There is nothing better than a home opener in the NFL. This Sunday, in particular, will be great because there will be so many things to see that we’ve never–or rarely–seen before as Seahawks fans. I’ve compiled a list of things you may see that I am hoping to witness:
1) Successful Screen Passing Game
The Rams have incorporated a variety of blitzes into their defense. There are few things more satisfying in football than watching your QB lob a throw over a wave of blitzers to a RB with nothing but open space in front of him. The Seahawks used to own screen passing when they had John L. Williams and later, Ricky Watters. It’s gone into hibernation in recent years. I’m pretty confident you’ll see at least one on Sunday, and possibly many more.
2) Seneca Running The Wildcat
I honestly don’t care much if it’s the wildcat or some other package, but getting Seneca on the field is a good thing. He’s too good of a weapon to be sitting on the sidelines. There is not a person in the NFL better suited for an offense like the wildcat than Seneca. The more his set of plays is successful, the better chance of keeping Matt healthy all year.
3) Edgerrin Stonewalling Blitzers
Forsett isn’t bad either, but Edge is something special here. For those that watched the Steelers/Titans game last night and saw the block Hines Ward threw in OT after fumbling in regulation, you have an idea of why it can be fun to watch someone block. He will destroy some people. The cherry on top is when Matt completes a long pass on the same play.
4) Unrelenting Seahawks Pressure
Even though the Hawks have had some pretty good sack totals in recent years, it’s been over a decade since they had a truly disruptive defense. Jim Johnson was our LB coach before Holmgren got here and it was incredibly satisfying to see Chad Brown and Co terrorizing QBs week in and week out. I really hope we finally see this team unleash it’s weapons in unpredictable and savory ways. Few things are more satisfying than seeing the opposing QB throwing off his back foot and constantly running for his life.
5) Hurry-Up Offense
It would not shock me to see the Seahawks start the game in a hurry up offense. Matt looks great running it, and it’s a great way to get the offense in rhythm early while making it tough for a visiting defense to get their bearings.
6) Lots’O’Shotgun
The Hawks could possibly run 60% of their pass plays from the shotgun, especially against a team that likes to blitz.
7) Gadget Plays
I’m not expecting this one, but we saw Branch throw a reverse WR pass in the pre-season to a wide open player. We may see something fun that Holmgren would have never put in.
Can’t wait…