My honest analysis of Saturday's game

[Trufant23]

First of all... thank you to all of you for making this week go by a little quicker.. it's always fun to hear the other teams opinion rather than the same biased "we're the best!" rehashed junk over and over.. that's why I come to the opposing teams board - it gives a sense of reality.

All the trash talking I may have done this week - was all in fun, and I wish you guys have an injury free contest.. no more Wynn injuries if you will.

So here is my view on Saturday's game - and after this I will not be back posting until after the game. Win or loss I'll be here, and if my Seahawks do indeed lose.. I'll take all the talk you can throw at me - after all it's only fair right?

Here goes..

I watched your win over the Bucs.. and two things stood out to me. One - your offense seemingly runs through 3 guys, Moss, Portis, and Cooley. The Bucs did a great job eliminating Cooley, Portis was really too banged up to be much of a factor at all, and Moss didn't get much of a chance to get into the game. That honestly scares the crap out of me, because now I know Gibbs and co. will make an all out effort to get Santana Moss the football.

If you've watched any Seahawk games since we lost to you guys, you'd find out that we're very good against the run this year.. but very average against the pass. Our secondary is coming into this game relatively banged up. Marcus Trufant didn't play in most of the win over the Colts and all of the game against the Packers after he hurt his back. Andre Dyson has been out of action since the 42-0 a** kicking we handed the Iggles. Kelly Herndon returned to action against Green Bay but looked really rusty... and he missed a lot of time as well.

This is the glaring weakness I see on our defense. It's not the run D, it's the pass D, and when you're coming off a game in which you didn't do anything passing the football - that likely means Gibbs will have you guys prepared this week.

So that's where I think you can have some success. I can see Brunell hitting about 200 yards throwing this weekend with a couple TD's.

As for the other thing I observed, and it makes me a little happy, your defense had a lot of success getting to Simms mainly because Kenyatta Walker is a piece of crap. Now I'm not saying you guys won't be able to generate any pressure on Hasselbeck, but I am saying it won't be just straight pressure without a blitz. Our offensive line is playing better than it was when we went up to your place and lost in OT.. in fact you could make an argument that 4/5 starters on our line were Pro Bowl caliber this season. If you guys focus on stopping Alexander, Hasselbeck can pick you apart. If you guys focus on stopping Hasselbeck and getting pressure on him.. Alexander can pick you apart. It's pick your poison. That's how dynamic our offense is this year.. and you can say it's because we played lesser competition (which I won't dispute.. our schedule did indeed unfold to be one cake schedule) .. but we do have that good of an offense unlike the last opponent you saw in Tampa Bay.

I honestly think if our defense can bend but not break, like it's been doing all year, we will come out on top because I don't see you guys winning in an offensive shootout.

However, if your offense keeps it close.. (i.e. Dallas/NYG) your defense is more than capable of disrupting our offensive tempo and making it a very close game.

I think our offense will dictate the game either way. If they come out clicking, we will win.. if we come out rusty.. you guys have one hell of a shot.

We'll see what happens in a couple of days.. I tend to believe the Seahawk offense will do enough to win the game.. and I'm sure you all tend to believe the opposite.

But that's why they play the games.

Best of luck if you advance, and if your season does indeed end this Saturday - best of luck in 2006.

[cjcdaman]

Good post. It's obvious that Seahawk fans think their offense is going to basically just score more points to win this game while us Skins fans think our defense will not allow that much and basically win us the game. However, I do our offense doing a lot better than last week. Good luck!

[Sowers]

Nice analyis can't argue much with anything you said. I'd very well like to put the game in Hasselbeck's hand, I sure hope it goes to overtime and he proclaims "We want the ball and we're going to score!"

[linebckr99]

Great post! It's always fun to do a little trash talking leading up to the big game, as long as everyone realizes it's all in fun. Good luck to your Seahawks and let's hope for an injury free, hard fought game (with the Skins coming out on top!).

