Seahawks and the Cardinals

This Sunday night the Seattle Seahawks will take on the Cardinals in Arizona. The Cardinals are a slight favorite at home over the Seahawks although the away team has done quite well in Arizona. Actually the Cardinals have played will in Seattle. We will have to see if this continues this season too.

Though the Cardinals beat the New York Jets on Monday Night football they still need to beat the Seahawks if they intend to stay in the race to win the NFC West. The Seahawks have a 4-1 record while the Cardinals are 3-3. This is quite the deal when the Seahawks always play better in the second half of the season. This season could even be more true than before since Russell Wilson is playing his way back into shape after getting hurt in the first game against the Miami Dolphins. Even though Wilson did not have a good game against the Atlanta Falcons he always finds a way to rebound. Though he didn’t play well against the Falcons he always finds a way to win the game at the end when it is necessary. He continues to show us the big time quarterback he is even under trying times. This goes for the defense as well. Though they played the worst defense in the 3^rd quarter against the Falcons they were able to shut them down in the 4^th quarter especially the key turnover made by Earl Thomas. Of course this is where championship teams make their grade.

Michael Bennet is expected to be back Sunday night after having to leave the game against the Falcons because of injury. This is good news though the Seahawks have other quality defensive linemen they don’t have a lot of depth at the line either. Frank Clark who missed the game against the Falcons is expected back on Sunday to help out the pass rush as well. Tight Luke Willson who was injured to against the Falcons near the end of the game is expected out for several weeks though he is to return before the season is over. This puts the pressure of Jimmy Graham to stay in at tight end as well. They don’t have a lot of depth there either. I would not be surprised to see the Seahawks acquire another tight end since the remaining tight ends are veteran Brandon Williams and rookie Nick Vannett who started the season injured himself. Williams is primarily a blocking tight end while Vannett can receive and block. In some situations they could use tackle Garry Gilliam at tight end as a blocker. In college he started out as a tight end. On Thursday Jimmy Graham did not practice because of knee/hip injury so he may not play Sunday or at least be limited in his duty. The Seahawks could use rookie wide receiver Tanner McEvoy in at tight end as a receiver along with Vannett if Graham can't go on Sunday. Another questionable one is safety Kam Chancellor who missed the game against the Falcons.

I expect that the Seahawks will win on Sunday though it could be a close game because they usually play better after having a poor game on either side of the ball. The Seahawks running game which has been quite absent needs to return. Thomas Rawls will still be out for a few more weeks so they will have to depend on Christine Michael primarily along with rookie Alex Collins and C.J. Spiller who comes in on third down. We hope to that Russell Wilson can have a passing game like he did against the New York Jets so let’s go Hawks!