Week 8 - Sunday 29th October 2006

Those with a fondness for the old AFC West days will surely welcome the return to the old divisional rivalry and a visit to the Kansas City Chiefs.

I always used to like the Chiefs because once of a while they were the one team you could almost guarantee the Seahawks would finish above in the division. Although they redressed that trend to an extent in the 1990's under Marty Schottenheimer I still always thought of them as the team we were most likely to beat.

This will be our first match up since 2002 when we won 39-32 in the first season at Seahawks Stadium as it was then known. The last time we played at Arrowhead was actually back in the AFC in 2001 when we were defeated 19-7.

The Seahawks only score of that day was a combination of two of the most inexperienced players on the roster as Matt Hasselbeck passed to Shaun Alexander for a TD.

Fast forward 5 years and we now have two of the most valuable players on the roster but both sidelined through injury. The game was likely to be a real test in any event but it most certainly is without the points scoring heart of our offence.

At QB the Seahawks will hand Seneca Wallace (pictured) his first start in the NFL. In my ideal world the backup quarterback would be pretty much able to run the system that the starter follows but there is no doubt that Seneca brings a whole different package to Matt Hasselbeck. How much of a head Mike Holmgrem gives Seneca remains to be seen but to my mind he needs to be given a free enough rein to capitalise on his skills as an elusive scrambling playmaker. From his experience so far you would have to say that he is likely to struggle in Arrowhead but he possesses enough pure athletic ability and has the arm to just give you a glimpse of the fact that he could be great on his day.

It would have been easier for Seneca if Shaun Alexander was fit but once again Mo Morris will deputise. Apart from the second half against the Rams when things started going our way for once it has to be said that Mike Holmgren's use of Morris in the absence of the MVP has been conservative. In tandem with Seneca running the ball it is to be hoped that we can keep the Chiefs defence honest against the run.

In other Seahawk news Gibram Hamden was added to the roster for cover as a 3rd quarterback whilst kick returner Willie Ponder was released to make room. Like Isaiah Kacyvenski he was a player the Hawks would have liked to have kept but with injuries biting it is the special teams that feels the effect. Josh Scobey will return kicks.

There are also changes in the secondary as Jordan Babineaux replaces Michael Boulware at strong safety whilst Boulware will become the nickel back. It's tough on Boulware but the Seahawks secondary has been so shaky that changes were needed. What difference the move makes remains to be seen.

The Seahawks struggle to replace Steve Hutchinson continues and the indications are that rookie Rob Sims might well play there in preference to Center in waiting Chris Spencer. He will be the 3rd player to try the position after 6 games and it really highlights the Seahawks problems after 5 years of consistency at the position.

The Chiefs have had their own injury problems with Trent Green going down in week 1. He was replaced by Damon Huard, brother of former Seahawk back up Brock and it has to be said that he has done extremely well and undoubtedly exceeded expectations. How he will operate against the Seahawks pass defense is frankly anyone's guess but you'd have to hope that we couldn't do much worse. Expect TE Tony Gonzalez to be his main target.

At RB Larry Johnson will pose a very genuine threat though it has to be said that he hasn't yet matched some of the amazing stats he was putting up towards the end of last season. Apart from one busted play giving up a 95 yard TD to Chester Taylor of the Vikings the Seahawks run defense has been solid so I expect us to be able to keep him in check.

Statistically the two teams look very evenly matched but the Seahawks have deeper running injury problems and are coming off the disappointing defeat by the Vikings. By contrast the Chiefs are coming off a last second win against the Chargers so I expect that most people will make the Chiefs favourite and it would be difficult to argue with them. I must admit that I have never become used to seeing the Seahawks as favourites as much as they have in the last 12 months so I genuinely don't mind being behind the odds on this one. It's what a Seahawk fan is used to.

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.

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 26/10/06

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