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Kick
off 9PM UK time.
Bottle. Something the Hawks seemed to lack in 2004. The Seahawk nation seems
convinced that the 2005 version has finally become mentally tough enough to
win big games. Convincing the likes of Michael Irvin & Dallas News
columnist Rick Gosselin is quite another. After all, they’ve won on their
last two visits to Seattle so why should things be any different this time
around?
Apart from the change in the Seahawks mindset the Cowboys have come unstuck
in some unexpected situations. They lost to another team with a lot of good
offensive weapons, the Raiders. They also did an uncanny impression of the
Hawks versus the Redskins as they blew a 2 score lead in the last two
minutes. Invincible they are not.
However, they could afford the luxury of committing 4 turnovers & still
end up beating the Giants in OT last week. Granted this was achieved this
without Julius Jones. But they lucked out. "It was luck; totally
luck," Dallas receiver Keyshawn Johnson said "We're entitled to
have a bad game and still win, at least once."
Landmarks
Last week Hass broke Jim Zorn’s team record for consecutive completions
now it’s the turn of Shaun Alexander. He is just 55 yards short of
becoming the teams all time leading Rusher & even on a bad day for him
this is an achievable target.
Injuries
Both teams have injuries to contend with & the key absentee for Dallas
could be LT Flozell Adams. Adams has a season ending knee injury & the
Cowboys Will plug in back up Tackle Torrin Tucker. Tuckers selection is a
little surprising as his performance against the Giants was hardly
outstanding. Tucker may have a nightmare game as he’s up against Grant
Wistrom. Julius Jones did not practice Thursday & his status for the
game is unknown.
Marquand Manuel prepares to start in the place of the hospitalised Ken
Hamlin. There have been suggestions that Seattle might sign Safety Tony Bua
after his release by Dallas. Bua has a reputation as a Special teams demon
& would seem a logical choice while Manuel is a starter. Both DD Lewis
& Andre Dyson are rated Questionable. Lewis should be okay to play with
Dyson being a game day call. Bobby Engram is Doubtful & Darrell Jackson
is out.
The Final Word
This is a great opportunity for the Hawks to build a very commanding lead in
their Division going into the bye week. Even without Ken Hamlin they are
still very capable of winning this game. The teams character has shone
through in recent weeks. The absence of Jackson, Engram, Mili, Dyson &
Boulware for parts of or for whole games hasn’t seen them throw in the
towel. Hamlin’s absence won’t demoralise them & they’ll step it up
another gear to get the W.
Radio Commentary available via Field Pass: http://www.nfl.com/fieldpass
(Subscription required)
Free radio commentary possibly via: http://www.thegamelive.com
Chat Room: http://hawksnest.co.uk/Chat/phpMyChat.php3
Matt
Cheesman (Kingdome UK)
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