I'm curious why this isn't brought up more. Atlanta struggles against the run and I expect Lynch to have a big day because of it. But Atlanta also gave up a 100 yards a game against Newton this year. Everyone wants to talk about their passing offense and its matchup with our DB's. Our running game against this defense seems to be the most lopsided matchup of the game and that tends to bode well for Seattle. If they can't stop Wilson or Lynch it makes our zone read packages and our play action even tougher to defend. This is getting surprisingly little talk on the board....

True, but they also did really well against Bob Griffin's running.

Seattle's offense as a whole is a great match up against the Failcons. Their offense vs. Seahawk defense is a wash.

Griffin got hurt in one of the games against them if I'm not mistaken?

I agree. We have favorable match ups at almost every spot on offense. Looking forward to Wilson have a big day.

austinslater25 wrote:Griffin got hurt in one of the games against them if I'm not mistaken?

I agree. We have favorable match ups at almost every spot on offense. Looking forward to Wilson have a big day.

Yeah they knocked him out with a concussion, Cousins came in and threw 2 picks and Washington lost the game in the 4th quarter.

What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

Dirty Bird wrote:What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

Griffin didn't run out of bounds and took a big hit that may have cost them the game. Wilson is a lot shiftier than Griffin, if you're expecting the same type of quarterback play, you're in for a surprise.

First of all you need to delineate mobile QBs vs Read Option QBs.

He faced 3 mobile QBs all season- Vick, RGIII, an Newton.

-Vick is not a read option QB so we can cancel him out.
-RGIII is a read option QB, but they only ran it one time before he was concussed.
-Newton is a read option QB, and ran the play multiple times over the 2 games period- he averaged 100 ypg and they absolutely obliterated them between D.williams/Stewart, and Newton the read option run. Newton was also able to shred them in the air as a result of it's effectiveness.

12evanf wrote:

austinslater25 wrote:Griffin got hurt in one of the games against them if I'm not mistaken?

I agree. We have favorable match ups at almost every spot on offense. Looking forward to Wilson have a big day.

Yeah they knocked him out with a concussion, Cousins came in and threw 2 picks and Washington lost the game in the 4th quarter.

Yep, he tried to run into the endzone. What he didn't realize was how fast Sean Weatherspoon's closing speed was. Which is why he got knocked out.

Dirty Bird wrote:What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

Mike Vick's team was awful all year and Bob was knocked out early. The Falcons haven't faced Wilson yet and there is no comparison to him except Drew Brees. Brees did well...we shall see.

Dirty Bird wrote:What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

Griffin ran ONCE before his concussion. The Eagles don't run much zone read stuff. Russell runs more like Cam than he does like Vick or Bob. The only difference is that Cam will truck a LB, Russ will throw a wicked pump fake and then break their ankles with a juke.

rideaducati wrote:

Dirty Bird wrote:What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

Mike Vick's team was awful all year and Bob was knocked out early. The Falcons haven't faced Wilson yet and there is no comparison to him except Drew Brees. Brees did well...we shall see.

except for the 6 picks anyway.

12evanf wrote:

Dirty Bird wrote:What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

Griffin didn't run out of bounds and took a big hit that may have cost them the game. Wilson is a lot shiftier than Griffin, if you're expecting the same type of quarterback play, you're in for a surprise.

Like I said our D closes in fast. They can handle the shifty dudes. It's the one's that outmuscle them who cause the problems.

Dirty Bird wrote:

12evanf wrote:

austinslater25 wrote:Griffin got hurt in one of the games against them if I'm not mistaken?

I agree. We have favorable match ups at almost every spot on offense. Looking forward to Wilson have a big day.

Yeah they knocked him out with a concussion, Cousins came in and threw 2 picks and Washington lost the game in the 4th quarter.

Yep, he tried to run into the endzone. What he didn't realize was how fast Sean Weatherspoon's closing speed was. Which is why he got knocked out.

What your language, Big Brother is watching....

If we CAN establish the run with Lynch, Wilson or both then we control the game (he who controls the game, controls the clock). If we struggle I don't expect us to win a shoot out.

Dirty Bird wrote:What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

Wilson is going to be a big problem. Atlanta's run D is not as stellar as you think it is. As your team begins to sell out to stop Marshawn, the play action is going to hurt big time.

Dirty Bird wrote:What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

This would make perfect sense if you tackled Cam and he demolished you. If you need a better picture of that I have a video coming up starring Lynch and I will air it for you at 1pm on Sunday.

The reason you guys did better with Vick and Griffin is because they run all over the place. It isn't because they were smaller right? You are going to get confused by RW's running out of the read option where he will run into big holes. Once you figure it out he will burn you for an accurate 50 yard pass down the field. Don't get confused of the missed bombs in the Redskins game pretty sure your turf will play very well into our hands

If the offense just does there thing they will score a decent amount of points. The game will be decided by whether our D can get a couple unexpected stops.

