Man, it already feels like it’s been forever since the Seahawks last played. Sure it’s been less than a week, but that doesn’t stop it from feeling like a long time. Part of that feeling is most likely due to a desire to leave the last game the Seahawks played. I’m not saying that the Seahawks didn’t play well last Thursday night against the San Francisco 49ers. All I’m trying to say is that the Seahawks and their fans likely don’t want to remember the way they lost that game. Even if we ignore the fact that when the Seahawks had a chance to win the game with one final drive, they managed to go backwards and give up a (declined) safety. The Seahawks left too many opportunities on the board to defeat a good team like the Niners. The Niners are one of the few teams in the league with a defense that might be even better than the Seahawks. When you go up against an elite defense, you don’t get many opportunities; you have to take advantage of the few that present themselves. Five dropped passes is not going to get it done. Luckily that game is over and the Seahawks now have a chance to move on against a Detroit team that has managed only two wins in its six games.
Detroit is a better team than its record says it is. Don’t forget, the Lions did make the playoffs a year ago. While the playoffs this year seem like a far-off dream for the Lions, they do still have the players who made them so good a year ago. They still have Calvin Johnson, Megatron, lining up at receiver and while his production this year is down, he’s still one of the most terrifying receivers in the league. The Seahawks secondary was accused, after the Niners game, of being too physical and it’s this physicality that is going to take away some of the things that Calvin Johnson does so well. Megatron is 6’5” and makes his living by being more physical than the smaller corners the NFL sends out to guard him. The Seahawks don’t have smaller corners. Johnson is going to spend most of his day looking across the line at either 6’3” Richard Sherman or 6’4” Brandon Browner. Browner was a pro-bowl player last year and Sherman is likely to be one this year. The Seahawks have the tallest starting secondary in the league, which should be able to compete against Johnson. Sherman, in advance of this week’s game has changed his twitter handle to “Optimus Prime”, the mortal enemy of Megatron from Hasbro’s Transformers series. Football fans should look forward to this battle on Sunday.
If Sherman and the Seahawks secondary can corral Calvin Johnson on Sunday, the rest of the defense should play well enough to keep the Hawks in the game, just like they have every week. If that’s the case, the game will come down to how well the Seahawks offense can execute when it needs to, just like every other week of the season. This shouldn’t be a problem as long as the Seahawks stay balanced. Marshawn Lynch needs to be a factor in the game plan in order for the Seahawks to win. But he can’t be the entire game plan. The Seahawks need to throw the ball, and they need to throw it deep. When Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was given the chance to throw deep against the New England Patriots, he had his best game of his short career. If the Seahawks are going to continue to improve, Wilson needs to be given those opportunities. If the Seahawks can manage to stay balanced, they should win this game. My final prediction: Seahawks 17- Lions 14.
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