[SandyBabyLoosenUp]

It's all about bumping the other team off their game plan. If your plan is to open up with running, then open up the passing game...build a lead and let the other team play catch up...then the counter is to strike early, shut down the run and make you guys try and beat us in the air.

We put up points first and you'll have to follow our lead. I don't see that the seahawks will play very comfortably if they get behind by any margin during the game.

[EnFoRcEr_uPu]

Excellent pre-game review. Should be one hell of a game Saturday. Nothing better than watching 2 teams at the peak of their seasons going at it for all the marbles(atleast for any shot at all the marbles in the end, lol)

[Dah-Dee]

:blahblah: :blahblah: :blahblah: scares the crap out of me, :blahblah: :blahblah: :blahblah: glaring weakness I see on our defense. :blahblah: :blahblah: :blahblah: you can have some success. :blahblah: :blahblah: :blahblah: your defense had a lot of success :blahblah: :blahblah: :blahblah: we played lesser competition :blahblah: :blahblah: :blahblah: your defense is more than capable of disrupting our offensive tempo

WE'RE THE BEST!

[rigelian]

I've been watching the Seahawks all year. The Seahawks typically start their games with passes, not the run. Quick passes to Jackson, or Engram, or Stevens...from there they start mixing in the run. I think this happens is because defense teams come out on the field with Alexander on the brain. They're going to shut him down...so the Hawks pick...short pass here, short pass there, maybe a run to Alexander just to test. If you watch Seahawks games you'll note that Shaun plays big in the 3rd and 4th quarters, not so much the first.

So don't expect the Seahawks to open with the run.

Rigelian

[Ellis]

That was very well said. I wish your team the best of luck as well.

The way I'm looking at it is... even with your pass defense playing fairly well in the regular season, we'll still be able to do some damage on it. And yes, you're right, that will be where we make our bigger offensive plays, not our running game. But Seattle still has to look at Gibbs controlling that clock with running plays.

As for a defense having to as you say "pick it's poison", I will say that we will shut Alexander down as our priority. Seattle puts WAY too much stock in him to win games. With all due respect, he is a game winner; it's in his blood to be the big hero of games (just look at our first meeting in October). Once your run game is shut down, our front line has made it clear that passes are not safe from their hands. We've tipped so many passes in the last 6 games that ended up turnovers. So yeah, we'll let your QB pass but he'll have to be at his best game to do much. In fact, he will have hs best opportunities only by running out of the pocket to avoid our front lines sticky fingers. That's just the reality of it. Our defense will WANT you to pass purely so we can get our hands on it. Hassleback--as good as he's been this year--can be pressured into throwing bad passes and once he's in that slump, it's hard for him to recover from it.

One things for sure, you can bet on our offense using the run game against you. Gibbs loves to control the clock and keep your offense off the field. That will make your offense cold, being that they won't have much playing time. This is crucial for us because something I'll admit about Seattle is that once you guys get going offensively, that rhythm of yours is hard for a defense to break.

It's going to be a good showdown and I get the impression that even YOU could admit that a 9 point spread between these teams is rediculous. It's not going to be a 9 point win for you unless we completely fold in the second half. I really don't see that happening. It's going to be close. I'd go as far as to say the score will be the 20's between the two teams.

[FootballGuy2677]

If Clinton Portis isnt running our offence isnt running, thats why we have 120 somthing yards last game. 2

[SkinFan63]

It's all about bumping the other team off their game plan. If your plan is to open up with running, then open up the passing game...build a lead and let the other team play catch up...then the counter is to strike early, shut down the run and make you guys try and beat us in the air.

We put up points first and you'll have to follow our lead. I don't see that the seahawks will play very comfortably if they get behind by any margin during the game.

Exactly.

We need to shake things up right off the bat.

On offense, we need to strike fast and furious.

On defense, we need to keep moving around so they don't know what we're up to and we need to penatrate their offensive line and slap Hasslebeck around a little.

