The Seattle Seahawks are playing their first division opponent of the season on Sunday, when they head to Arizona to face the Cardinals and rookie coach Kliff Kingsbury.
Kingsbury’s air raid offense and the emergence of rookie Kyler Murray should make for an entertaining game of football, forcing Seattle to stretch out their defense and putting pressure on the team’s safeties – who haven’t played up to par so far this year.
How Seattle defends the air raid is one of multiple storylines for fans to watch out for on Sunday.
Will the University of Phoenix Stadium curse continue?
Super Bowl 49. The 6-6 overtime tie. The final play of Kam Chancellor’s career. The final play of Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman’s career as Seahawks. Will Dissly’s season-ending knee injury.
What do all of those things have in common?
They occurred at University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona, the home of the Cardinals and Seattle’s playing surface on Sunday.
While it does seem like some of the worst things to happen to the Seahawks have all happened at that stadium, coach Pete Carroll isn’t worried.
“I don’t think I have any relationship with it other than a normal place,” Carroll commented on Wednesday. “Honestly, it doesn’t feel any different. We’ve been there a lot. It seems like we’ve won there some. It’s just another place to go.”
The good news is the Seahawks haven’t lost to the Cardinals in Arizona since Russell Wilson’s rookie year, which bodes well for their chances of victory.
Fans will just have to hope it doesn’t come at another ugly cost this year.
How do the Seahawks defend Kyler Murray and the air raid?
The Seahawks have stuck with their 4-3 base defense more often than usual this season, a product of having three excellent linebackers in Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and Mychal Kendricks, while struggling to replace Justin Coleman at the nickel corner spot.
However, against Kliff Kingsbury’s air raid offense, lead by rookie quarterback Kyler Murray, the Seahawks may need to play a lot of nickel in order to avoid having Kendricks or Wright spend the entire game in coverage, which is neither of their strengths.
That likely means a healthy percentage of snaps for Jamar Taylor, who will be tasked with covering future Hall of Fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Seattle’s defense was picked apart by Andy Dalton’s dink-and-dunk strategy, and Teddy Bridgewater found ways to be effective by highlighting Alvin Kamara as a receiver out of the backfield.
Murray and the Cardinals will present a different kind of challenge, and one that Carroll and Seattle’s defense will need to solve if they want to avoid falling to 2-2 on the season.
Does Lano Hill start over Tedric Thompson?
The Seahawks, for the first time all season, are expected to have both Lano Hill and Tedric Thompson active on Sunday.
Thompson started in Week 1 while Hill was recovering from a hip injury, but gave up a handful of big plays and ended up suffering a hamstring injury, which has kept him out for the last two games.
Hill has stepped into his place, shifting Bradley McDougald over to free safety. Hill has had his moments, but has also been burned on a handful of big plays as well.
Now, the Seahawks will have a decision to make regarding their pair of third-year safeties – and coach Pete Carroll is loving the battle.
“The comp is on,” Carroll said on Wednesday. “For sure. He [Hill] has played well enough to start for us. We’re lucky in that regard. We’ve got two guys that can start at that spot and feel comfortable about it.”
Of course, in the spirit of constant competition, the Seahawks also recently promoted safety Adrian Colbert from the practice squad.
Colbert started for the 49ers at free safety last season, and while he probably won’t compete for regular snaps right away, he’s definitely an option at the position later on – particularly if Hill and Thompson keep giving up big plays.
