3 bold predictions for Julian Love in Seahawks’ Week 14 rematch against the Cardinals

Phew, now that the zany game in Gotham is out of the way, the Seattle Seahawks can come back home to the West Coast for a big showdown. The Hawks will be traveling to Arizona to take on the Cardinals in a must-win for both teams. Seattle, in particular, has a lot to lose. Their chances of playoffs if they win this game are 76 percent, but if they lose, those odds drop to 25 percent. Drop each of those by ~20 points, and you have the odds for Arizona in each scenario.

In these moments, teams will look to lean on their best players to have the greatest effect on games. Julian Love is one of those players and has been playing lights out this season as the unquestioned leader at safety. The decline and release of both Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams last season has been blunted by the revelation of Love back deep.

Julian Love has been graded out as the ninth-best safety in all of the league so far this year by PFF (subscription required). He is in the top 10 in pass deflections, stops, forced fumbles, and solo tackles. Quite simply, he has been a force behind the Hawks' pressure cooker of a defense. Look for Mike Macdonald, Aden Durde, and Leslie Frazier to feature him in the game plan this week.

Three bold predictions for Seahawks safety Julian Love in Week 14 against the Cardinals

This will be a rematch of the 16-6 defensive throttling that Seattle doled out to the Cards in Seattle. Look for the Arizona decision-makers and game planners to attack Macdonald's scheme in different ways this time around. Will the backs get more involved in the passing game to neutralize the pass rush? Will Kyler Murray have more designed runs to stretch the defense? Either way, The Seahawks have a Julian Love, who has excelled in all situations (except maybe as a pass rusher) this year.

Prediction 1: Love will get his third interception of the year against Kyler Murray

Although we can count on the game to not play out exactly the same way this time around, one thing that will remain: A Seattle safety will pick off the diminutive passer out of Oklahoma. In Week 12, it was Coby Bryant (who is showing off some talent of his own this year), but Seattle's highest-paid DB will likely want in on the fun as well.

Kyler may try to press, as this is a must-have game at home. When/if he does, Love has the awareness, speed, and ball skills to corral an errant pass. Remember when the aforementioned Diggs had that streak of six straight seasons of at least three interceptions? I'm predicting that the safety squeezes some of that juice from the heavens.

Prediction 2: J. Love will lay a big hit on James Conner to set the tone early

According to PFF, Love's 75.7 coverage grade is top eight and only outdone by his borderline elite run defense grade of 86.4. It used to be a treat to watch Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor roam the field and send warning shots early, just for fun. We thought it was fun as 12s, but it was really to set the tone and get in the opponents' heads.

James Conner is a strong runner, but this Seahawks defense has been playing as a unit, rallying and flying to the ball in recent weeks. I predict that Love will make a huge hit on the Cardinals' ball carrier for minimal gain. Think a hit that makes the crowd involuntarily gasp and gets his defensive comrades all lathered up.

Prediction 3: Julian Love will help to hold impressive Cardinals tight end Trey McBride to single-digit catches

Some of you may not think this is a very bold prediction. Well, did you know that Trey McBride caught 12 balls against Seattle in the first matchup, then went to reel in 12 more catches against a good defense in the Vikings last week? He has absolutely taken off. He is the 3rd-highest scoring TE in fantasy football so far in 2024, and yet he is not getting the fanfare.

Incredibly, McBride has not notched a touchdown so far this season. He is just doing it all on raw yardage and usage. We should expect Seattle to try to counteract Kyler's overreliance on his security blanket, and Love will be expected to try to erase TMB from the picture. I will not conjure up any nostalgic Seahawk safeties for this prediction, because this is Love's shot to etch his own name in Seattle lore.

Listen, correlation does not necessarily mean causation... but I'm still going to leave this right here:

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