When the Seattle Seahawks (4-5) and the Green Bay Packers (4-4-1) meet in the Thursday Night Game (Friday, 2:20 live on DAZN) of Week 11, there could be another dramatic finale. Both teams met again and again in the past years, only to provide memorable results. It’s all the more explosive as the Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers teams may have been at stake for the entire season.
For the seventh time in seven years, the Seahawks and the Packers will meet on Thursday evening. Even though both teams don’t play in the same division. The reason for this is, of course, the great success that both teams have experienced over the past decade. And this was largely due to two of the best quarterbacks of this generation.
But it wasn’t always Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers who made these duels memorable. For example, we remember 2012, when the “Fail Mary” went down in history. One, no, two completely unsuccessful calls in one play, which gave the Seahawks a victory at the Monday Night Game and at the same time ended the referee lockout and weeks of criticism of the referee performance of the interim refs.
An even bigger stage belonged to the teams two years later in the NFC Championship Game, when the Packers only had to secure an onside kick to plan the trip to the Super Bowl. Tight End Brandon Bostick, however, underwent an unbelievable mishap, as the ball flying towards him slipped through his hands and jumped from his helmet into the hands of the Seahawks. Seattle used the gift to leave Bostick behind as a tragic hero, but two weeks later he gave up the dream of the Super Bowl in a dramatic way.
At the moment both teams are dreaming about the playoffs, but the reality is not very positive due to the season so far. A defeat in the race for the probably last wildcard spot could be too much for both teams. Both teams showed good performances again and again, but consistency was missing in the following weeks. And so a success in the duel between two of the biggest rivals in recent years could perhaps provide just the right amount of momentum to get the season back on track. Both teams seem to like the running game more and more.
In Seattle, they believe they are a better team than the previous four wins of the season suggest. The team has talent on both sides of the ball, especially in defense are found on each level pro bowl caliber. The games that were lost were all played with no more than one score difference. Especially the two appearances against the Rams and the game against the Chargers have shown that you can actually keep up with the big teams.
When the form curve rises, the improvement of one’s own running play is of primary importance. Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and Offensive Line Coach Mike Solari seem to have turned just the right screws to breathe fresh air into one of the league’s worst running games. And even if the O-Line still has problems in the Pass Protection, the improvements in the Run Block can’t be denied and Seattle wants to drive his Offense exactly over this approach.
No team runs more often with the ball than Pete Carroll’s team. At a rate of 51.06 percent, one is far above the league average. With a Value over Average in Running Plays of 2.2 percent, Football Outsiders ranked you seventh. One reason for this is certainly that Wilson is once again playing an outstanding season at Play Action Plays, and defensive coordinators are worried about it.
The Seahawks also make use of a lot of read-option plays. Wilson is almost perfect at this and had a great success against the L.A. Rams the week before when he ran with several keepers for 92 yards, believe it or not. And so he missed eight yards to become the fourth Rusher of the team this season, who has already run for over 100 yards this year.
Seattle’s running-back trio is named after Chris Carson, Mike Davis and Rashaad Penny. Each of them has already cracked the 100 yard rushing mark this season. And this, after the desperate search for a back replacement in the years following the departure of Marshawn Lynch. The flexibility on the position supports the Seahawks in their run-intensive play. Thus, the coaching staff can use either the previous snap numbers or the effectiveness during the game to distribute the carries.
The Seahawks will certainly try to live from this approach even against Green Bay. Despite an impressive performance against the Dolphins in the previous week, the Wisconsin opponent had cause for concern at the weekend. The already weak performances of the Run Defense were garnished by another horrendous tackling day. Green Bay missed 15 tackles, one more than the total loss in Washington. You certainly can’t afford that in Seattle.
By the way, you don’t have to hide from the run game of the Seahawks on the side of the Packers. Green Bay runs with a value over average of 14.2 percent in the running game and the second best value of the league even more efficient than the upcoming opponent. Nevertheless, a different approach is adopted. The Packers only play a running play in 34.01 percent of the cases and thus around 17 percent less frequently than Seattle, as they prefer to put their hope in Rodgers’ arms and talent.
The one whose O-Line delivers consistently excellent in both aspects is in good health. It was not for nothing that Pro Football Focus ranked the Packers Unit second in its O-Line ranking after Week 10. After four games in which you ran for an average of 133.8 yards at an impressive 5.9 yards per run, well deserved.
So it would come as no surprise if Green Bay were to focus more frequently on the increasingly successful stylistic device against Seattle. On the one hand, because Seattle is doing an excellent job in Pass Coverage this season and Carroll’s Defense seems to be going up another level in front of their own backdrop, on the other hand, because the Packers have avoided the run on foreign terrain so far. Here the run tendency even went up to about 30 percent and there were a whopping five defeats in five attempts.
If Packers fans want to slap their hands in front of their face because of this and because of the last gigs at CenturyLink Field, they’d better wait. The league’s supposedly biggest home advantage has also helped the Seahawks to only one victory in the last five games. And anyway: The decision in this game will not deliver the game on the ground.
As effective as the Running Game may be and as often as it may be used: nowadays, you don’t win games with it anymore. Seattle had to painfully determine this the week before against the Rams, when they set a franchise record of 273 Rushing Yards and ended up empty-handed.
In the end, it will once again be two of the greatest quarterbacks of the last decade that count. Two quarterbacks who are masters at improvising and delivering spectacular plays from long lost situations. Wilson and Rodgers have fought great battles over the years and Thursday night should be the next chapter in this rivalry with the playoffs at stake. Wilson’s not the only one looking forward to it.
“We’ve had some great matches against each other with some great moments,” the Seahawks QB recalls. “They were games in which the decision was made at the last second. I always look forward to the duels with him and a great team like the Packers.”