Seahawks Try to Get Right Against San Francisco

The Seahawks will try to recover from a frustrating loss in L.A. by hosting the San Francisco 49ers, who are also 1-1 after dropping their last game against Carolina.

The Seahawks, like every other team in the NFC West, are are 1-1 with questions to answer. They eked out a defensive battle at CenturyLink Field 12-10 against Miami but lost all offensive momentum against the Rams in L.A. in a 9-3 loss.

The Rams match up well with the Seahawks, who are still trying to sort out their project of an offensive line. Miami, too, has a talented defensive line that overwhelmed the Seahawks offensive front. Winning in the trenches on offense is no longer a priority for the Seahawks. Perhaps we were spoiled with years of Hall of Famer Walter Jones at left tackle.

Trying to Get Right

More from Seattle Seahawks

• Seattle Seahawks: To rest or not to rest, that is the question
• Seattle Seahawks: 12s still waiting to exhale
• Seattle Seahawks: 4 Takeaways from 26-23 Loss to the 49ers
• Seattle Seahawks: Four Takeaways from Week 14 21-7 victory
• Seattle Seahawks: Three Takeaways from the Week 13 43-16 victory

Everyone in the division is 1-1, so a win this week over a division foe will help the NFC West re-align to its rightful pecking order with the Seahawks at the top. San Francisco of course brings a new-look offense into the CLink to face the Legion of Boom. Head Coach Chip Kelly, known for his fast-paced offenses imported from his days with Oregon, isn’t necessarily going to roll with no-huddles all game. Kelly simply wants to control the game clock and force the opposition to play at their pace.

Resurrected quarterback Blaine Gabbert is eager to please and show he can play in the NFL, and Kelly has certain helped him so far this season. But Gabbert hasn’t exactly torn up the league as the starter for the 9ers. There are calls for the maligned Collin Kaepernick to retake the starting job already. Last week, Gabbert completed only 44% of his passes against Carolina. And in the blowout over the Rams (can we get just one blowout of the Rams?), Gabbert averaged a measly 4.86 yards per attempt.

This is a quarterback and an offense that the Seahawks can get right against. Kelly is a good offensive mind, and his system works in the NFL despite average-to-below-average quarterback play. Gabbert will stymie their chances of being a decent unit overall. The Seahawks’ defense’s matchup against Gabbert and company will be a good opportunity to get their first turnover of the season.

That Offensive Line, Though

The Seahawks have to get right on offensively, of course, after getting embarrassed as a unit against Los Angeles last week. Quarterback Russell Wilson couldn’t bail out his offensive line by escaping pass rushers on his own against the Rams’ defensive front due to a sprained ankle. The offense will have to establish the run with Christine Michael (Thomas Rawls is out) to protect Wilson and keep Kelly from controlling the clock.

But that offensive line has to figure out how to block. They’ve had bad matchups so far this season, but they couldn’t have blocked anyone with the way they played last week.

Next: Lavon Coleman Unlikely Hero for Huskies

Game Time

The Seahawks play today at 1:05 pm at CenturyLink Field. The game will be televised on FOX. I will be tweeting about it from @EmeraldCitySwag. Go Hawks! Also, the Hawks will win 20-10.