Seahawks on Cruise Control Entering Green Bay
Funny how things change.
Just three or four weeks ago, the universally-perceived-as-unstoppable NFL juggernaut resided in a midwestern town known previously as the mecca of amateur sports and the beloved hometown of late-night television smart-aleck David Letterman.
Just a month later, following a pair of one-sided losses and a stunning bout of off-field tragedy, that center of gridiron power has shifted west across two time zones to find itself squarely in the home of month-long rainstorms and pretentiously-slurped exotic coffees.
The Seattle Seahawks, conquerors of the Colts last week and the winners of 12 straight games overall, ride into the final week of the regular season as the perceived superior among the two teams boasting 13 wins and the nine others with 10 or more victories.
And, perhaps more so than their Indianapolis counterparts who have a longer - albeit not necessarily trophy-crowded - playoff pedigree with the current roster, maintaining the momentum through the final week could be of major importance to a Seahawks team still looking to prove itself.
Across the field they'll face the Green Bay Packers, seeking to end the nightmare of a three-win season and suddenly in the early stages of turmoil relating to the future of quarterback Brett Favre, who made noise in a recent interview by inferring that he felt unwanted by the organization.
Working with a largely no-name complement of teammates after a torrent of injuries, Favre has thrown a career-high 28 interceptions while at times single-handedly trying to make plays that would help resurrect the season and make up for a backfield that's bereft of viable run options.
SERIES HISTORY
Green Bay owns a 5-4 lead in its all-time regular season series with Seattle, and was a 35-13 home winner when the teams last met, in 2003. The Seahawks last defeated the Packers in 1999, when the prevailed at Lambeau Field by a 27-7 count.
In addition to the regular season series, the teams have faced off once in the playoffs, with Green Bay winning a 33-27 overtime matchup in a 2003 NFC First- Round Playoff.
Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren, who served in the same capacity with the Packers from 1992 through 1998, is 1-2 against his former team, including the '03 playoff loss. The Packers' Mike Sherman, a member of Holmgren's staff from 1997 through 1999, is 2-0 against both Seattle and his former boss.
SEAHAWKS OFFENSE VS. PACKERS DEFENSE
Seattle's collection of offensive weaponry may have finally caught and passed the Colts in the final third of the season and, as a unit, the team enters the Week 17 as the NFL's best with an average of 378.0 total yards per game.
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is first in the NFC with both 24 touchdown passes and a 98.1 passer rating, to go along with his 3,383 yards. Three more TD throws would give him a career-high single-season total, while four more would put him at 100 for his career as a whole.
Hasselbeck has gone 177 pass attempts on the road without an interception.
Running back Shaun Alexander leads the league with 1,807 yards rushing and one more touchdown on the ground would allow him to pass Priest Holmes's 2003 standard and establish a single-season NFL record of 28.
Former Penn State wideout Bobby Engram has a team-high 64 catches for 748 yards and three touchdowns, while Joe Jurevicius has reached career highs with nine touchdown catches and 683 yards receiving.
The offensive line has permitted just 23 sacks - fourth fewest in the NFL - and the Seahawks' plus-9 turnover ratio is good for third in the NFC.
Defensively, the Packers are eighth overall in the league with an average of 296.3 total yards allowed per week. Their passing average of 168.9 yards allowed is tops in the league.
Defensive end Aaron Kampman has a career-best 6.5 sacks and could lead the team for the first time. Meanwhile, linebacker Nick Barnett has a team-record 184 tackles, which tops the previous mark of 180 set by Mike Douglass in 1981.
The trio of Ahmad Carroll, Nick Harris and Mark Roman shares the team lead with two interceptions apiece.
PACKERS OFFENSE VS. SEAHAWKS DEFENSE
Favre has too often been forced into the role of all-everything for the Packers in 2005, making up for the loss of several running backs to season- ending injuries and the absence of another legitimate threat to stretch the defense along with wideout Donald Driver (80 catches, 1,103 yards).
