Is Seattle's Defense as Good as the Stats say it is?

[CityOfChampions]

Arizona did, in your building without the hostile crowd noise. Who is to say Seattle can't do the same, and WITH hostile crowd noise?

But I think 20 is the magic number. If the Pats score more than that, they will win. If the Seahawks can keep them under 20, then they have a shot.

The Cardinals held us under 20 only because the replacement refs took back the game winning TD which was an absolute joke. Not to mention Gostkowski's missed FG.

 

[New England Seahawks]

They will have to hold us to single digits to prevail.

I'd be beyond stunned if that happens. If I were to take a stab at a score, I'd say this is going to be something like 19-13, Patriots.

 

[New England Seahawks]

The Cardinals held us under 20 only because the replacement refs took back the game winning TD which was an absolute joke. Not to mention Gostkowski's missed FG.

That's not really fair. You can dissect ANY game (replacement refs or not) and play the "what if" game to change what you think should have been the score or the outcome.

 

[Haley]

I'd be beyond stunned if that happens. If I were to take a stab at a score, I'd say this is going to be something like 19-13, Patriots.

I would say this game could go either way. In the past, when the Jets had a top defense, we tended to trade games with them. It will be a battle in any case.

 

[Thirdbasekid24]

Arizona did, in your building without the hostile crowd noise. Who is to say Seattle can't do the same, and WITH hostile crowd noise?

But I think 20 is the magic number. If the Pats score more than that, they will win. If the Seahawks can keep them under 20, then they have a shot.

Arizona shouldn't have though. The Gronk hold that called back the woodhead TD was very ticky tack. The tackles have been getting away with far worse on Jones. Then Gost missed the game winner. Easily should have had at least 21.

Offensively, we're a completely different team from that game. We lost AH early and had to change the game plan. I haven't gone back and watched the game yet but I also don't remember any no huddle until late in the game.

Not trying to say Seattle can't hold New England to 20 or fewer, they have the talent to do it, but the Arizona game is generations ago.

 

[Bhelmet]

This will not be an easy game. Seattle's D is for real and the 12th man will be super pumped and loud. That may be the biggest obstacle for the O - especially where the no-huddle is involved. Hopefully the OL holds up, because it could ugly quick if they do not. This will be a nice warmup for the SF and Houston games. If we come out with a W - I will be ecstatic - no matter whether it is ugly or not.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

No team has a better pair of safeties than Seattle,both could be all pros...I don't expect Welker to be a big factor,I think the slot will be well contained.

Marcus Trufant is the guy you want to pick on and expose,he is the weak link on that defensive front.

Run the ball until they stop you and use screens which is the wisest way to defeat a top ranked defense.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

This will not be an easy game. Seattle's D is for real and the 12th man will be super pumped and loud. That may be the biggest obstacle for the O - especially where the no-huddle is involved. Hopefully the OL holds up, because it could ugly quick if they do not. This will be a nice warmup for the SF and Houston games. If we come out with a W - I will be ecstatic - no matter whether it is ugly or not.

I would bet the house that Belichick put on Bon Jovi music at full blast in practice this week because that is the type of volume they are going to hear on sunday.

 

[JJDChE]

Yes, they are as good as the stats suggest. Without doubt, one of the top 2-3 defenses in the NFL.

 

[everlong]

Brandon Lloyd last year vs the Hawks while with the Rams.

5/67 TD
5/82

The highwater mark for any receiver this year vs them is 60 yards in a game. They've been just as stingy against the run.

 

[CityOfChampions]

That's not really fair. You can dissect ANY game (replacement refs or not) and play the "what if" game to change what you think should have been the score or the outcome.

How isn't it fair? Danny Woodhead clearly scored the game winning touchdown and it was called back by a bogus holding call that never gets called. Saying that the Cardinals held the Patriots to under 20 points isn't *exactly* the truth. But it's fine - Seahawks fans can keep bringing up the Cardinals game if they want and say how you guys can do exactly the same thing to the Patriots to win. You'll just have to hope that Mesko's punt gets blocked again and gives your team a 1st and goal so you can score an easy TD, a clear TD will have to get called back, and Gostkowski will have to miss a game winning chip shot.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I've had this game down as a "gotta worry" game since the schedule came out in April. Now that the season is underway, I don't see any reason to change that view. I have way too much respect for Pete Carroll because we know he's going to have his team ready to play.

