Last week, the Seattle Seahawks barely managed to snag a win against the Atlanta Falcons, winning 26-24. In week seven, the Seahawks will travel to the Arizona Cardinals, their divisional rivals to maintain in first place in the NFC West. Below are their week seven keys to victory.
Seattle Seahawks Week Seven Keys to Victory
Keeping up the Momentum
After spending week five on bye, the Seahawks managed to catch their breath before taking on the Atlanta Falcons at home in CenturyLink Field. After leading 17-3 at half-time, the Seahawks found themselves trailing 24-17 at the start of the fourth quarter, but they came back to win 26-24. You could say the twelves’s (Seahawks fans) had a large factor in their win. But next week they won’t have their dedicated fanbase to back them up as they take on the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale. If the Seahawks want to keep first place in the division, week seven is a must win, and to do that they must keep up the momentum.
The Offense is Clicking
Week seven finally showed that the Seahawks offense was staring to click. Passes were being caught, blocks were being made, plays were finally happening. A few major factors in this were the offensive line, Jimmy Graham, and Christine Michael.
Russell Wilson was only sacked once versus the Falcons. Clear progress can be seen with the mess that we call the Seahawks offensive line. After years of struggling, a change is finally happening and results have started to show. Of course, it’ll take more time to truly see a real result out of the front five men.
Since Jimmy Graham first arrived in Seattle in early 2015, his difficulty to connect with Russell Wilson has shown tremendously. And when he finally started to adjust to the system, his season was ended with a knee injury. Now almost mid-way through 2016, it seems as if the spotlight won’t lay off Graham. His 355 yards and one touchdown aren’t going unnoticed as he averages 16 yards per catch.
There was some minor panic after Marshawn Lynch retired, debate going on about who would take his place. Many didn’t worry as Thomas Rawls showed tremendous potential but soon he suffered various injuries that plagued his playing time. It was Michael who would step up and so far is having a heck of time starting for Seattle. Michael has 354 yards, four rushing touchdowns, and one receiving touchdown so far in 2016.
Defense
There’s rarely a problem to pick with the Seahawks defense, the number one unit in the league on that side of the football to be fair. So far in the first five games of the season, they have 318 tackles, ten sacks, and five interceptions, allowing for just 78 yards total.
Conclusion
Week seven’s game against the Arizona Cardinals is extremely crucial for the Seahawks if they want to maintain a decent head start to the 2016 playoffs. At 4-1, the Seahawks need to be prepared to win at least 12 to gain home-field advantage in the playoffs. The current playoff picture would see the Seahawks into the Wild Card Round.
