2010 NFL Playoffs: NFC Wild Card, New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks Preview

Seahawks offense vs. Saints defense

Who's been here before?

The Seahawks' offensive effectiveness and efficiency is greatly dependent on the presence or absence of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. He may be 35 years old, but when given time he has shown glimpses, albeit small ones, of his ability to move the chains.

With a little mobility left in the tank, he still passes with a decent amount of accuracy and makes quick, if inconsistently sound, decisions.

At this point, backup Charlie Whitehurst struggles in these areas and while he is a nice athlete with good arm strength, he has not displayed the ability to keep the Seattle offense on the field.

Hasselbeck looked like he could have played this past Sunday night and barring setbacks, should be ready to go on Saturday.

The Seahawks need him if they want a realistic chance at winning.

Any hope of moving the ball?

In Week 11, during the last match up between these two teams, Hasselbeck passed for almost 370 yards, completing over 70% of his passes.

Looking at the tape, the Saints failed to get consistent pressure on him with either their blitzes or front four. Further, the Saints played a lot of zone coverage against the Seahawks' three receiver sets.

Hasselbeck proceeded to spread the ball around, taking what the defense gave him.

Both safety Malcolm Jenkins and Darren Sharper missed the Week 11 match up, likely accounting for some of this. Even though CB Jabari Greer has experienced some mishaps in coverage lately and did so against Seattle as well; the Saints should let their defensive backs match up in tight man coverage against the Seahawks' limited group of pass catchers.

Can mammoth WR Mike Williams and dynamic TE Cam Morrah take advantage of size and speed differences in their match ups?

Seattle can run on the Saints...maybe.

The Seahawks running game ranks among the worst in the league. Injuries at the guard spot and inconsistency in the play of center Chris Spencer have played a large role in their ineffectiveness.

But in the earlier match up between these two teams and intermittently over the course of the last few weeks, running backs Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett have found chunks of yardage in between the tackles and via cutbacks, respectively.

However, the Saints have employed a base five man defensive front, lining strong side linebackers Danny Clark or Jo-Lonn Dunbar up on the line of scrimmage over opposing tight ends. This makes it difficult to run outside on the Saints and has increased the success of their run defense overall, especially as strong safety Roman Harper will drop down into the box.

Seattle will have to win their battles against the interior defensive wall of Sedrick Ellis and Remi Ayodele in order to get offensive linemen up to the undersized second level of the Saints run defense, particularly middle linebacker Jon Vilma.

The running game will be crucial in keeping what should be an aggressive Saints defense at bay.

Advantage: Saints

Saints offense vs. Seahawks defense

From rookie to Brees: Can Seattle replicate its Week 17 performance?

The Saints offense is a far cry from what the Seahawks faced on Sunday night. Any of Marques Colston, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson, Lance Moore and Jimmy Graham would be No. 1 targets on the starved Rams offense. And that does not take into account Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush.

On paper, Seattle should not be able to match up against the multitude of weapons the Saints will roll out.

Seattle will have to use more zone coverage schemes to prevent big plays. But after failing miserably to match up in man coverage in the last meeting, Seattle struggled to get pressure on Brees, leaving their defense vulnerable to the Saints' potent vertical attack.

The Seahawks should bring out an aggressive defensive game plan, disguising coverages and covering tightly in the deep thirds and quarters zones.

DE Chris Clemons, their only dynamic pass rusher, has to show up in his match ups against the vulnerable Saints offensive tackles.

Who will be more physical?

The Seahawks defense can be a physical bunch.

The Seahawks play big upfront, rotating several large defensive tackles and trying to replace the big presence of former DE Red Bryant with Kentwan Balmer and Raheem Brock.

They also are playing one of the largest 4-3 linebacker corps in the NFL with the physical David Hawthorne, Lofa Tatupu and Aaron Curry. Rookie Earl Thomas and veteran leader Lawyer Milloy are fearless and physical presences at safety as well.

However, they will face a huge offensive line with perhaps the best guard in the league in Carl Nicks. In the last meeting, Saints running back Chris Ivory ran over and muscled through the Seattle defense early on, setting a tone.

Without running backs Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory for the rest of the season, should we expect anything out of the Saints running game?

We shouldn't, but Seattle must make sure they tackle well and get the Saints, a good third down offense, into long yardage situations.

Advantage: Saints

Overall, the Seahawks look outmatched, but plenty of people wrote them off prior to their Week 17 game against the Rams.

Winning at Qwest Field will not be easy. If Seattle can protect the ball and control the clock, they may be a few takeaways and missed Saint opportunities away from being responsible for the major upset of the postseason in only its first game.