Week 6 - Sunday 15th October 2006

You remember the Rams don't you? Our big divisional rivals and bogey team? The St Louis Rams, you know ring any bells?

Maybe it's just me but with old rivals the Raiders coming to town and new rivalries fostered by the Superbowl and a Poison Pill contract, then I'd sort of overlooked the good old Rams, the team we swept in 2005.

The game in Seattle last season was a fairly routine 31-16 affair whilst the earlier game in St Louis opened with a 99 yard Rams TD return and ended with a Jordan Babineaux forced fumble for a 37-31 victory. Although the road game was closer the Seahawks were dominant for most of it and I even wrote a slightly off the wall report about it here: The Silence of the Lambs

Perhaps the scariest statistic from last season is that Shaun Alexander ran for almost 300 yards and 5 TD's over the course of both games. Of course, he will be absent this time around with a broken metatarsal. Mike Holmgren has said he would be out for 'two' weeks then for a 'few' weeks but the sad truth is that most of England knows how long a metatarsal takes to heal.

Can the Rams stop Mo Morris? If you wish to follow the evidence of the Packers 3rd string running back Noah Herron running for 100 yards plus and a TD in 3 quarters this last weekend then I would say no they probably can't. Although the Seahawks were tentative in the extreme about giving Morris the ball in Chicago I would certainly expect them to have more faith in him against the Rams.

I'm sure the Rams have been watching film on the Seahawks and have noticed that the pass protection hasn't been up to last years standards and that Matt Hasselbeck has thrown 7 interceptions. I expect them to blitz early and blitz often.

The injury report lists Bobby Engram as questionable with a possible thyroid problem so expect Deion Branch to line up opposite Darrell Jackson with Burleson in the slot and for DJ Hackett to be active for the game. DJ scored his first career TD in the home game against the Rams last season and also had a good game at the Edward Jones Dome as if to emphasize the Seahawks depth at WR.

By contrast to Hasselbeck, Rams QB Marc Bulger has not thrown a single interception though those that saw him throw 3 balls straight at Green Bay Packers last Sunday will wonder how at least one of them didn't catch the damn thing. Bulger has looked efficient but I get the impression that he's not quite as confident as was a couple of years ago.

Holt and Bruce will play assuming that their retirement home lets them out for the afternoon. Curtis and Macdonald will play WR when they have their mid afternoon nap.

I'd be more worried about Rams Tight Ends with ridiculous names who have hurt the Hawks in recent years. Stand up Cam Cleeland, Brandon Manumaleuna and the Rams latest recruit, Joe 'Klip' Klopfenstein. I don't predict anything and I never will, as Ron Atkinson once said but I guarantee that Klip will have a good game.

As far as the Seahawks are concerned at TE then it is a welcome return for Jerramy Stevens who could well be crucial causing match up problems in the Rams defense.

Rams RB Steven Jackson (does he still call himself Action Jackson?) will be a threat but has never quite delivered the promise of his rookie season. He's a big strong back who takes some bringing down but the Seahawks have been excellent against the run so I don't see him being a massive factor.

It is perhaps too soon to draw conclusions from any statistics but at the moment they indicate that neither team is great against the pass so no great surprise there then.

The other thing I should mention is that we've lost our rivalry with Mad Mike Martz who left the Rams in bizarre circumstances last season when the Rams front office took exception to him trying to call plays from his sick bed or something like that. The Rams have appointed the steadier but duller alternative in Scott Linehan who doesn't have a huge NFL background as either a player or a coach. He is one of the upcoming breed who, much like Mike Holmgren 15 years ago, will be judged by their achievements in the NFL. Coaching wise you'd have to say that is advantage Holmgren, but we will see about that come Sunday.

What I'm building up to is that I think the game is going to be close, indeed all of the Rams games this season have been settled by a score of 8 points or less so it could well be one of those games where small margins are very important. An interception here, a first down there, or a dropped catch might well be decisive on this occasion more than most.

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 11/10/06

HOME

FORUM

CONTACT