Week 10 - Sunday 12th November 2006

I prefaced my last preview of the game in St Louis by saying that this years match up hasn't quite brought the rivalry of the previous few years (from a Seahawks point of view at least). Whilst I still think that is the case, there is no doubt that this is a huge game as far as the 2006 season is concerned in the NFC West.

The Arizona Cardinals have proved to be "next" years team yet again and although the 49ers have chiselled out some results I don't think even their most ardent fan would say they are in with a chance of mounting a realistic challenge.

For the 4th season running it will come down to either the Seahawks or the Rams in the NFC West and as it stands the advantage the Seahawks enjoy was earned by the narrowest of margins in St Louis as Josh Brown kicked the winning points as time expired following a breathless 90 second drive by Matt Hasselbeck. Click Here to listen to highlights of Steve Raible's radio commentary of the game in St Louis.

This time, for the Seahawks sake, it is to be hoped that the game is in the bag by then. As well as Seneca Wallace has played in backing up Hass, I just don't think he is capable of pulling a game out of the fire like that at this stage of his career.

It will also be another week without the running talents of Shaun Alexander who ran for 165 yards in the corresponding fixture last season. The good news for the Seahawks is that Mike Holmgren is finally showing some confidence in Mo Morris and the Rams have really struggled against the run this season.. The Seahawks will hope for an early lead in order to dictate the play but even if that doesn't happen we know from the game in St Louis that the Rams are one of the teams in the NFL that you can run the ball against to try and recover a significant deficit.

Those familiar with the recent history of the match up will also need no reminding of where the main Rams threat comes from. Torry 'Big Mouth' Holt who since his jibe that the Rams had a 'mental' edge over the Seahawks has now been on the losing team for 3 straight games, however his ability to catch a ball against the Seahawks secondary is a worry. With the Rams other receivers not putting up big numbers so far I was pondering if it was worth doing a Steve Smith NFC Championship game style job on him but I doubt that Mike Holmgren will do that even though the total coverage of the main threat was effective against the Panthers. I also stand by my previous comments about Rams RB Steven Jackson that he will have a good game but not a brilliant one.

The main worry for Hawks fans is the veritable pro-bowl of an injury list. Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselbeck, Robbie Tobeck, Bobby Engram, Sean Locklear, Marcus Tubbs, DD Lewis, and you can expect all of them except Tobeck to be on the inactive list come Sunday.

There is no doubt that question marks remain about the Seahawks defence but on the plus side we did manage to get to Bulger the last time out and with an NFL 2nd best 30 sacks on the season it could be that attack will be the Seahawks best form of defense. I point out purely by way of contrast that the Rams have 16 sacks on the season.

Victory for the Seahawks would give us a 2 game advantage together with possession of the tie breaker so barring disasters of monumental proportions this game is effectively for the division. What worries me more than anything else in the match up is that the Seahawks can afford to lose the game whilst the Rams cannot and that can be a powerful motivation.

The game is live in the UK behind the red button on Sky Sports Extra on Sky's digital service.

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 (8/11/06)

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