Russell Wilson had a huge game through the air for the Seahawks, connecting on 21 of 27 pass attempts for 274 yards and three TDs.
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The Seahawks allowed 59 yards rushing to San Francisco, 58 to Pittsburgh and a mere 31 to Minnesota. Over the past three games, the quarterback has completed 77 percent of his passes to go along with 11 touchdowns, zero picks and an nearly flawless passer rating of 148. It shouldn’t be too hard for the Seahawks to start fast this week with Baltimore’s defense allowing 5.4 points in the first quarter of home games. It’s no accident that the winning streak happened after head coach Pete Carroll elected to alter his team’s style of play. “And he’s shown that through the offseason and gave us that thought that he was really in command of the offense and he knew where everybody was going and all that, best that he had at any time before”. It’s hard for somebody just jump in with the intricacies we want him to play with. He’s always been considered a good player, but one who needs a strong running game and stout defense – like Marshawn Lynch and the Legion of Boom – to do the heavy lifting.
Seattle’s defense, once the most frightening in the league, no longer dominates games. They can pound you in the power run game, spread you out and run read-option, throw short, and beat you deep. Baltimore is not yet eliminated, though it has a better record than only three AFC teams.
Nevertheless, the Seahawks don’t intend to take the Ravens likely.
The Seahawks are in a fourth season of premium play, a season that started slowly and buttressed opinions of many pundits who said Seattle would fall off significantly once it had to pay top dollar for QB Russell Wilson, robbing them of the ability under the salary cap to fund other positions.
“The report’s that he’s doing really well”, Carroll said. “…They can withstand anything now”. The Ravens have plenty of heart, but they are stepping up in class against a better opponent and figure to get worn down in the second half. They have to go do their job, get ahead and get their decisions made, so Tommy’s going to keep working at it. Darrell would be an awesome choice for them, but he’s not available.
The Seattle Seahawks were initially pegged as Super Bowl contenders this year.
A shift after the bye week emphasized quicker passes, allowing Wilson to get rid of the ball swiftly out of the pocket, has been the fundamental adjustment to the offense in recent weeks. The Seahawks could be on the way to another lopsided affair. Seahawks have won five of six following 2-4 start….
Covered the Baltimore Ravens and the National Football League for BaltimoreSun.com from 2006 to 2008.
-Don’t change anything. The way Seattle has played the last three weeks, it should be able to handle a team that could be starting its third-string quarterback this week. We’re happy to get that back. The Baltimore’s passing game is averaging 281.2 passing yards during their last five matchups.
Starting tight end Crockett Gillmore (back) is doubtful to play after not practicing all week. Through the first 10 weeks, Seattle ranked 29th, 19th and 14th in those three categories.
Maybe no one has been as critical of the Seahawks’ receiving corps as this writer, and as of late, Wilson and the squad have been out to prove me wrong.
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It doesn’t hurt that Wilson – now without one of his premier weapons in the injured tight end Jimmy Graham – is flanked in the backfield by perhaps the unlikeliest of Seattle’s heroes: undrafted rookie running back Thomas Rawls.
