Game within the game predictions for SEA vs GB

Not talking final score predictions here, but rather, what strategies and events do you expect to play a major role in the upcoming Green Bay game? For me:

-Being a nightcap game will partially mitigate the Packers home-field advantage. As far as I know, Wilson has only lost 1 road game in primetime, against the 49ers in 2012.

-Seattle's zone coverage was a disaster against the Rams. Man coverage was flawed too (especially when Bailey fell down), but Seattle's defense was better at preventing 20+ yard completions out of man coverages. So I expect Seattle to go heavier on man coverage to take advantage of all the youth and inexperience in the Packers' WR group.

-Sherman will play in the slot, since Cobb is by far the Packers best weapon in this game and he takes most of his snaps in the slot. I would bet that Rodgers will challenge Sherman many times. If Cobb has a tough time, the Packers might move him around to avoid Sherman, or to force Sherman to follow Cobb to an outside corner spot, exposing our weakness at nickle corner.

-I just can't see Lacy doing much against our Run defense, especially if Frank Clark gets a lot of snaps. I'm not smarter than Pete, but I thought Clark's snap count was WAY too low in game 1.

-I worry about our pass rush against a roughly top five pass pro group. Another reason I want to see Clark get a ton of work.

-Green Bay's run defense looked bad last week, and they are historically pretty bad against tight ends. The game plan here should be a lot easier for Bevell than it was last week against the Rams. Which is good, because I think the Seahawks will need to score a lot.

-Seattle looked awful at defending TEs in week 1. I would bet that McCarthy tries to go after that.

-The Packers will play angry. And probably dirty.

I don't want to turn this into another Kam thread, but we are really going to miss him this game especially against a not 100% Cobb. If I was Rodgers I would be throwing short over the middle all day long.

I fully expect a late hit on Wilson from Matthews, a he is IMO tied with Suh for dirtiest player in the league. He has definitely shown in the past an attempt to injure QB's (Kaepernick, Romo, Wilson).

I want to see RW run in this game.....get out of the pocket and make some magic.

I think Seattle will use the play-action a lot and go deep in this game. I expect a 60 yard plus TD for Lockett

I am worried that we will see Rodgers under pressure several times and go ah they just about had him but instead he completed 10-15 yard passes and sure most of them will be on 3rd downs

With Rodgers, it doesn't matter who lines up at WR. Everyone is a viable target, especially considering the shape of our secondary. GB is one of the few teams that have the personnel up front to neutralize any advantage we can gain from our pass rush.

Honestly, it really just comes down to whether or not we can keep their offense at bay. I think we can score on them, but not at will. I don't think our o-line is good enough to do that to anyone. Could get ugly for Seattle, but it's a night game, so we should at least be able to tackle. No reason to believe the LBs play as bad as they did Week 1. If they do, we have serious issues going forward.

-I think Richard will try a few 6+ Blitzes and get burned a few times. I don't think you beat Rodgers with all out blitzes.

-I expect to see Russell keep a few ROs just to keep the defense honest after Pete's comments after the Rams game. I don't think it will be all that prevalent but Russell will get a key 1st down or two by doing it.

-Agree that I think Lacy gets shut down, but I think Starks will break a 20+ yard run at some point in this game. Just to hedge my bet, I think Starks might take a dump off 20+ yards. Starks typically plays well against us and there are a few of Cunningham's big runs/completions that I could see Starks getting.

-I expect GB to play straight up man like they did in the NFCCG and I think this leads to a big day for Lockett. Maybe not in the TD department, but I think when you see key Third Down completions, it will be to Lockett.

-I expect James Jones to punk Shead/Williams if Sherman moves inside. Chicago had good coverage on him on a few of his completions week 1 and Rodgers still fit the ball in.

-I think we'll see more Russell under center in this game as well. Less quick passes and more power run after the Pack got gashed by Forte. Seattle wants to work on getting push up front and this seems like the perfect time to do it.

It wouldn't surprise me to see a different experiment in the slot this week, or run more zone. I don't know that we really have anybody that can keep up with Cobb in the slot on crossing routes. What's Jeremy Lane's ETA anyways?

Here's my (un)educated guess at a couple of things I think we will see:

- After being thrown to the wolves last weekend against the Rams, the Seattle O-line will be better prepared for a less skilled Green Bay D-line. I expect Seattle to run the ball successfully which will allow them to take more shots deep and connect with a couple of them.

- We will see improved LBer play. I mean, come on...we know Wagner and Irvin ain't a couple of bums out there. They've got plenty of film from the Rams game to learn how to correct their mistakes. Green Bay will call some plays to get the ball to the TE/WR over the middle of the field in hopes to exploit this perceived weakness, but Rodgers will wind up getting sacked because everyone is covered. Either that or he tries to force one and winds up throwing his first home INT in years.

