Everyone's Missing The Matchup

[3Girls'HawkDad]

EVERY defense commits to stopping Lynch. Easier said than done, they also have to commit to spying on Wilson, they also have to cheat toward Harvin.

Hell, our Defense would have trouble, this is doom for the Donks.

We are not playing the Niners D, we are going to play our usual clock control, no turnover, field position offense, but now we have Harvin on third downs!

Keep Manning on the sidelines, force our will on the line and look for the big play when the Defense gets to over zealous cheating to the run.

So simple.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I'd like to agree with you with Harvin, but after the Saints game I just can't put that much faith in the guy to remain upright for 60 minutes.

Everything you say is true, but he's nowhere near football shape. Which leaves me no choice but to discount his effectiveness for this game.

Why do people insist on perpetuating nonsense like this? How about you try to take a positive angle on an incredibly good football player, on your own team? Would that hurt you so much to do?

Percy will be a HUGE advantage in this game. Whether or not he has the ball in his hand, whenever he lines up - he is impacting the game in a big way. But maybe we will get lucky and Fox and Co. will think just like you, and have Percy shred them.

I didn't day Harvin's going to have ZERO effect on this game. Of course just by him being on the field should give us an advantage because it forces Denver to play defense differently.

But sorry, you can't tell me Harvin looked like he was in football shape and acclimated to the speed of playoff football after the Saints game. I saw a very talented player, but a rusty one that wasn't quite ready for playoff football.

How did he appear rusty to you. Specifically.

- Not being able to properly get in position to absorb hits
- Mishandling passes
- jumping early on TD opportunity
- slow to run after first bubble screen

Little timing, hesitation and toughness things that Harvin has excelled at his entire career was not on display during the Saints game, at least not at 100%. Which again, is understandable. Dude hasn't played a lot of football the past year. Just saying to think he's going to come in and not skip a beat is naive IMO.

 

[CallMeADawg]

Thanks. I will pull up the coaches film and tell you if I agree on these plays specifically later this evening.

EDIT: No one said he wouldn't skip a beat. The drivel about him standing upright for 60 minutes and not being in good shape to play the game are what were being questioned.

 

[Hasselbeck]

- Not being able to properly get in position to absorb hits
- Mishandling passes
- jumping early on TD opportunity
- slow to run after first bubble screen

Little timing, hesitation and toughness things that Harvin has excelled at his entire career was not on display during the Saints game, at least not at 100%. Which again, is understandable. Dude hasn't played a lot of football the past year. Just saying to think he's going to come in and not skip a beat is naive IMO.

I disagree with all of this.. I can see maybe the timing aspect of everything.. but his two catches this year were both unbelievable grabs on his part .. the concussion came off of not one, but TWO vicious hits.. and I don't care if you're Calvin Johnson or Bryan Walters.. those hits would have knocked out any WR in the NFL today. Harvin has been a victim of really bad luck of late - between the hip injury in OTA's to the concussion.. its just been some really bad luck.

That said.. do I expect him to come out and have 8 for 140 and 2? Of course not.. but he can have a big impact on a key drive or two and be what puts the Seahawks over the top in what I expect will be a nail biting very very close game.

 

[DavidSeven]

Russell vs. the Denver D is the most intriguing match-up to me. Five of the last six opponents he faced had already seen him at least once in the regular season. All six were very familiar with talented read-option QBs based on their divisional opponents. This is the first defense Russell has faced in two months that doesn't have a book on how to defend him. Will be interesting to see if Denver can figure it out based on tape alone.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

EVERY defense commits to stopping Lynch. Easier said than done, they also have to commit to spying on Wilson, they also have to cheat toward Harvin.

Hell, our Defense would have trouble, this is doom for the Donks.

We are not playing the Niners D, we are going to play our usual clock control, no turnover, field position offense, but now we have Harvin on third downs!

Keep Manning on the sidelines, force our will on the line and look for the big play when the Defense gets to over zealous cheating to the run.

So simple.

You have pretty much covered my thoughts as well Strap.

 

[Blitzhawk]

Can our "struggling" offense that managed to put up 23 pts a game against the top 5 D's in the NFL some how find a way to score 24+ pts against a much worse D? I would like to think so.

Can our #1 defense that regularly holds teams to less than 20 pts per game manage to hold a #1 offense (against a years worth of far inferior D's) that scored around 25 pts against mediocre D's to around 23 pts. I would like to think so.

I think Percy Harvin will factor in even if he only plays a dozen snaps. He does not actually have to touch the ball to have an affect on the game. In fact, I would argue that his clearing concussion protocols has already had the affect of making denver think about how to contain him.

I really do not believe, or expect us, to play a perfect game to beat denver. Just as long as we play our game and our guys maintain their never quit attitude we got this.

 

[Hass2Carlson]

Whoa , wait a minute....where did you get coach's film?

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Seattle has not faced a defensive line this mediocre in months. It'll be the easiest game for our offensive line since probably November. If they don't hold up, we'll know they have personnel problems.

