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VS.


The Seahawks find themselves travelling to Ohio on their magical mystery tour from the bottom of multiple power rankings to the quiet 20 somethings. The Browns and Mike Holmgren will host a Seattle team that has proven it's defensive worth by stopping the run and playing better as games wear on. The Offense has gotten a massive kick start from the no huddle's pace and the young pups in the Offensive Line have starting to protect and maul. The Browns are sniffing blood in the water, though, as the Seahawks come in with major injuries to Marcus Trufant and Tarvaris Jackson.



Injury update:



Seahawks-

QB Tarvaris Jackson is doubtful, C Max Unger is uncertain with a foot injury, G Robert Gallery is doubtful after groin surgery, TE Zach Miller is trying to come back with a neck injury, CB Marcus Trufant is out of the year with a back injury.

Browns

LB Scott Fujita head injury, RB HIllis has lingering knee issues

Things to Watch:

1-Charlie vs the Chocolate Factory
No more chanting... it's Charlie Time. Whitehurst came in cold and did some good things vs the Giants- this week will be best opportunity to make a statement for keeping a starting spot. He'll need to be tough and he'll need to avoid interceptions and strip sacks.

2-Doug Baldwin
By now we knows he's pretty dang good and tough as nails. I'll be watching this week at the adjustment teams will be making against him now that the secrets out.

3-Lynch
The best thing about the no huddle according to Tom Cable is that it forces the D to play Nickel reads. If the ankle is feeling good and he's matched up against nickelbacks, expect Lynch to drag some people for extra yardage. With Charlie in there it's likely we will see a few more run attempts, as well, so... 100+ yards finally?

4-Mike Williams/Golden Tate
Quietly Golden in reduced snaps has been much improved and a vicious blocker at times. BMW has not gone off yet this year. We know Charlie likes both of these guys, so this could equal more targets for them.

5- Okung
He has not had a very good year, not terrible, but nothing like his rookie year (when healthy). Pete made a point to say Russ looked hungry and healthy after the bye week rest. He must avoid penalties and currently is a league leader in that area.

6-CB
Take the bandaid off it's time for the hard hitting tandem of Browner and Thurmond. If a whipping boy comes out of this game, it's likely to be one of them, though.


Predictions-

Seattle 24 Browns 21

Danny Darko wrote:1-No Huddle
Bet on seeing alot of it from Action "don't think" Jackson. When it works, the offense is fun to watch. When it fails the D gets no time to breathe.

And don't look back. If the no huddle works, use it until it doesn't anymore.

Danny Darko wrote:2-Doug Baldwin
He has a arrived. He also takes brutal hits down the gut going up for TJ's throws. If he's healthy, he'll be a guy who decides 3rd downs all day.

The team certainly isn't sort on offensive weapons at the moment. Rice/BMW/Baldwin are a pretty good WR corps, each with their own specific strengths. This week I think the team was finally able to free Zack Miller up a little bit more, which created a lot more options for Jackson downfield.

I guess we should have seen this coming. It makes sense that the offense seems to starting to gel a little bit now that we are in the fourth week given the inexperience on the offensive line, having to keep TE's in to block, Baldwin being a rookie, and Rice being out with injury. Players seem to be getting comfortable with their roles, and the end result is we didn't look like the worst team in football for one afternoon.

Danny Darko wrote:3-Show us your sacks!
Clemm and Brock are not setting the rush on fire and with Bryant on the other end they have to perform. I would also look for some DB blitzing, but whoever it is needs to get at Eli.

Problem is the pressure is completely on Clemons to come up with the pressure right now. It would help if the officials would look at calling holding every now and then because he seems to have linemen dragging on him quite a bit.

Danny Darko wrote:5- Who is this offensive line?
They weren't offensive at all, in fact they didn't give up a sack. Well there was no run game, so what kind of growth might we see this week? Both a run game and pass protection? Then who will the Seahawks blame?

There was no run game early but the run game was effective when mixed with the pass in the second half. Because the line was doing a good job? Because the Falcons sat back with a cushy lead and tried to avoid big plays? Maybe a mixture of both. I think the key is mixing Lynch's hard running style with Washington's bursts of speed.

Lynch looks unstoppable when he is motivated and running hard. If the line can get him some big holes early, I think he'll reward them the rest of the game instead of plodding along.

Danny Darko wrote:6-The rest of the tanking teams.
Colts vs Vikings for Luck. If we're going to buy our way up, we best hope that the Vikings go 0-fer, but I don't see it happening.