- I expect to see the running game open up (duh), but not just with Lynch/Jackson/Rawls. I think they take the fetters off of Wilson and let him move the ball when the opportunity is there. I don't see him pulling up at the LOS like he did last week. I expect to see the read-option, especially if Matthews has to move inside with the injury to Barrington.

- I expect that Graham has a big game here. Wilson should have plenty of time to get the ball to him.

- I hope we can pick on their secondary. Chicago showed it to be exploitable, and it should be susceptible to our shifty receivers on quick routes designed to get YAC. I think we see a lot of similarities to our last matchup. The game plan then was excellent, the execution by Kearse was awful.

- Historically, Lacy and the Pack's running game has been controllable with a 6 man attack. I haven't watched the Chicago game yet, but if it holds true again this year, I expect to see us bringing only six and blanketing the receivers/ spying Rodgers on "running downs"

- The Niners had great success against the Pack with limited blitzing, mostly just bringing 4. With our front 7, I suspect we can do the same on passing downs. Mostly bring 4 and occasionally sneak in a 5th. I like the CB blitz again.

- Hoping that Clark was nursing a sore hammy or something and will be 100% this game and gets a lot of snaps. He should

- I expect to see a lot of Clay Matthews targeting Sweezy and Gilliam. I expect a few pressures to get through from that point.

- The Raji/ Nowak battle will be key

- bsd

-I expect to see us focus first on getting the run game established. Presuming success there, I expect to see a lot more play-action this week.

-After last week I expect we'll see a fair amount of blitzing from GB, and we need to see better hot reads by Wilson/WRs (they've got to be working on that this week in practice)

-I expect to see FJ even more involved this week, especially on clear passing downs.

-We need to see better shotgun snapping from Nowak. I'm hoping we'll also see better run blocking by the entire OL.

-I'd like to see us going over the top more this week, provided the line protection is sufficient. I want to see some long play-action pass attempts to Lockett, but I won't be surprised if they're to Kearse instead, and I'd love to see the wheel route down the sidelines to Jackson/Lynch (love that play).

-I think we'll see a lot of Sherman on Cobb in the slot, with Sherm moving back to his normal corner position if Cobb lines up outside.

-I think we'll see vastly improved tackling this week, better pre-snap communication on D, and fewer blown coverages. If not, it's going to be a very long day.

-I expect to be frustrated with our inability to prevent Rogers from making the out-of-the-pocket big plays that keep drives alive.

-I expect to see GB playing with a lot of intensity, and I'm mildly concerned about our ability to match it.

I'm not concerned about our intensity at all. This should be a great game and we'll be suitably fired up for it. I agree on both Cobb and Lacey.

I agree on the low snaps from Nowak still needing work. That extra half a second where Russ has to reach down for it had everything to do with our running game looking a step or two slower than usual.

In my view the onus is still on GB's defense to show that they can match up against speed and the read option. Maybe the GB fans can chime in if they feel they have added a lot of speed to their second level, but I fully expect RW to have an opportunity to rush for as many yards as Lacey does.

I foresee the Hawks not throwing 41 times this week. I foresee better tackling cuz it isn't a 10 AM game. I foresee some struggles with their passing offense but not to the point our team gives up eight 20+ yard pass plays. I don't foresee a blowout like many here are predicting.

One more....I foresee a Fred Jackson TD this week.

hawksfansinceday1":1rxyiq8z said:

I foresee the Hawks not throwing 41 times this week. I foresee better tackling cuz it isn't a 10 AM game. I foresee some struggles with their passing offense but not to the point our team gives up eight 20+ yard pass plays. I don't foresee a blowout like many here are predicting.

One more....I foresee a Fred Jackson TD this week.

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You guys really sound like wussie with this "10am" stuff.....

Have to account for this being the first Seahawk game in Lambeau Field in how long?

That alone will reduce the defense's effectiveness against Rodgers. Not having to use silent count is big against this defense.

AgentDib":11bapyjx said:

I'm not concerned about our intensity at all. This should be a great game and we'll be suitably fired up for it. I agree on both Cobb and Lacey.

I agree on the low snaps from Nowak still needing work. That extra half a second where Russ has to reach down for it had everything to do with our running game looking a step or two slower than usual.

In my view the onus is still on GB's defense to show that they can match up against speed and the read option. Maybe the GB fans can chime in if they feel they have added a lot of speed to their second level, but I fully expect RW to have an opportunity to rush for as many yards as Lacey does.

