5 keys to a Seattle Victory: Wild Card playoffs
By Andy Larkin
If the Seattle Seahawks are going to advance past the Detroit Lions in the playoff this year, winning in the trenches is something they must do.
The Seahawks will welcome the Detroit Lions to town Saturday night for a wild card weekend showdown at CenturyLink Field. Though the Seahawks have limped into the postseason, they still have a shot to make a run given the talent and experience on the roster.
With that in mind here are five keys to a Seattle victory on Saturday:
1) Russell Wilson- This might as well be keys 1-5. At the end of the day, this team will go as far as Russell Wilson takes it. To win this game, the Seahawks need their QB to be the elite player he has consistently proven to be. In a season plagued by injuries and shaky offensive line play, RW has still managed to be a steadying force.
It’s important that Wilson hits on some throws early in this game in order to establish a rhythm. There are definitely some mismatches to exploit with players like Doug Baldwin and Jimmy Graham on the field; however Russell still has to make the defense pay when the opportunity presents itself.
If Russell Wilson can connect on some throws early and keep drives alive with his improvisation and athleticism, the Seahawks should be in good shape Saturday. With the Green Bay clunker now nearly a month behind him, Wilson’s play seems to be trending in the right direction. Since that puzzling performance Wilson has thrown eight touchdowns and just one interception. The Seahawks will need more of the same from Wilson if they want to book a trip to Atlanta next week.
2) Disruptive pass rush- It’s no secret that the Lions like to throw the ball. In fact only two other playoff quarterbacks have more passing attempts this season than Matthew Stafford’s 594. Throwing the ball is the Lions best option to attack the Seahawks on Saturday. Especially since the Seahawks are missing All Pro safety and Twitter user, Earl Thomas (Seriously, do yourself a favor and read Earl’s in game tweets. Almost more entertaining than the game itself.).
Given those factors it’s absolutely imperative that Seattle finds a way to disrupt Detroit’s passing game. Luckily the Hawks have the horses to do just that. Michael Bennett for example, may be the single most disruptive player in the NFL. Bennett is extremely versatile proving he can pressure opposing quarterbacks from the tackle and end positions.
Bennett isn’t the only Seahawk who can rush the passer. Cliff Avril has had a career year and leads the team in sacks this season. Cliff also has mastered the art of the strip sack which can change games in an instant. Frank Clark and Cassius Marsh have also come on strong this year as a pair of youthful game wreckers.
This game will be become much more winnable If the pass rush is able to make Stafford uncomfortable throughout the evening.
3) Doug Baldwin & Jimmy Graham need targets- This one is pretty simple. 159 receptions for 2,051 yards and 13 touchdowns. Those are Doug Baldwin and Jimmy Graham’s combined 2016 stats. So it would be in the Seahawks best interest to throw the ball to the their best playmakers.
Russell Wilson threw 21 touchdowns this season. which means more than 60 percent of those touchdown tosses went into the hands of either Baldwin or Graham. The Seahawks throw the ball an average of about 34 times per game.
If Seattle is serious about getting the ball to its playmakers Baldwin and Graham should get eight to ten targets a piece. There is no excuse to throw these guys the ball less than five times in a game as has happened in previous weeks.
If the Seahawks want a chance to win this game they’ve got to get the ball to their best players. Outside of Wilson, Baldwin and Graham are this teams best offensive players. A heavy dose of this one two punch is a recipe for success.
4) Offensive Line must be serviceable- The elephant in the room. Or in this case, the elephant wearing a party hat, playing the trumpet and riding a tricycle in the room. The offensive line has been a major issue for the Seahawks all year. There is no magic fix that will suddenly make this struggling group elite this weekend. But they can be better. And if they want to win on Saturday and beyond, they’ll have to be.
No, the offensive line isn’t going to become great over night, but it is capable of being better than its current state. This is an extremely young group of players who are still working to find their footing at this level both as individuals and as a unit. Which gives reason to hope that they can still improve with each game. Though we haven’t necessarily seen steady improvement from them this season, there have been games where the line has been serviceable.
The offensive line doesn’t need to be All World or even above average. They just need to be mediocre to give the team a shot to put points on the board. At this stage in the season what they can’t afford to be is terrible.
5) Special Teams execution– This is another area of the game Seattle must improve in order to find postseason success. The missed field goals, blocked PAT’s, bad snaps, and overall inconsistencies have all been reoccurring issues in 2016. Special teams execution can go a long way in deciding playoff games when the margin for error is already paper thin.
Jon Ryan is a very capable punter and Steven (or Stephen if we are being technical) Hauschka has proved he can make big time kicks. However there have definitely been struggles in the kicking game this year. Some would point to the fact that rookie long snapper, Nolan Frese has been less than stellar at points this season.
While that may be true the Seahawks will face an even greater challenge as Frese will be unavailable Saturday with an ankle injury. Enter Tyler Ott. The second year man out of Harvard will be assuming all long snapping duties against the Lions. So it’s up to Ryan and Hauschka to compensate for what might continue to be less than perfect snaps.
Next: Was CMike better than Rawls in 2016?
These two are more than capable of getting the job done at their respective positions. Yes bad snaps, can screw up rhythm and routines but Ryan and Hauschka are pros. They will need to block out the doubts and focus on visualizing booming punts and splitting the uprights. Obviously a snap over the head or straight into the turf leaves them little options so it isn’t all on them. Ott will need to at least get it there. Special teams execution will definitely be something worth paying attention to in this matchup.
There may very well be other factors that determine the outcome of this game, but these five keys will definitely contribute to the story. All that’s left to do is sit down and watch it all unfold.