Seattle Seahawks vs. St. Louis Rams: Complete Week 7 Preview for Seattle
As bruised and battered as the Seattle Seahawks egos and roster have become over the last week, the St. Louis Rams don't want to hear anything about it. Both teams have suffered injuries in key areas, but it's hard to argue against the Seahawks remaining the better team entering this matchup.
Seattle will look to bounce back after being soundly beaten in a home game by the fast-rising Dallas Cowboys by paying it forward to the Rams. St. Louis has just one win this season, and it came on the road; the team has been outscored in the second half of home games 66-19.
Coming into the year as the reigning champions, the Seahawks had to know they would be the measuring stick for every team on their schedule. However, the team has not appeared to be "up" for every game this year. Wide receiver Doug Baldwin made several impassioned and expletive-filled comments following last week's loss, per The Daily Herald's John Boyle: "I thought we played (expletive). I thought we played (expletive) last week, too. We didn't correct the things that we needed to correct from last week. ... We have penalties, we're not running the ball like we need to, a whole bunch of (expletive)."
One of the main complaints of the loss to the Cowboys was the lack of touches for Marshawn Lynch and the poor usage of Percy Harvin.
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell responded to his critics' complaints with agreement and excuses for the most part, per Gregg Bell of The News Tribune: "But I do care about us winning the game. And Marshawn is a huge key for us winning the game. And we do—and I—have to do a better job of giving him the ball.”
Seeing Lynch take more carries should bode well against a Rams defense that has allowed an average of 139.8 rushing yards against—good for 26th in the league this year. Bevell touches on issues with getting Harvin the ball by giving examples of poor execution, but I think the issue is a lack of variety.
The Rams offense appears headed for a three-headed rushing attack with the relatively new usage of rookie Tre Mason last week, in addition to Zac Stacy and Benny Cunningham. The trio accounted for 78 yards rushing against the fifth-ranked San Francisco 49ers run defense.
With Seattle still sporting the league's top run defense, queue up another aspect of the game in their favor. I'll delve further into key matchups later on, but click through for all the details of this week's action.
Seattle Seahawks Week 6 Recap
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The Seahawks entered last week's action against the Dallas Cowboys averaging a league-high 167.3 yards rushing per game but were held to just 80 yards in the contest. Russell Wilson completed 14-of-28 passing attempts for 126 yards and an interception.
A run defense that had allowed just 249 yards total through its first four games surrendered 162 yards to league-leading rusher DeMarco Murray and Lance Dunbar. It was a poor showing both offensively and defensively for the reigning champions. A great showing by the special teams unit helped keep the 30-23 defeat from being a blowout.
Wilson wasn't particularly pleased with his performance in the game, according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times: "I could have played a lot better. I didn’t play my best game."
The lack of touches for Marshawn Lynch was of much greater concern to most following the game. The Pro Bowl running back had just two carries at the end of the first half and finished the game with only 10 carries for 61 yards and a catch for a gain of one yard. NFL Networks' NFL analyst Bucky Brooks (h/t Seattle Times) made an astute observation of the Seahawks' strengths:
"The big thing with them is having an understanding and being true to their identity. I think their offense still revolves around Marshawn Lynch. When he’s running well it changes the way the defense has to play them. I think sometimes they get in a little trouble when they get a little cute, and they do some creative things with Russell that kind of detracts from what the focus of the offense should be.
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While it was a tough loss at home for the Seahawks, it remains just one loss in a season with 10 weeks remaining and plenty of time to turn things around. This week's matchup with the St. Louis Rams marks the Seahawks' first divisional game of the year.
News and Notes
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Australian Rugby Star Quits League to Play in NFL
Jarryd Hayne, one of Australia's biggest stars in the country's rugby league, has decided to quit and take a run at joining the ranks of football's elite. Per The Wall Street Journal's Rob Taylor, Hayne had this to say about the seemingly sudden decision: "I’m done. Emotion was keeping me in rugby league. My game is based around power and speed and that is what the NFL is all about."
Bleacher Report's Michael Schottey has all the details here. The Seattle Times' Bob Condotta reports Seattle might be interested in the rugger.
Russell Wilson Jerseys Proving to be Popular
According to a news release from the NFL Players Association, the Seahawks quarterback has outsold all players in jersey sales for the second quarter of the league's fiscal year. On a side note, Green Bay packers running back Eddie Lacy leads the league in bobblehead sales and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning leads in Fatheads sales.
Doug Baldwin Explains Himself
During the Seahawks loss to the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday, video was shown of receiver Doug Baldwin screaming intensely at quarterback Russell Wilson. While Baldwin made it clear in postgame comments that he wasn't upset with Wilson, ESPN.com's Terry Blount got a hold of the receiver for further explanation.
That piece can be found here.
Quote of the Week
Pete Carroll on how Jarryd Hayne's transition to the NFL and what position he would play, per The Seattle Times:
"I don’t think I’m able to talk about him as far as I know. We couldn’t talk about another player on another team—we just want to make sure we don’t mess it up so as soon as we’re free and I know what the rulings are; I’ll give you some scoop on it. It’s a pretty exciting thought; I’ve always thought it’d be cool to recruit down there because there are some great players and it’s a great game and it’s a very physical demanding game and those guys have all the same kind of stuff that we’re looking for in our guys, but I’ll stay real general on it if it’s okay.
