|
|||||
|
Week 2 Sunday 18th September 2005 |
|||||
|
The Seahawks home opener for 2005 is against the Atlanta Falcons who were incidentally the last home regular season opponents of 2004 so we should be able to get some pointers there. Well not really. The Falcons were already in the play offs as indeed were the Seahawks but whilst the Seahawks were fighting for home field advantage the Falcons could not alter their play off seeding, effectively meaning that they had nothing to play for QB Michael Vick only lasted 3 possessions. During that time the Falcons had put 17 points on the board as opposed to the Seahawks 7. Vick was already nursing a troublesome shoulder and it was not clear how long he was going to play for but a crunching Chad Brown hit made up Coach Jim Mora’s mind for him. Hitting Vick and hitting him early would make for a good game plan this weekend but perhaps the most worrying statistic of that 2004 game is that the Falcons rushed for 204 yards whilst the Seahawks rushed for 80. Shaun Alexander missing a share of the NFL rushing title by 1 yard in the process as the Seahawks won 28-26. The
Falcons (11-5) were the only team with a winning record that the Seahawks
beat all season long in 2004. Some may point to the meaningless of the
fixture for the Falcons but it is also true that they do not travel well
with four of their losses coming on the road. Falcons
to watch for Warrick Dunn (RB) - The veteran still knows how to get it done. The Seahawks aren’t going to stop him; it’s how well we contain him on the run. DeAngelo Hall (CB) - He took on Terrell Owens on MNF and showed that he’ll be aggressive on the line. Also returned an interception for a TD against the Seahawks last season. Patrick
Kerney (DE) – Will be up against inexperienced Sean Locklear who is really
going to have to come up with a big game. Seahawks to watch for Marcus Tubbs (DT) – After an outstanding camp and pre-season, Tubbs struggled against an excellent Jaguars O-line but he needs to get in the way of Dunn. Peter Warrick (WR) – After being limited to returning punts in week 1, Warrick will get more action on Sunday as a receiver and it will be interesting to see how he does. Grant
Wistrom (DE) – It will be good to see him playing healthy again it would
be especially nice to see a few hits on Vick. Those you won’t seeFalcons: Kevin Mathis, in the season’s most unlikely story so far he was ejected prior to the week 1 game for fighting with Jeremiah Trotter, then a few days later he ripped up his knee in an injury that could end his career. Seahawks:
DJ Hackett, Itula Mili, and Wayne Hunter are all listed as doubtful but
don’t expect to see any of them. PredictionI think it will be a close game but there’s something about the chemistry of the teams (aided by the fact that I’m a rampant homer) that makes me favour the Hawks, add into that the Falcons slightly rocky road record and I see the Seahawks with the W 27-20. UK Seahawkers There will be 3 of us representing in Seattle this weekend, so hats off to Mark Irving, Dean Galione and James Needham. With the game being live on Sky at 9:15pm on Sunday 10 of us (at the last count) are meeting up to watch the game in the North West. HawksHead |
|||||