Favre has completed 351-of-570 passes for an NFC-best 3,622 yards and 19 touchdowns, but his passer rating has slid to 70.5 with the spate of interceptions. Still, one more TD will give him at least 20 in a season for the 12th straight season and five more get him to Marino career territory at 400.
Rookie running back Noah Herron has become the flavor of the week after injuries have claimed previous incremental title-holders Ahman Green, Najeh Davenport and Samkon Gado, among others. Herron has particularly non- threatening season marks of 62 yards on 25 carries with a 2.5 per-carry average and one touchdown.
Also, versatile running back Tony Fisher has career highs with 42 catches and 303 receiving yards.
Driver, fully immersed in late-season numbers-compiling mode, needs 97 receiving yards to reach 1,200 for the second straight year and 106 to establish a career-best mark of 1,209. Five receptions would make him the fourth player in club history with 85 in a season.
Seattle linebacker LeRoy Hill is tied for second in the league among rookies with seven sacks, and fellow rookie Lofa Tatupu is second among rookies with three interceptions.
As a unit, the Seahawks' defense has allowed 17 touchdowns in 41 opposition red-zone opportunities - 41.5 percent - the third-best ratio in the league.
Defensive tackle Rocky Bernard leads Seattle with 8.5 sacks, while strong safety Michael Boulware has a team-best four interceptions.
OVERALL ANALYSIS
Again, unlike their counterparts in Hoosier-land, the kings of the Pacific Northwest still have a task or two to accomplish before being regarded as the league's true elite. And, fortunately for them, they have an opponent in Green Bay that's more than likely to appease.
Look for Alexander to get his TD record and Hasselbeck to get a few comfortable snaps before heading for the safety of the sidelines to signal the true beginning of the playoff run. Meanwhile, the Packers will continue to flounder and be only too happy to run for the bus. Predicted Outcome: Seahawks 28, Packers 14
Just three or four weeks ago, the universally-perceived-as-unstoppable NFL juggernaut resided in a midwestern town known previously as the mecca of amateur sports and the beloved hometown of late-night television smart-aleck David Letterman.
Just a month later, following a pair of one-sided losses and a stunning bout of off-field tragedy, that center of gridiron power has shifted west across two time zones to find itself squarely in the home of month-long rainstorms and pretentiously-slurped exotic coffees.
The Seattle Seahawks, conquerors of the Colts last week and the winners of 12 straight games overall, ride into the final week of the regular season as the perceived superior among the two teams boasting 13 wins and the nine others with 10 or more victories.
And, perhaps more so than their Indianapolis counterparts who have a longer - albeit not necessarily trophy-crowded - playoff pedigree with the current roster, maintaining the momentum through the final week could be of major importance to a Seahawks team still looking to prove itself.
Across the field they'll face the Green Bay Packers, seeking to end the nightmare of a three-win season and suddenly in the early stages of turmoil relating to the future of quarterback Brett Favre, who made noise in a recent interview by inferring that he felt unwanted by the organization.
Working with a largely no-name complement of teammates after a torrent of injuries, Favre has thrown a career-high 28 interceptions while at times single-handedly trying to make plays that would help resurrect the season and make up for a backfield that's bereft of viable run options.
SERIES HISTORY
Green Bay owns a 5-4 lead in its all-time regular season series with Seattle, and was a 35-13 home winner when the teams last met, in 2003. The Seahawks last defeated the Packers in 1999, when the prevailed at Lambeau Field by a 27-7 count.
In addition to the regular season series, the teams have faced off once in the playoffs, with Green Bay winning a 33-27 overtime matchup in a 2003 NFC First- Round Playoff.
Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren, who served in the same capacity with the Packers from 1992 through 1998, is 1-2 against his former team, including the '03 playoff loss. The Packers' Mike Sherman, a member of Holmgren's staff from 1997 through 1999, is 2-0 against both Seattle and his former boss.