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Injury Report
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| Player | Position | Injury Status |
| Bobby Wagner | LB | Out |
| Russell Okung | OT | Questionable |
| Byron Maxwell | CB | Day-to-day |
| Zach Miller | TE | Out |
| Tharold Simon | CB | Questionable |
| Alvin Bailey | OG | Probable |
| Jeremy Lane | CB | Short-term IR |
| Jordan Hill | DT | Questionable |
| Eric Pinkins | DB | Out |
| Max Unger | C | Out |
| Cassius Marsh | DE | Questionable |
| Luke Willson | TE | Questionable |
*Injury information gathered from Rotoworld.com.
The Seahawks suffered some injuries in key areas last week that will call for several lineup changes. If Byron Maxwell and the recently returned-to-practice Tharold Simon are unable to play against the Rams, the Seattle secondary would be stretched even thinner than it had been in prior weeks.
When Maxwell went down during the game against the Dallas Cowboys, Marcus Burley was shifted to the outside with recent practice squad activation Steven Terrell into a larger role. Burley saw his fewest targets since Week 1 (four) but allowed the most yardage he's allowed all year (94 yards).
The Seahawks shifted safety Terrell into the nickel position over cornerback DeShawn Shead, but Terrell has since been waived in favor of defensive end Greg Scruggs. The move can only mean that the coaches are confident in the progress they've seen from Simon and plan to start him in his first game back from injury.
Should Max Unger remain out of commission, the play of Stephen Schilling in Week 6 promises that there won't be much drop-off in the team's already lax pass protection. With Bobby Wagner expected to be out a few weeks, the Seahawks' deep linebacker corps will be tested.
Expect to see K.J. Wright shift inside with Malcolm Smith inserted back into the starting lineup on the outside. Zach Miller will miss his third straight game, with Luke Willson fully expected to play. It's a smattering of injuries, but the Seahawks will need to suck it up and play as well as they're capable of.
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Matchups to Watch
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WR Kenny Britt vs. CB Tharold Simon
It's been a while since Tharold Simon has seen any live action, practice notwithstanding, and he'll get an early test against a solid receiver in St. Louis' Kenny Britt. Though nowhere near being the once promising prospect that Tennessee Titans fans hoped he would become, Britt still provides the Rams with a solid size/speed combination that will challenge Simon's readiness.
Over the last three weeks, Britt has averaged more than six targets per game for an average of about 59 yards. While those may not be the most intimidating numbers, they can grow larger against a rusty Simon if he's able to win the battle early.
Expect to see quarterback Austin Davis test Simon over Richard Sherman when attempting to move the ball through the air.
QB Russell Wilson vs. St. Louis Secondary
Wilson turned in one of the worst games of his professional career last week, throwing for just 126 yards and dropping an already poorly ranked passing offense to 31st in the league. Part of that ranking is by design, as only the Cleveland Browns have called for fewer dropbacks than Seattle this season.
Though it's in the Seahawks' best interest to refocus on establishing their running game this week, the passing game has been lackluster for a few weeks now.
Rams starting corner Janoris Jenkins got burned last week for an 80-yard touchdown just before halftime and ended up allowing 120 yards for the game. Safety T.J. McDonald has consistently been a weak point in the Rams' coverage. Over the team's last four games, he has allowed 13 completions on 16 targets for 201 yards and two touchdowns. He has no interceptions or passes defensed as well.
The Seahawks should target these two starters whenever possible to help get Wilson's season back on track and boost Seattle's woeful third-down conversion percentage of 38.1.
DE Robert Quinn vs. OT Russell Okung
After racking up a staggering 19 sacks in 2013, Rams defensive end Robert Quinn is yet to take a quarterback down in 2014. As a team, St. Louis has just three sacks. Despite that fact, Quinn has still come close several times, gathering six hurries and six quarterback hits.
Wilson has been sacked 11 times, despite Seattle's 31st ranking in passing plays per game, and has been pressured on 41.1 percent of them. If there was ever an opportunity for Quinn to pick up a sack, it would be this week.
While Okung has been getting a bad rap of late, his torn labrum provides some reason. He's still allowed six hurries over the last four games and racked up seven penalties in the last three. Though he's yet to allow any sacks this season, Okung needs to bring his A-game to keep Wilson upright.
Prediction
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The story going into this game will focus on Marshawn Lynch getting touches after offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell inexplicably gave him just two carries in the first half of the Week 6 game. In Seattle's three wins, Lynch has taken 63 attempts for 270 yards and three touchdowns.
In the two losses, he's totaled just 16 carries for 97 yards. Based on Bevell's comments about getting Lynch more involved offensively, it's safe to say we should see more of the running game against the St. Louis Rams.
Injuries to Byron Maxwell and Bobby Wagner could create major weaknesses for the Rams offense to take exploit. Austin Davis has proved to be a capable quarterback when given time to throw and has shown an ability to put up big numbers with so-so weapons.
Nothing is ever set in stone in divisional matchups, but this is a game the Seahawks should win.
Prediction: Seattle 26, St. Louis 19
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