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Both lines will be challenged when the Seahawks battle the Giants

By Todd Vandenberg

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 08: Tanner McEvoy #19, Russell Wilson #3, Justin Britt #68 and Oday Aboushi #75 of the Seattle Seahawks wait to get on the field before the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 8, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 08: Tanner McEvoy #19, Russell Wilson #3, Justin Britt #68 and Oday Aboushi #75 of the Seattle Seahawks wait to get on the field before the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 8, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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When the Seattle Seahawks face the New York Giants, both the offensive and defensive lines will have to overcome key injuries and tough opposition.

The defensive line has been a position of strength for the Seahawks under Coach Carroll. Its counterpart, the offensive line, has been anything but a strength for the last two years. Now both face challenges due to key injuries. Both must perform at a high level today against an aggresive Giants defensive line and a resurgent rushing attack. How will Seattle pull it off today?

Offensive line can start their turnaround today

It’s no secret that the Seattle Seahawks aren’t at full strength heading into Sunday’s game with the New York Giants. The offensive line has been decimated by injury, the latest to Luke Joeckel. Actually, decimated is grossly underplaying the injury situation, as it literally means the removal of one in every ten. So that would be half of a lineman, not George Fant, Rees Odhiambo, and now Joeckel. So when it comes to starters, it’s actually the third of five. For the hardcore Star Trek fans out there, that puts us in Borg territory. Odhiambo returned and Joeckel will too (hopefully), but that doesn’t change the near-constant offensive line shuffle.

Enough of that. Suffice to say the Seahawks will be scrambling to replace Joeckel. It’s a tall order to keep Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon out of the Seattle backfield. Pierre-Paul had three sacks against the Denver Broncos last week. Everyone on the line will have their hands full.

Seattle will start with Mark Glowinski at left guard. I don’t expect that to last very long, though. My hope is that Ethan Pocic gets into the game quickly and delivers on the potential we saw in the preseason. Joeckel is expected to miss about five weeks. I expect that by then, Pocic will have proven himself a capable starter. He can then slide to right guard and take over Glowinski’s spot.

Defensive line has a secret weapon

While the offensive line bears only passing resemblance to the projected unit, the defensive line has taken a couple of hits as well. First rookie Malik McDowell was lost, potentially for the season. While he was expected to contribute, no one expected him to be a force to match Cliff Avril. And now the stellar Seahawks defensive end is on injured reserve, mulling retirement.  Frank Clark is certainly up to the challenge of replacing Avril. The question is, who steps in for Clark when he rests?

Branden Jackson, that’s who. The Seattle Times Bob Condotta can fill you in on Mr. Jackson. The most important fact? Jackson had four quarterback pressures on just nine pass rushes against the Los Angeles Rams. With Michael Bennett likely to get some additional plays off, look for Jackson to come up big in his opportunities today.

Related Story: Updated injury list for Seahawks - Giants

The Seahawks certainly face challenges on both sides of the ball when they line up against the Giants today at MetLife Stadium. Offensively, they have to establish the running game and protect Russell Wilson. On defense they have to shut down a sushing attack that’s gained 300 yards in the past two games. With the play of men like Ethan Pocic and Branden Jackson, I expect them to be more than up to the task.

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