*The Seahawks allowed opponents to score at least 31 points 8 times this season. For the year they were outscored 407-310. Only 7 teams allowed more points than the Seahawks, none of whom made the postseason: Dallas 436, Carolina 408, Arizona 434, Buffalo 425, Jacksonville 419, Houston 427, Denver 471.
*Seattle quarterbacks combined to throw 20 interceptions against just 14 touchdowns. By comparison, their opponents threw 31 touchdown passes and just 12 interceptions as the Seahawks boast the league's 27th best pass defense.
*Seattle did not have a running back gain 100 yards in a game all season. Their 1424 yards gained on the ground rank 31st in the NFL, ahead of only Arizona.
*Seattle's #1 Wide Receiver Mike Williams did not play in an NFL game the previous two seasons. Seattle had Deion Branch for the first four weeks of the season but traded him to New England for a draft pick. Branch went on to catch 5 touchdowns (more than any Seattle receiver) for the Patriots after the trade.
*Running Back Leon Washington was tied for the most kickoff returns for touchdown in the NFL this year with 3.
*While Matt Hasselbeck is the clear #1 quarterback when healthy, it was Charlie Whitehurst who led the Seahawks to their playoff clinching win over the Rams. Whitehurst, a 3rd round pick by the Chargers in 2006 had not thrown an NFL pass before this season.
*Seattle will host New Orleans this weekend. During the regular season the two teams met in New Orleans and the Saints won 34-19. Drew Brees threw for 382 yards and 4 touchdowns despite not having Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush or Jeremy Shockey available.
And if the Saints don't absolutely blow the doors off of the Seahawks this coming weekend I will never again pick another NFL game.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so the last couple of years the Rams have not been the most solid team. #1 draft pick in 2010 pretty much sums up their 2009 season quite nicely. But they have done some pretty solid playing this year and to lose to Seattle was just upsetting for the Rams organization and their fans. Not that I am one of them, but I am able to recognize good performance as well as gleams of a bright future behind Sam Bradford.
Yeah, I'm not sure you're going to find a lot of people picking Seattle this weekend. The only real thing they have going for them is the fact that they get a home game. Other than that, the Saints have to be considered heavy favorites.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Rams, I totally agree with you that their future is bright. Bradford is only going to get better and when you look at how much they improved from last year to this year (1-15 to 7-9), you have to figure they're going to continue to move up as he matures.