Throw the book at them!

Hail!:point2sky

[FootballGuy2677]

Great post...most Seahawk fans think their defence will dominate becuase everybody is listaning to the media saying how much our offence sucks. Good to see youve been doing some studying...

Just a few notes though

Our defensive end is out for the playoffs

Our best run stopper and lineman Cornelius Griffin is playing in this game unlike the last time we played.

Our defence has gotten its act together and isnt holding opposing backs to 30 yards one week then letting the others run for 200 yards.

[Monte51Coleman]

Nice post. Well thought out and well presented. Thank you.

The one thing that I would take exception to is where you seem to base your critique of our offense from watching the Tampa game. Don't overlook that that game was played against a very, very, good defense. I don't think that the Seattle defense rivals Tampa in any way.

You are correct in saying that our offense is primarily designed to feature Portis, Moss, and Cooley. That is not exactly a news flash. It has been that way all season. Every defensive coordinator that has prepared their team to play the Redskins have known it too. Knowing it and stopping it are two entirely different things.

My main point is that I think that you and most of the national media appear to think that only the last game matters. That is a dangerous foundation on which to base a conclusion.

[skins'89]

Good Post, but i think that this game is really too close to call, but i still say skins win.

[Ellis]

Historically, the last few years for Seattle has been a one sided team; ALL OFFENSE. But without a defense, they played catch-up against their competition. Shaun Springs was very vocal about that when he played for Seattle. Since then, Seattle has over hauled the defense so that the offense production actually MEANT something. They were no longer playing catch-up, they were creating leads and no longer trading leads. They could now SIT on those leads.

The run game of Seattle only comes late because... once they've taken a lead, they run the ball to kill the clock. As long as the Skins are neck and neck on the scoring, that Seattle run game will be non-existant. Close games make Seattle paranoid and then all they do is pass thinking that scoring quickly is the answer. This is from their past history of "strong offense/weak defense"... they've always had to score a lot to make up for the fact that they're defense sucked.

Now, they're in a fortunate position to have a good defense... not great, but good. It's allowed their offense to operate more calmly but ONLY when they're leading. Put them down a few points and Hassleback struggles and rushes his passes.

So with that said, Seattle is not hard to beat....

1. Shut down the run game to force passes.

2. Once the pass game is the only offensive option, put pressure on Hassleback.

3. Once we establish a fair lead, Hassleback will begin to make mistakes by forcing passes.

4. Forced passes become turnovers.

5. If all this succeeds, Hassleback becomes demoralized and pushes the rushing game.

6. "Usually", if Seattle is reduced to a rushing game, Alexander ALWAYS delivers. We just gotta hold him back and this turkey is DONE.

[csgunderson]

This game will be determined by whether the Skins can physically punish the Seahawks in all phases of the game. That is the Skins' identity -- to beat their opponent into submission. The offensive line is huge and has the ability to wear down a smallish (albeit fast) Seahawk front 7. The defense has clearly come into its own the past 2 months by following the lead of Sean Taylor and Marcus Washington and letting it loose on every single hit.

This is how the Skins have won 6 straight. If they can do that on Saturday -- if they come out with a serious mean streak -- if they come into Seattle, lock the door, toss the key and fight to the end -- the Seahawks will be in for a long day and the Skins will have a chance to win this game in the 4th quarter.

[MustangSteve]

Good post dude, this is going to be a great game.

[AlvinWalton40]

I watched your win over the Bucs.. and two things stood out to me. One - your offense seemingly runs through 3 guys, Moss, Portis, and Cooley. The Bucs did a great job eliminating Cooley, Portis was really too banged up to be much of a factor at all, and Moss didn't get much of a chance to get into the game.

Good post. Our offense runs through Portis. Moss and Cooley are most often the guys that help us keep the defenses honest. But from time to time, and I wouldn't be surprised if his number gets called this week, this little beast of a player name Mike Sellars jumps up and bites you in the ass.