Very Different Seahawks

This club is not much like the 2005 version the Skins faced, when RB Shaun Alexander was having an MVP season.

He's been nothing special at all since then - inept average of 3.5 yards per carry this season - and they rely on Morris a lot more now to carry the load.

They also don't run the ball nearly as much as they did when reaching the Super Bowl in 05. They have 89 fewer carries as a team this season. They threw the ball 590 times, to 430 rushes. They tied with Arizona for the second most passing attempts in the NFL - New Orleans ran away with that crown - and no doubt they will try to pick apart the Redskins with that spread, West Coast style Saturday. I don't see them having much interest trying to test the Redskins stout run D - 3rd in the NFl in yards per carry - and will try to force them to take defenders out of the box and use the pass to in essence set up the run for some draws and sweeps for Alexander, I suppose.

Guys like Leigh Torrence and Reed Doughty are going to be tested in coverage and if they hold as well as they have the last few weeks, I really like the Skins chances. Hasselbeck is playing very well right now, but his O Line is not quite as dominant as it was in 2005 and I could see guys like Marcus Washington getting a chance to rush him.

Seattle did not have anyone with eye popping yaards per catch figures, though, and they love those slants and quick routes, with Nate Burleson their best deep threat.

The matchup of stud corner Marcus Trufant and Santana Moss will be huge, and Seattle is prized on speed and agility rather than brute strength on defense, with their linebackers like Peterson and Tatupo very active and Patrick Kearney having a monster season rushing the passer off the edge as a DE.

By Jason La Canfora |  January 1, 2007; 12:11 PM ET
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