The Vikings have been close to winning a couple times, so they'll get one or two sooner or later. The Colts? Hmmm...the only real hope there is that they stick with Painter and he gets comfortable in the offense and starts to make some plays.

True on the O-Line comment. Sando broke down the Falcons rushing attack and they were only coming 3 strong, which is crazy considering everyone has had a field day blitzing against us this year. That being said, I'm happy that Carpenter is reaching the second level and showing some attitude and nasty.

On a side note- Konz! He'll be active in place of McCoy.

Danny Darko wrote:On a side note- Konz! He'll be active in place of McCoy.

Will he be active on game day though?

Let's see...we're playing an early game east of the Mississippi on the east coast. How has that worked out for us in recent years?

Bulltalk wrote:Let's see...we're playing an early game east of the Mississippi on the east coast. How has that worked out for us in recent years?

Not well! I expect an absolute trouncing. The Giants aren't great, but they do have weapons on offense and I expect their WR to run all over the place. Giants 31 -14.

Al Davis died? I bet he wills the Raiders to a computer simulation of himself and the Drafts are chosen by a Max Headroom style computer monitor.

You know, ever since someone here mentioned Nick Foles as a possible fallback option, I've really been watching him closely. He has absolutely no OL, but he's still able to make all the downfield throws. He gets the **** knocked out of him every other snap, but he gets back up and delivers. Still some questions because Arizona hardly runs a professional offense and I'm not sure he's ever lined up under center, but the kid can throw the football.

TTown wrote:You know, ever since someone here mentioned Nick Foles as a possible fallback option, I've really been watching him closely. He has absolutely no OL, but he's still able to make all the downfield throws. He gets the **** knocked out of him every other snap, but he gets back up and delivers. Still some questions because Arizona hardly runs a professional offense and I'm not sure he's ever lined up under center, but the kid can throw the football.

Today's the first chance I've had to watch Robert Griffin III. I'm really curious to see what his future holds, both as a draft pick and NFL player. He's been the buzz of talk radio for his low incompletions rate compared to his TD rate. His athleticism is both his friend and his enemy, but I was more than a little surprised to hear he's already completed his Poly Sci degree, is on the dean's list, and he plans on attending law school.

So...a smart Seneca Wallace?

Hooray, one of the Giants safeties just killed Zach Miller.

We're playing... good. Up 14-7, and nearing the redzone again. What the...

TTown wrote:We're playing... good. Up 14-7, and nearing the redzone again. What the...

The offensive line looks legit. First came the pass protection, now comes the mauling running game.

And we just lost a fumble on the 2 yard line after handing the ball off up the middle to Mike Rob for the third straight time. Strategy!

14-7, Lynch and Robinson have both lost fumbles inside the 10. We could be really laying the hurt here if we didn't love to punish ourselves.

Baldwin's had himself a game.

stupid fumbles and a boneheaded throw by Jackson. He's does a bad job of throwing hospital balls to guys in the middle. McCoy and Miller both got hammered for that reason. Hopefully they can regain the momentum and hopefully manning keeps throwing up stuff Earl can make plays on.

Browner has to stop holding.

Overall the line has been great. Osi Killed Okung once and JPP made a serious move on Carp once that he thought he was going to have help on but didn't.

TTown wrote:14-7, Lynch and Robinson have both lost fumbles inside the 10. We could be really laying the hurt here if we didn't love to punish ourselves.

Baldwin's had himself a game.

I expect the Giants to make adjustments at the half while we come out more or less the same and lose a game we should have won. We cause turnovers, and then we decide to just give the ball away on stupid plays. Jackson's throw into tight coverage on the sidelines was a head-scratcher.

Danny Darko wrote:Overall the line has been great. Osi Killed Okung once and JPP made a serious move on Carp once that he thought he was going to have help on but didn't.

As bad as Carpenter looked early, it's amazing how quickly he's managed to turn things around. Maybe he was just horribly out of shape when the season started?

I also like Moffitt quite a bit. He's fun to watch in the run game.

Here comes Whitehurst because Tarvaris doesn't understand the concept of sliding to avoid contact.

Our offensive line is getting better. Gives a lot of hope for the future. The entire team is getting better, but I still want a stud QB.

And we lose the lead on a fluke 68 TD pass. Browner's got to make that pick or knock the ball down...goddammit.

those were some BIG throws by Whitehurst on that TD drive.

29-25 Hawks, 2:37 left...