if they weather is bad enough, it could make it difficult to throw the ball downfield.
Penalties - These have been a huge issues during Carroll's entire tenure, and it's been harped on over and over. The Seahawks need to clean them up and not make it easier for the Saints to keep the game competitive.
Overview
This game is it. There isn't anything after this, and no matter how badly the Hawks won the last matchup, it's this one that matters. If they don't win this, they get to watch the rest of the season from the tvs. The talking heads, though a majority still pick Seattle, seem to think that the Seahawks peeked during that last matchup, and if they want to play for a Super Bowl they are going to have to prove them wrong. After that last New Orleans game, I claimed that I feared no one with this team, and I still don't. They have to leave it all on the field.
CLink - There has been so much chatter about how the crowd doesn't matter, and that the home field advantage isn't really that much of an advantage, One TH actually said that the advantage is now New Orleans' because they've now been there before, tell SF how that is supposed to work.
Turnovers - The Seahawks are #1 in the NFL in takeaways, including 15 games with at least 1 and 12 with 2 or more, while the Saints are ranked 29th in takeaways and have only 4 over their last 10 games. Seattle also has a +20 TO dif. while NO was even. With the weather looking to be pretty nasty, turnovers could come more often than the game earlier this season, which had 1.
Percy Harvin - No matter how healthy he really is, he's a weapon that has to be accounted for. The last time the two teams met, NO actually ran defenses with 9 in the box on several occasions and were almost always in sets with 8 in the box. Putting a weapon that should be feared outside will either force Ryan to soften the running lanes for Lynch or risk being burned again like he was several times last time.
Injuries - The Saints have been very unlucky when it comes to injuries, including 4 guys who were starters on defense (and one free agent that could've been a starter but was IRed before the season). Their top CB and their SS are both gone, as is their best run defender. Seattle has only one significant injury, and Malcolm Smith has been playing pretty well in Wright's absence.
Bobby Wagner - Wagner has been unreal the last few games. He has once again emerged as the best LB on the team (after a horrible showing the few games after his injury) and he has been all over the field. He's gonna be a huge part of the game plan that will shut down the Saints running game. The big advantage the Hawks D has against high power offenses is the speed and skill of their LBs.
Negatives
Drew Brees - As good as Brees has been in the regular season throughout his career, he's been even better in the playoffs with a career 101.9 qb rating. I don't see him getting his playoff average of 323 yards passing, but the defense is gonna have to force him into mistakes (even in his losses, he's got a 10-4 TD/INT ratio).
13-12 - In the previous 25 times that a playoff game was between teams that met in the regular season where one team beat the other by 27 or more, the team that won the blowout only won 13 of those meetings.
Stalled - Seattle's offense has been struggling since their 34-7 drubbing of New Orleans. Bevell has been calling a much more conservative game plan since then, possibly to make it more difficult for playoff teams to know what Seattle will actually come out with in the playoffs. Whether that's true or not, the offense needs to click more than they have been, you just can't get 4 turnovers at home and still lose (like they did against Arizona).
Sproles & Graham - Last game, the Hawks held Sproles and Graham pretty much in check (3-11; 10-72-1), and they will need to do that again this time. Brees loves throwing to his TEs and RBs, and if they weather is bad enough, it could make it difficult to throw the ball downfield.
Penalties - These have been a huge issues during Carroll's entire tenure, and it's been harped on over and over. The Seahawks need to clean them up and not make it easier for the Saints to keep the game competitive.
Overview
This game is it. There isn't anything after this, and no matter how badly the Hawks won the last matchup, it's this one that matters. If they don't win this, they get to watch the rest of the season from the tvs. The talking heads, though a majority still pick Seattle, seem to think that the Seahawks peeked during that last matchup, and if they want to play for a Super Bowl they are going to have to prove them wrong. After that last New Orleans game, I claimed that I feared no one with this team, and I still don't. They have to leave it all on the field.