SEAHAWKS OFFENSE VS. PACKERS DEFENSE
Seattle's collection of offensive weaponry may have finally caught and passed the Colts in the final third of the season and, as a unit, the team enters the Week 17 as the NFL's best with an average of 378.0 total yards per game.
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is first in the NFC with both 24 touchdown passes and a 98.1 passer rating, to go along with his 3,383 yards. Three more TD throws would give him a career-high single-season total, while four more would put him at 100 for his career as a whole.
Hasselbeck has gone 177 pass attempts on the road without an interception.
Running back Shaun Alexander leads the league with 1,807 yards rushing and one more touchdown on the ground would allow him to pass Priest Holmes's 2003 standard and establish a single-season NFL record of 28.
Former Penn State wideout Bobby Engram has a team-high 64 catches for 748 yards and three touchdowns, while Joe Jurevicius has reached career highs with nine touchdown catches and 683 yards receiving.
The offensive line has permitted just 23 sacks - fourth fewest in the NFL - and the Seahawks' plus-9 turnover ratio is good for third in the NFC.
Defensively, the Packers are eighth overall in the league with an average of 296.3 total yards allowed per week. Their passing average of 168.9 yards allowed is tops in the league.
Defensive end Aaron Kampman has a career-best 6.5 sacks and could lead the team for the first time. Meanwhile, linebacker Nick Barnett has a team-record 184 tackles, which tops the previous mark of 180 set by Mike Douglass in 1981.
The trio of Ahmad Carroll, Nick Harris and Mark Roman shares the team lead with two interceptions apiece.
PACKERS OFFENSE VS. SEAHAWKS DEFENSE
Favre has too often been forced into the role of all-everything for the Packers in 2005, making up for the loss of several running backs to season- ending injuries and the absence of another legitimate threat to stretch the defense along with wideout Donald Driver (80 catches, 1,103 yards).
Favre has completed 351-of-570 passes for an NFC-best 3,622 yards and 19 touchdowns, but his passer rating has slid to 70.5 with the spate of interceptions. Still, one more TD will give him at least 20 in a season for the 12th straight season and five more get him to Marino career territory at 400.
Rookie running back Noah Herron has become the flavor of the week after injuries have claimed previous incremental title-holders Ahman Green, Najeh Davenport and Samkon Gado, among others. Herron has particularly non- threatening season marks of 62 yards on 25 carries with a 2.5 per-carry average and one touchdown.
Also, versatile running back Tony Fisher has career highs with 42 catches and 303 receiving yards.
Driver, fully immersed in late-season numbers-compiling mode, needs 97 receiving yards to reach 1,200 for the second straight year and 106 to establish a career-best mark of 1,209. Five receptions would make him the fourth player in club history with 85 in a season.
Seattle linebacker LeRoy Hill is tied for second in the league among rookies with seven sacks, and fellow rookie Lofa Tatupu is second among rookies with three interceptions.
As a unit, the Seahawks' defense has allowed 17 touchdowns in 41 opposition red-zone opportunities - 41.5 percent - the third-best ratio in the league.
Defensive tackle Rocky Bernard leads Seattle with 8.5 sacks, while strong safety Michael Boulware has a team-best four interceptions.
OVERALL ANALYSIS
Again, unlike their counterparts in Hoosier-land, the kings of the Pacific Northwest still have a task or two to accomplish before being regarded as the league's true elite. And, fortunately for them, they have an opponent in Green Bay that's more than likely to appease.
Look for Alexander to get his TD record and Hasselbeck to get a few comfortable snaps before heading for the safety of the sidelines to signal the true beginning of the playoff run. Meanwhile, the Packers will continue to flounder and be only too happy to run for the bus. Predicted Outcome: Seahawks 28, Packers 14
posted by auburntigerstick at 2:54 PM
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