Their victory over the Cowboys was impressive (a real beat-down) and they did hang tough with the Cardinals in Arizona before people realized that that was a meaningful accomplishment. I do discount the win over Green Bay for the obvious reasons and they played St. Louis and Carolina basically even over the last two weeks.

It's gonna come down to whether their Offense can keep Brady off the field for big chunks of time. That in turn comes down to whether our D can contain Marshawn (big Vince is gonna have to have a big day) and whether Wilson, with his 70ish Pass Rating, can cause problems for our shaky secondary. Their D limited Rodgers to 220 yards without a TD, but the rest of the resume is impressive on paper but hasn't really been tested, as I don't have Tony Romo or Cam Newton among my top tier QB's and the Cardinals changed QB's during the opener.

Belichick specializes in taking away what an opponent does best, so I'd look for the Pats to flood the box to stop Lynch and dare Wilson to cause trouble.

Crowd noise won't be a factor in play calling since it's been amply documented that the Pats have now streamlined their Offensive calls to one word signals. This isn't Brady's first Rodeo, so I don't worry about him being able to get the snap count off, though the crowd will probably be good for a couple of false starts, which hopefully won't occur at critical junctures.

So, lots of "if's" here, but I see the Pats coming to play and putting up 23--30 points on this D. I'm afraid that we might have to rely on Gostkowski having a big day and maybe coming through in the clutch, which, frankly, worries me.

 

[Haley]

The defense is for real.

What this thread is missing is how our defense stacks up against their offense. Here are a couple of weak points that may work in our favor.

• Seattle is 31st in the league for passing YPG (with 147.0 YPG on average) while 7th in the league rushing (with 140.2 YPG on average) leaving them 27th overall for offense (ypg) and typically running the ball more often than passing.
  
• They have the most penalized offense in the league and a highly penalized defense (12th). I would site the replacement refs as an excuse here but the sheer volume of penalties cannot be entirely written off this way.
  
• They have a -1 turnover ratio on the year versus our +10.

This is why I think Seattle needs to hold us to a pretty low score to win. Unless we really take the day off, I don't see Seattle scoring many points either from their D or O.

In any case, should be a great game. And as always, anything can happen. I am looking forward to it! :rocker:

 

[everlong]

Seattle is 31st in the league for passing YPG (with 147.0 YPG on average) while 26th in the league rushing (with 140.2 YPG on average) leaving them 27th overall for offense (ypg) and typically running the ball more often than passing.

They're 7th in rushing yards per game not 26th.

 

[Haley]

They're 7th in rushing yards per game not 26th.

Whoops, thanks. I must have failed to refresh my page properly. Ill fix my post.

 

[PatsDeb]

I think they are pretty good, but I am not sure they have played an O as good as ours. Green Bay is arguably the best they have seen, but Green Bay has not had a running game to speak of for several years, and they really haven't been themselves this year (plus, Seattle stole the game on the final play). It will be interesting to see how the Pats' O does against them. Protecting Brady will be paramount.

 

[PatsFan2]

Amazing how that Califronia Team featuring Aaron Rodgers - DeShawn Jackson and Marshawn Lynch turned out to be better pros than their USC counterparts.

 

[mayoclinic]

Very nice summary by Doug Kyed of the chess match that will go on between the NE offense and the Seattle defense:

Patriots Will Need to Utilize No-Huddle Offense to Find Mismatches in Seahawks' Defense - New England Patriots - NESN.com

I personally think that Seattle and SF have the 2 best defenses in the NFL, so it will be a great matchup to watch.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

My hope is that it's considered a top performing defense (before the game).

After the game, I hope the pundits are saying maybe it's not as good as we thought and it was the lack of competition that was making it look better than it was .

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Yeah, they're good.

It is a small sample size from 2012, but they were also a top 10 defense in 2011 so it's not like this is a huge surprise.

Crowd noise is going to impact the speed at which we can play as well.

I'd love to have Hernandez back for this one, but I really hope Mankins and Vollmer are good to go too. We may need them even more than Aaron.