Sunday, December 18, 2011

Soaring Seahawks versus Faltering Bears

Soaring after two prime time triumphs, the Seahawks touch down today in Chicago.

During the last six games, Seattle established its identity as a running team. Marshawn Lynch lives in Beast Mode now. Incredibly, the streak has survived the losses of three starting offensive linemen.

It is tempting to imagine that we now mount an invincible rushing attack.

We'll find out today.

Last week's beatdown of St. Louis proved little. The Rams are a broken team, even more decimated by injuries than Seattle. They field the league's worst run defense.

Chicago, by contrast, defends the run relatively well. The Bears haven't permitted an opposing back to gain more than 100 yards against for more than two months

If our makeshift line can open holes against Chicago, we'll know our run attack is for real.

It is a good time to play the Bears. After starting strong, Chicago finds itself in the midst of a 3-game slide that coincides with injuries to starting quarterback Jay Cutler and his replacement by Caleb Hanie, an inexperienced player who has performed poorly. In the last three games, the former Colorado State Ram has thrown for only 502 yards and just 2 touchdowns, but has tossed 6 interceptions, suffered 15 sacks, and lost one fumble.

Presumably, Seattle's defenders are enthused at the prospect of compounding the young quarterback's misery.

Seahawk special teams excelled last week, but today our suspect punt and kick coverage teams must contain Devin Hester, the best returner in league history.

Seattle penalties helped keep St. Louis in the game last week. Against a better Chicago team, those mistakes could be deadly.

Back in January, a loss at Soldier Field eliminated Seattle from the playoffs. Winning there today is the only way the Seahawks can keep themselves in theoretical contention for the postseason.

Go, Seahawks!

1 comment:

  1. Yesterday's beat-down was quite fun to watch...unfortunately we didn't get any help from Oakland or the Bucs or the Cardinals. It feels like we're peaking a little too late.

    On the other hand, can the 'Hawks ever be a championship team without a top flight QB (like we had up till this year). See Tebow versus Brady Sunday for an example.

    (too be fair in the latter case, though, Tebow DID play well...it was the rest of the team that let down. But Jackson could not have performed like Tebow...and how far can your D and running game go without the support of a stellar QB?)

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