 

[themunn]

The 8th rated offense just added Percy Harvin, and it will be the least talked about game changer this week. And a top 5 special teams just added Harvin as kick returner, though with Prater I don't know how much that will matter, unless the wind is a factor for kickers.

Anyone who watches the New Orleans game will see just how much different the offense was with and without Harvin.

The offense didn't look that much better with Percy Harvin. They still had problems scoring TDs in the redzone and came away with FGs rather than TDs. The offense looked much better against the 49ers without Percy Harvin (especially in the 4th qtr). Now Percy is a great player but he's only one. If the offense hinges on one player....then there will be problems.

In fairness, Harvin was taken to the locker room on the first drive and we settled for a field goal, we settled for a field goal on the second drive while he was still inside, we scored a TD on the third drive when he was on the field, and then he was knocked out of the game on 2nd and 8 on the 4th drive after lynch lost 5 yards on 1st and goal at the 3.

Hardly a good sample size

 

[Seeker]

lol at denvers defense benifitting from playing weaker and weaker opponents and benifitting from being ahead by 40 points every game = improved.

 

[CallMeADawg]

Whoa , wait a minute....where did you get coach's film?

The Coach Film on NFL Rewind. When you load a game you get 3 options. Broadcast, Condensed, and Coach's Film.

 

[kearly]

The offense didn't look that much better with Percy Harvin. They still had problems scoring TDs in the redzone and came away with FGs rather than TDs. The offense looked much better against the 49ers without Percy Harvin (especially in the 4th qtr). Now Percy is a great player but he's only one. If the offense hinges on one player....then there will be problems.

Seattle was on a 32 point pace with Harvin, a 14 point pace without him in the second half. Their lone score in the 2nd half came on a short field when the Saints actually let Lynch score to keep the game alive (had Lynch slid at 2:40 or later on that run, it's game over: 16-8 would be your final).

But what I think Scott is talking about goes beyond the basic facts. The eyeball test showed an offense that was decent in the first half at sustaining drives and miserable in the second half.

 

[Scottemojo]

The 8th rated offense just added Percy Harvin, and it will be the least talked about game changer this week. And a top 5 special teams just added Harvin as kick returner, though with Prater I don't know how much that will matter, unless the wind is a factor for kickers.

Anyone who watches the New Orleans game will see just how much different the offense was with and without Harvin.

The offense didn't look that much better with Percy Harvin. They still had problems scoring TDs in the redzone and came away with FGs rather than TDs. The offense looked much better against the 49ers without Percy Harvin (especially in the 4th qtr). Now Percy is a great player but he's only one. If the offense hinges on one player....then there will be problems.

I disagree. A lot. Even in the wind, they took deep shots with Percy in the game. After he went out, bunker mentality. Harvin drew safety attention like crazy, after he went out they brought that safety down to stop the run a lot more.

 

[Shock2k]

I'm not sure if I agree with the OP that we are ignoring Offense. We are what we are on offensive. But if our vaunted defense can't slow Manning everything else is irrelevant. Because if we fall down by more than 10, they are just going to throw massive pressure against our "questionable" line.

As for the offense,
- Percy is going to be incredibly disruptive even if he doesn't catch 1 pass in the game.
- Marshawn always comes up big in big games. (Though don't expect him until the second half)
- Don't expect a lot of rushing yards or a normal amount of rush attempts in the first half.
- I believe we will come out and attempt to pass. (Carroll attacked the 49'ers pass weakness on 1st/2nd down in the NFCC in the first half)(Secondary is Denver's weakness)(Denver is good against the run)
- Not for one second do I believe that Russell Wilson can't shoot it out with Manning. Ignore this noise. He has 5 game winning drives just this season. We are not facing the 49ers D or the Cardinals D no matter how much the media is saying Denver's D is suddenly really good now. Russell and Co. can put up 50 points on a bottom 15 defense.
- Trust our receivers.

 

[hawkfan68]

The 8th rated offense just added Percy Harvin, and it will be the least talked about game changer this week. And a top 5 special teams just added Harvin as kick returner, though with Prater I don't know how much that will matter, unless the wind is a factor for kickers.

Anyone who watches the New Orleans game will see just how much different the offense was with and without Harvin.

The offense didn't look that much better with Percy Harvin. They still had problems scoring TDs in the redzone and came away with FGs rather than TDs. The offense looked much better against the 49ers without Percy Harvin (especially in the 4th qtr). Now Percy is a great player but he's only one. If the offense hinges on one player....then there will be problems.

I disagree. A lot. Even in the wind, they took deep shots with Percy in the game. After he went out, bunker mentality. Harvin drew safety attention like crazy, after he went out they brought that safety down to stop the run a lot more.

Good point Scott and Kearly. I see where you're coming from. Percy Harvin's presence is huge, I agree. I just hope it translates to touchdowns rather than settling for FGs.