Ask the Freelancer

They have played better defense, a lot of bend but not break stuff. They’ve lost the last 3 games by a combined 11 points, and if they win even 2 of those 3 (one being Arizona), they’re back in the division.

Here’s some of the good things Seattle does that may cause problems for Dallas:

• Special teams. Each of the last 4 games, Josh Wilson has returned a kickoff into opponent’s territory. He’s very hard to tackle, he’s got good opening speed and good sidestepping ability. Justin Forsett is also a serviceable punt return man.

• Jordan Babineaux…..well okay I think he’s mediocre as a safety, but he seems to show up whenever he plays Dallas.

• The running game. The stats will show they are 19th, but that’s because they hardly run the ball at all because Mike Holmgren thinks that 31st ranked passing offense is so great. Mo Morris had a 100 yard game and Julius Jones has been solid for the most part. Jones didn’t see much action today but when he did he broke one for 19 yards. He had back-to-back 100 yard games early in the season and nearly had one against Miami. He may still make 1,000 yards and he has not been a bust.

The bad?

• Matt Hasselbeck. Two weeks in a row he’s thrown game ending INTs after the defense stepped up to give the offense a chance to win it. Those INTs came on the first plays of each drive mind you. He’s just been terrible and clearly he’s got nothing left in his career.

• BRIAN RUSSELL. You think Roy Williams is a bad safety? HA! Our safety sets picks, screens, and tackles his own players all while missing tackles when trying to make a play against the other team. He’s the worst safety I’ve ever seen, just incompetent.

• Kelly Jennings. He’s actually playing better, but he gets beat on the deep ball too often and is susceptible to the illegal contact penalty.

• The tackling. Our undersized defense against Marion Barber sounds bad….this team cannot tackle, particularly along the sidelines.

• The blitz. You’ll see on Thursday….our blitzes never work.

and how about a link to your blog….

Jones’ TDs were long runs, TJ Duckett has the other rushing touchdowns for short yardage situations.

He’s been good for the most part, he’s not running into a pile all the time……and the one time he did, he broke a tackle and got a 32 yard touchdown run. The problem right now is he is in a pass-first system, and while he can break one loose on screen plays, it never comes about because the RBs in Holmgren’s system are rarely used in the passing game.

This season (IIRC) he has had 8 carries of 20+, he does not go down on first contact and is fighting for yards on just about every play, something that was so frustrating to watch with Shaun Alexander the last 2 seasons. The Seahawks fanbase is generally positive on him. I find him to be above-average, there are some things I would like to see improved though.

I also think he is a good pass blocker, especially when picking up the blitz.

• He may not be running into piles but he has had some trouble finding holes and cutting back.
• Useless on draw plays (actually it’s not his fault, seeing as our draw plays are so bad).
• Fades fast when in a foot race, he could have 2 or 3 more TDs if he had more speed when being chased.

When it’s Seahawks/Cowboys, Julius Jones always seems to perform well. Galloping Gobbler? No way, that has MB III written all over it.

How much worse will they stink?

Think wet gym sock combined with land waste, mud, and crap.

Just take it as a loss and think about how Jerramy “Dropsies” Stevens torched the secondary.

We do not have any form of bump and run, it’s quite common that Seattle gives 15 yards off the line of scrimmage. They are not physical when they need to be, and they are a big reason why this team is bad.

You can beat Seattle on the blitz, just a horrible blitzing team which exposes the corners one on one and you can just have Romo find Owens on a slant route.