Wilson's running ability, coupled with a precocious sense of situation decision making, will be a difference in this game. And our ability to run against Atlanta fits into the base strategy to contain Atlanta's offense: keep Atlanta'a offense on the sideline. Eat up the clock. Strike when we can, score, no turnovers.

Dirty Bird wrote:What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

Go watch the 72 yard run by Newton...they didn't put a hand on him..As I mentioned in my earlier post. It has nothing to do with size or physicality..it has to do with the system.

I will write this post again as it seems everyone ignored it but it is the truth of the matter..no reason to debate:

First of all you need to delineate mobile QBs vs Read Option QBs.

He faced 3 mobile QBs all season- Vick, RGIII, an Newton.

-Vick is not a read option QB so we can cancel him out.
-RGIII is a read option QB, but they only ran it one time before he was concussed.
-Newton is a read option QB, and ran the play multiple times over the 2 games period- he averaged 100 ypg and they absolutely obliterated them between D.williams/Stewart, and Newton the read option run. Newton was also able to shred them in the air as a result of it's effectiveness.

austinslater25 wrote:I'm curious why this isn't brought up more. Atlanta struggles against the run and I expect Lynch to have a big day because of it. But Atlanta also gave up a 100 yards a game against Newton this year. Everyone wants to talk about their passing offense and its matchup with our DB's. Our running game against this defense seems to be the most lopsided matchup of the game and that tends to bode well for Seattle. If they can't stop Wilson or Lynch it makes our zone read packages and our play action even tougher to defend. This is getting surprisingly little talk on the board....

Bob Griffin!

If he thinks their run d is any good at all, he's way off. Atlanta's run d is bad and bad against bad competition.

If its power you worry about than Lynch will bring that but if you really think the power is the issue you should be more worried about the physical nature of the entire Seahawks team. We have big hitters in every position group on the team and that is ome of the major focus points of the team. Beat em and bruise em. Make them want the end of the game to come alreafy.

If you go back and watch our games you will see opponents trying to match the physical nature but it's not something you can turn on and off. The teams that have given us the most trouble aren't the teams that are high octaine finesse types, it's teams that have a natural physical nature. Miami sucks but they are very physical. The Rams,AZ and Niners are also very physical. The ony exception would be Detroit and that game was a do or die for them and it came down to the wite with multiplr lead changes in the last few minutes.

On film, the option seemed to really confuse the Falcons linebackers. They'd make "stops" here and there (i.e. 3-4 yard gains) .. but for the most part, Carolina broke off chunks of yardage off them.

formido wrote:If he thinks their run d is any good at all, he's way off. Atlanta's run d is bad and bad against bad competition.

Now I have been nice during my time here and even defended you guys on our forums. This is getting silly though. I'm all for being a die hard fan of the team you love but lets not start throwing out this kind of junk.

Let's see this "bad competition" Atlanta has faced all year:

Jamaal Charles (#4 NFL Rushing Yards)
Peyton Hillis
Willis McGahee
DeAngelo Williams (x2)
Johnathan Stewart (x2)
Alfred Morris (#2 NFL Rushing Yards)
Darren McFadden
LeSean McCoy
Chris Ivory (x2)
Mark Ingram (x2)
Pierre Thomas (x2)
Doug Martin (#5 NFL Rushing Yards) (x2)

That list holds 3 of the top 5 rushers in the league. Plus several recent pro bowlers. Don't act as if we had a bunch of no names running wild on us. Seattle is also not the only team we play that has a scrambling QB /good RB combo. RG3/Morris (We owned that game despite the score), Newton/Stewart/Williams, Vick/McCoy, Freeman/Martin. RG3 had what 7 yards before we sent him out of the game. Vick didn't fare much better. Newton however did have some success against us. His second game stats against us were padded with one huge run of 72 yards.

I like seeing a confident fan base but we didn't lock up the # 1 seed or secure 13 wins by looking pretty. Games aren't decided on paper either.

Its not about being just a "mobile qb" its the Read Option that is what Kills the Falcons.

Dirty Bird wrote:What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

Mike Who? meaning who cares about Michael Vick. No body.

Exar0s wrote:

formido wrote:If he thinks their run d is any good at all, he's way off. Atlanta's run d is bad and bad against bad competition.

Now I have been nice during my time here and even defended you guys on our forums. This is getting silly though. I'm all for being a die hard fan of the team you love but lets not start throwing out this kind of junk.

