Week 15 - Thursday 14th December 2006

Mike Holmgren complained at his Monday press conference about having to play this game on a Thursday and he's right. I've only just finished the last game review and it's time to start on this preview. With December fatigue setting in I can tell you it is really tough. I imagine the players are feeling it too.

I'm kicking off with my favourite stat of the week that in the last 2 Qwest games against the 49ers the Seahawks have a combined record of 75-3. Both games were embarrassingly one sided and for me this can be another no contest as long as the Seahawks rack up a winand a third consecutive NFC West title.

It's only 4 weeks since we last met when the 49ers upset the odds by beating us 20-14 at Monster Park. It should have been a W for the Hawks but we just could not stop Frank Gore who went for an astonishing 212 yards on the ground. If I see as much weak tackling on Thursday as I saw back in week 10 then I think I better hide the remote and remove throwable objects from my immediate vicinity.

The Seahawks had Seneca Wallace at QB and it was Alexander's first game back before he was up to speed so on that side of things the Hawks can hope for more production, especially if Hasselbeck can maintain his passer rating of 130 he had in last weeks Cards game.

On the downside, injuries continue to bite for the Hawks. WR Darrell Jackson is definitely out with a turf toe injury as are OG Floyd Womack, C Robbie Tobeck and TE Ituli Mili. To make matters worse DT Craig Terrill and LB DD Lewis have gone on injured reserve.

Jackson leads the NFL in TD receptions so his loss will be felt despite the Hawks running relatively deep at WR. Nate Burleson will replace him and it might be fun to get the ball to him in open field to see how he can run. Nate has become so valuable in the return game that he is also expected to keep his job bringing back punts and kicks. It will also be another opportunity to get DJ Hackett involved who went for a career best 104 yards last week.

Rob Sims will replace Womack, with Spencer continuing to take Tobeck's place. I've half been expecting Mike Carlson to be added to the roster as TE so he can coach Jerramy Stevens on how to catch the ball. If that fails to work out Mike could stick around for training to see how far Walter Jones could throw him from the top of the Hawks Nest.

I've tried to steer away from linking Seahawks performances to the injury list but at times this season we'll have been missing QB, RB, WR1 WR2, TE, LG, C and RT for significant lengths of time. Chris Gray, Mack Strong and Walt Jones appear indestructible but again Jones and Strong have been playing injured for a number of weeks. It's perhaps no wonder that we haven't done as well as in 2005 and although a relatively easy schedule has helped, this season more than most has reiterated the  'any given Sunday' train of thought.

As for the 49ers since beating the Seahawks they have gone on a 3 game losing streak at the Rams, Saints and last up at home to the Packers who looked so poor against the Seahawks recently.

Gore currently leads the NFC in rushing yards and he will remain a threat to the Seahawks ropey run defense but the 49ers game could turn on how well Alex Smith plays. He was efficient if unspectacular in the road game and there is speculation that his recent performances might see him benched in favour of Trent Dilfer. I don't really expect that to happen but it is an intriguing prospect.

As I noted at the top Mike Homgren is not a fan of these Thursday games on the NFL Network and I detect that the games (which started in week 13 following the more traditional Thanksgiving games) have not been very popular in the US. The games are not shown nationally like SNF and MNF in the sense that they require a subscription to the NFL Network outside of the local markets and the match up's so far have been fairly lukewarm affairs.

The game will be shown live on SKY which is great for subscribers in the UK but I must add a word or two of warning about why the Thursday games might not have been as popular as hoped. The words are Bryant Gumbel who is the play by play caller. Bryant has had a long media career in the US but, unlike his brother Greg, had never called a pro sports match up of any sorts before now.

His voice is a bit like Kermit the Frog meets the Simpsons on a Vicks inhaler advert. Maybe I'm being unkind but his high pitched nasal tones set my fillings on edge. Alongside him is the often less than endearing figure of Chris Collingworth. Michaels and Madden they aint.

As ever, the game will be followed live in our exclusive Seahawkers UK chat room (no jeans or trainers please) where the properly attired are more than welcome.

Whilst there we like to listen to the radio coverage from the States www.thegamelive.com in the past the top link has been reliable.

For those without Sky there is also now a live streaming option for UK based fans with broadband via http://sports.yahoo.com/nflgamepass but this service has not been totally reliable so please check out the chat room first for further information.

HawksHead

13/12/06

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