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How the match-ups favor the Seahawks to beat the (paper) Jaguars

By Todd Vandenberg

SEATTLE, WA - NOVEMBER 20: Quarterback Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks hands off to Mike Davis #39 against the Atlanta Falcons during the game at CenturyLink Field on November 20, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr /Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - NOVEMBER 20: Quarterback Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks hands off to Mike Davis #39 against the Atlanta Falcons during the game at CenturyLink Field on November 20, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr /Getty Images) /
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The Seahawks face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Are the Jags as good as their stats suggest, or are they just paper tigers?

Listen, the Jaguars are a good team, no doubt. They have a really good defense, as detailed here by site expert and all-around genius Lee Vowell. Yes, the Jaguars lead the league in fewest points allowed. They have the lowest passer rating against in the NFL, too. Yes, they’re great in some key areas. But they haven’t played the Seahawks yet.

The Jaguars are vulnerable against the run

Then again, they do have holes in their game. If they didn’t, they’d hardly have lost four games, would they? The Jaguars are not good against the run. They’ve allowed 1,385 yards on the ground, 20th in the league. The average running play against Jacksonville nets 4.5 yards. That’s 28th in the league.

Now you may be think, so what if they can’t stop the run? That’s one thing the Seahawks can’t do. Ah, but you’re wrong. When Seattle has a healthy decent running back – either Chris Carson or Mike Davis will do – the Seahawks have a fine run game. In games with Carson, Seattle averaged 121 yards per game. With Davis, they’ve averaged 118 yards on the ground. Yes, there are only two games with Davis, but that last one was against the NFL’s top rushing defense.

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    • Without seventh round pick Carson or practice squad promotion Davis, the Seahawks run game is anemic at best. In the six games without either player, Seattle averages just 85 yards per game on the ground. And Russell Wilson accounts for almost 30 of those yards on average.

    Once again Mike Davis could be the Seahawks key player

    Yes, Russell MVP Wilson is the key player, I know. Bobby Wagner is the key man on defense, and is closely followed by Earl Thomas, Sheldon Richardson, Michael Bennett, Frank Clark…okay, I might as well name the entire starting defense and three subs.

    I see Davis as key, though, because he gets tough yards. He’s been excellent catching passes out of the backfield. He’s caught all six of his targets for 78 yards. Most importantly, he’s forcing teams to bite on play action. And he’s a handy guy to have around if you want to play a little street ball:

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