Let's see this "bad competition" Atlanta has faced all year:

Jamaal Charles (#4 NFL Rushing Yards)
Peyton Hillis
Willis McGahee
DeAngelo Williams (x2)
Johnathan Stewart (x2)
Alfred Morris (#2 NFL Rushing Yards)
Darren McFadden
LeSean McCoy
Chris Ivory (x2)
Mark Ingram (x2)
Pierre Thomas (x2)
Doug Martin (#5 NFL Rushing Yards) (x2)

That list holds 3 of the top 5 rushers in the league. Plus several recent pro bowlers. Don't act as if we had a bunch of no names running wild on us. Seattle is also not the only team we play that has a scrambling QB /good RB combo. RG3/Morris (We owned that game despite the score), Newton/Stewart/Williams, Vick/McCoy, Freeman/Martin. RG3 had what 7 yards before we sent him out of the game. Vick didn't fare much better. Newton however did have some success against us. His second game stats against us were padded with one huge run of 72 yards.

I like seeing a confident fan base but we didn't lock up the # 1 seed or secure 13 wins by looking pretty. Games aren't decided on paper either.

Taking all of that into account, Football Outsiders has the Falcons ranked 20th against the run. Call it a below average run D then. Statistical projection of 33 attempts, 191 total rushing yards and a 5.8 average per carry for the Seahawks on Sunday. Projection for Atlanta, 23 attempts, 65 yards at 2.8 ypc. Not predictions, but projections.

Exar0s wrote:Let's see this "bad competition" Atlanta has faced all year:

Jamaal Charles (#4 NFL Rushing Yards)
Peyton Hillis
Willis McGahee
DeAngelo Williams (x2)
Johnathan Stewart (x2)
Alfred Morris (#2 NFL Rushing Yards)
Darren McFadden
LeSean McCoy
Chris Ivory (x2)
Mark Ingram (x2)
Pierre Thomas (x2)
Doug Martin (#5 NFL Rushing Yards) (x2)

That list holds 3 of the top 5 rushers in the league. Plus several recent pro bowlers. Don't act as if we had a bunch of no names running wild on us. Seattle is also not the only team we play that has a scrambling QB /good RB combo. RG3/Morris (We owned that game despite the score), Newton/Stewart/Williams, Vick/McCoy, Freeman/Martin. RG3 had what 7 yards before we sent him out of the game. Vick didn't fare much better. Newton however did have some success against us. His second game stats against us were padded with one huge run of 72 yards.

There's not a single QB/RB combo out there that compares to Wilson/Lynch. It's no coincidence that none of the guys you listed are in the playoffs. Some came nowhere near it.

Didn't Cam Newton rack up over 700 total yards in his two games against the Falcons this year ?

I pity the fool who thinks he can beat Russell Wilson because he's "smaller."

it ain't happened yet.

TJH wrote:True, but they also did really well against Bob Griffin's running.

Bob left the game early in the 2nd half so not exactly a great example.

Dirty Bird wrote:What you failed to mention is that Atlanta struggles against big, PHYSICAL, mobile QB's such as Cam Newton. Atlanta can handle the smaller QB's. We held Robert Griffin and Mike Vick in check. Griffin only rushing for 7 and Vick for 42. I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

You can't even compare Vick to Wilson, Vick isn't a good QB at all.

RG3 left early in the 2nd half so you can't even count that game.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=321007028

Griffin was injured early in the second half while trying to scramble for the end zone on third-and-goal from the 3.

Has anyone the Seahawks have played this year "stopped" Wilson? He presents unique problems for each team we have faced. He's like a Swiss army knife with pants! And when he isn't beating you with his feet, he's dropping 50 yarders to GT or Rice. Wrap them up and you get a dose of Baldwin or Miller over the middle. Take them away and he'll find McCoy, lynch, Robinson or Turbin. The problem isn't just Wilson, its that we have so many solid threats all over the board, that no true standout exists. I like our chances!

Go Hawks!

Dirty Bird wrote: I don't expect Wilson to be a problem.

I'll bet Nolan thinks a LOT differently than you.

SeaWolv wrote:

Dirty Bird wrote:RG3 left early in the 2nd half so you can't even count that game.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=321007028

Griffin was injured early in the second half while trying to scramble for the end zone on third-and-goal from the 3.

Yeah, I doubt very seriously you watched that game. RG3 left midway in the third quarter. He had 98 yards of total offense, which is about what he had against you guys in the first quarter when he was remotely healthy.

Skins' O couldn't put the ball in the endzone that game until Cousins came in.

theoaklandphenom wrote:

SeaWolv wrote:

Dirty Bird wrote:RG3 left early in the 2nd half so you can't even count that game.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=321007028

Griffin was injured early in the second half while trying to scramble for the end zone on third-and-goal from the 3.

Yeah, I doubt very seriously you watched that game. RG3 left midway in the third quarter. He had 98 yards of total offense, which is about what he had against you guys in the first quarter when he was remotely healthy.

Skins' O couldn't put the ball in the endzone that game until Cousins came in.

I didn't watch the game, what does that have to do with anything? FYI the quote above was directly from ESPN. Did you see the link I happened to put above it? Having said that I would characterize half way through the 3rd quarter as early part of the 2nd half.

You guys can run for 400 yards but you won't be getting to the paint. That's all that matters. Since you want to talk about that stats look that up.