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Green bay's problem isn't speed... Players were in position to tackle all day Sunday but missed the tackele. They got rid of Hawk and Jones and replaced one of them with Matthews. The problem is at the other ILB spot. Barrington, our best run defender is now out for the year. Palmer, his replacement was brutal against the Bears. I think the Packers have the answer in Jake Ryan, a rookie out of Michigan. But since that's our best option, Capers will probably stick with Palmer....

Lynch is going to be a problem for the Packers and he will eat well Sunday... But Rodgers is going to be a huge problem for Seattle... Huge.....

NINEster":3eblqjjl said:

Have to account for this being the first Seahawk game in Lambeau Field in how long?

That alone will reduce the defense's effectiveness against Rodgers. Not having to use silent count is big against this defense.

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You seem to be the only Seahawk fan that gets that... That's why Green Bay is so hard to beat at home, Rodgers can work the defense and the line isn't quick off the ball.....

ptisme":1nzpjph3 said:

NINEster":1nzpjph3 said:

Have to account for this being the first Seahawk game in Lambeau Field in how long?

That alone will reduce the defense's effectiveness against Rodgers. Not having to use silent count is big against this defense.

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You seem to be the only Seahawk fan that gets that... That's why Green Bay is so hard to beat at home, Rodgers can work the defense and the line isn't quick off the ball.....

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FYI - He's a Niners fan.

Lynch is going to have a massive game (130+ yards, 2 TD's) providing we don't get down too far and have to abandon the run game to catch up with the passing game.

I have a feeling that will be the only bright side for us, both sure hope I'm wrong.

I'm not going to parse words here. I EXPECT the Hawks to win this game. Here's a few reasons why:

-Our O-line got worked over by the Rams. 4th and 1, game on the line, and they got ML killed. I expect them to come back angry. I also expect them to improve after playing 11 drives/ 37 minutes against arguably the best front 4 in the league. For comparison, this iteration of the line played 10 series together in the preseason. They grew within that game and they're only going to get better. Considering how bad the pack run D did against the bears, I expect us to them over.

-In the second half against the Rams, Bevell started figuring out how to play JG, TLock, Baldwin, Kearse, FJax, and, of course, ML. We have so much skill position talent right now, and once we got some semblence of rhythm, this offense will be hard to stop. Fun fact: Total 3 and outs against the rams. 2

-Special teams. GB's special teams DVOA last year: 23rd rank. 31st in weighted DVOA. RELEASE THE TLOCK!

-Our D-line is improved compared to the line that GB faced in January. I expect to see Rodgers on him back early and often.

-Our LBs can't play much worse than they did last Sunday. I expect them to return to form in this game.

-No Jordy and No Kam. James Jone vs. Dion Bailey. I think that's a toss up. PC said on the PC show on Monday that Simon has a good chance to be back this week. Didn't practice today but I'd feel a lot better with Sherm, Cary, and Simon as the corners in nickel.

-ETs actually had sometime on the field to shake loose the rust.

-IT'S PRIMETIME! THIS TEAM DOES NOT LOSE IN PRIMETIME!

Can I get a "Go Hawks!"?

If GB gets behind, they will go after Bailey repeatedly. They will want to establish the run game, last week our zone bit on some play action in a way that will have Rodgers pretty damn happy to see.

jdemps":lv3lub7h said:

I'm not going to parse words here. I EXPECT the Hawks to win this game. Here's a few reasons why:

-Our O-line got worked over by the Rams. 4th and 1, game on the line, and they got ML killed. I expect them to come back angry. I also expect them to improve after playing 11 drives/ 37 minutes against arguably the best front 4 in the league. For comparison, this iteration of the line played 10 series together in the preseason. They grew within that game and they're only going to get better. Considering how bad the pack run D did against the bears, I expect us to them over.

-In the second half against the Rams, Bevell started figuring out how to play JG, TLock, Baldwin, Kearse, FJax, and, of course, ML. We have so much skill position talent right now, and once we got some semblence of rhythm, this offense will be hard to stop. Fun fact: Total 3 and outs against the rams. 2

-Special teams. GB's special teams DVOA last year: 23rd rank. 31st in weighted DVOA. RELEASE THE TLOCK!

-Our D-line is improved compared to the line that GB faced in January. I expect to see Rodgers on him back early and often.

-Our LBs can't play much worse than they did last Sunday. I expect them to return to form in this game.

-No Jordy and No Kam. James Jone vs. Dion Bailey. I think that's a toss up. PC said on the PC show on Monday that Simon has a good chance to be back this week. Didn't practice today but I'd feel a lot better with Sherm, Cary, and Simon as the corners in nickel.

-ETs actually had sometime on the field to shake loose the rust.

-IT'S PRIMETIME! THIS TEAM DOES NOT LOSE IN PRIMETIME!

Can I get a "Go Hawks!"?

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Who's going to cover Randall Cobb?