The Seattle Seahawks have a chance to go 3-0 for the first time since the Super Bowl winning 2012 season on Sunday when they take on the New Orleans Saints at CenturyLink Field.
This game will be played without star quarterback Drew Brees, who had surgery on his thumb and is expected to miss roughly six weeks of action.
New Orleans’ strategy without Brees is one of many storylines for fans to follow along during what should be an exciting battle between two of the best teams in the NFC.
Who will the Saints play at quarterback?
Saints coach Sean Payton indicated they could go with either Teddy Bridgewater or Taysom Hill as their top quarterback option against Seattle in Week 3, a good strategy to keep his plan close to the chest in an effort to make coach Pete Carroll and company have to gameplan for multiple scenarios.
The Saints will most likely go with Bridgewater, who filled in for Brees last week and has a lot more experience under center, but Hill provides an interesting matchup issue as well.
“I would think that Teddy goes, just by the structure that they’ve been in,” coach Carroll commented on Wednesday. “Taysom Hill’s a nice football player and I haven’t seen him play quarterback that much, but I know he’s on the roster like that, can do that. Just have a lot of respect for him.”
Whatever the Saints end up doing – it could even be a mashup of both – will certainly have a big impact on how Seattle matches up against them on the defensive side of the ball.
How much will Ezekiel Ansah and Jadeveon Clowney play together?
The Seahawks will finally get to see their two stud defensive ends, Jadeveon Clowney and Ezekiel Ansah, on the same field together in Week 3.
The big question on the minds of most Seahawks fans – and Saints coach Sean Payton – is how often that will actually happen.
Ansah missed the first two weeks of the season while recovering from a shoulder injury suffered last year, but he is healthy and ready to go for Week 3.
His snap count could still be limited however, as he has not been in game action in well over a years time.
Clowney is finally starting to get 100 percent acclimated to Seattle’s defense, which could allow him to see a boost in snaps – and should allow the two studs to line up together against New Orleans.
“I couldn’t be more excited to see these guys play together and get going,” Carroll commented on Friday. “JD is just getting started too. It’s pretty fun. Can’t wait to see what it looks like.”
Ansah and Clowney’s playing time will also have a big impact on how much action first round pick L.J. Collier gets in Week 3. Collier didn’t play in Week 1 and only saw 16 snaps in Week 2, which Carroll called a “rusty” performance. He could be limited even more in Week 3 unless coach feels he’s ready to take a big jump forward.
Will Seattle’s offensive line play improve?
The Seahawks struggled mightily to pass protect in the first two weeks of the season, forcing the team to adopt an offense that revolved around quick throws from quarterback Russell Wilson, as opposed to their traditional run-heavy offense and big play attempts in the passing game.
Seattle will probably be without backup center/guard Ethan Pocic in this one, but the rest of the starting line should be able to go. Another week with continuity up front will likely help keep Wilson and company protected, but New Orleans has a very solid front line – lead by Cameron Jordan – which could spell trouble for the Seahawks.
“Yeah, he’s a monster,” Carroll said of Jordan. “[Trey] Hendrickson is off to a great start too, [Marcus] Davenport. That’s why they’ve got numbers already and they’ve had numbers for a couple years. I’m telling you, you can ask anybody you might bring up, they can do stuff.”
Seattle absolutely needs their offensive line to protect better if they want to reach that elusive 3-0 marker in the 2019 season.
