3 biggest strengths for Seahawks versus the Bengals week one
By Lee Vowell
Chris Carson versus the Bengals defense
Carson looked great in extremely limited snaps in preseason. He appears ready to have a big year. This could start against a Bengals defense that ranked 29th against the run in 2018. And really the strength of Cincinnati’s defense is their secondary. If Seattle can open up a little hole or two on Sunday, Carson is going to pile up rushing yards.
But I think where Carson exploits the opposing defense the most on Sunday is by catching a few passes out of the backfield. In training camp, the Seahawks worked quite a bit on getting Carson the ball once he was out of the backfield. In August, Pete Carroll even said Carson “might have as good of hands as anybody on the team.”
Seattle doesn’t normally throw to its running backs a ton, but I think this begins to change this season. Carson is a weapon. And Seattle is going to find a way to use him as much as possible. The Bengals defense struggles mightily in covering tight ends and running backs. Seattle knows this.
Think of how scary it is trying to tackle Chris Carson with a head of steam running the ball. Now imagine him in open field after catching a pass out of the backfield. I think we will see this a bit on Sunday and it is going to be fun to watch.