Random Thoughts Before The Playoff Game

It’s late, and I’m not feeling well. That doesn’t bode well for a coherent article. Instead here’s 8 random thought I had about Sunday’s playoff game against the Redskins.

Don’t forget to join us during the game for a live chat. We’ll start about 5 minutes before kickoff.

• The Seahawks are favored in this game (by 3 points) and they should be, even though they are playing on the road. The are simply the better team both offensively and defensively. Their special teams are better as well. The truth is that Seahawks fans should feel fairly confident about this game.

• Even given the point above, I wont be shocked if the Seahawks lose. “And give Sunday…” right? And it’s not like the Redskins are the Jaguars. They are a good football team in their own right. If the 2010 Seahawks could beat the Saints in a playoff game, then we shouldn’t be shocked if DC manages to pull off the upset here. Clearly, stranger things have happened.

• Would I be disappointed if the Seahawks lost? You’re damn right I would be. Go back to the first point. Seattle is the better team. They should win. Anything less would be a major disappointment.

• I don’t expect this game to a blowout like some people do. Washington is weak defensively where the Seahawks generally struggle to take take advantage of, namely the secondary. They are also strongest where the Seahawks tend to attack, in the running game. I expect this game to be close into the 4th quarter.

• I really hope that the Seahawks have a plan in place to limit Brandon Browners snaps. He hasn’t played in a month, and it’ll take more than 2 padless practices to get back into things. That kind of time off will really hurt one’s endurance, both mentally and physically. Browner already has a tendency to get beat deep on occasion, lets not push him too hard this week. 30-35 snaps is enough when the Seahawks have 5 healthy CBs for this game.

• The Seahawks used the Pistol formation against the 49ers, and then didn’t against the Rams. Against the Rams they had a variation of the read option that used the pro set (2 RB on either side of Wilson) allowing Robinson to still block for Lynch on the read-option plays. Will we see either of those this week? I doubt it. I get the feeling that Bevell like to throw in things like that each week just so that the next opponent wastes time preparing for something that the Seahawks don’t use.

• If the Seahawks do run the read-option from the pro set again, I expect it to be different this time. Instead of Robinson, watch for the Seahawks to bring in Turbin instead and run the triple-option. Bevell is crafty like that.