Coming up this weekend is the Seahawks visiting the Saints in the Superdome. Below are how the teams stack up:
Saints offense: 7th overall (5th passing, 25th rushing)
Seahawks offense: 30th overall (23rd passing, 28th rushing)
Saints defense: 3rd overall (1st passing, 17th rushing)
Seahawks defense: 27th defense (28th passing, 14th rushing)
For a 5-4 team, the Seahawks are impressively bad both on offense and defense. In a dome on a fast track, the Saints *should* be able to throw the ball and move the football very effectively on the Hawks. Again, *on paper*, the Saints should be very effective at stopping the Seahawks. Overall this is a very good match up for the Saints indoors in the Superdome. Careful, though, because the Seahawks know they are overmatched, so they’ll pull out all the stops like the Browns did. Halfback passes, fake punts, and return gimmicks. The Saints should almost expect bogus plays.
So how are the Seahawks 5-4? I’m honestly not sure. Justin Forsett has been running the ball fairly well lately. I can tell you they blitz, and they blitz a lot. Currently they are tied for 6th in the NFL with 26 sacks, and that’s led by Chris Clemons who has 7.5 sacks on the season. Safety Lawyer Milloy has 4 sacks on the year, so he gets sent in a lot on blitzes as well. Matt Hasselbeck is very banged up (broken wrist on non throwing hand) and not playing very well. Ultimately I think the Saints gameplan is very simple:
1. Attack the Seahawks’ pass defense
2. Double team Chris Clemons and limit the pressure coming form his position
3. Limit turnovers
The Saints’ defense will get stops. It’s a pretty simple gameplan that’s definitely easier said than done. If the Saints can limit turnovers, though, they should be able to keep the Seahawks from scoring in bunches. The Seahawks’ most explosive player is Leon Washington, who comes in occassionally on offense and is a game changing returner. Hopefully Thomas Morstead can be effective in neutralizing him.
The big question is will Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas be back?
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