Ahead of the Week 7 matchup between Seattle and Baltimore, Ravens Wire managing editor, Matthew Stevens, answered three questions for Seahawks fans.
1) Sunday marks Earl Thomas’ return to Seattle for the first time since he signed with Baltimore as a free agent last offseason. What can Seahawks fans expect from Thomas?
Not much has changed for Thomas, I think. He’s still largely the same player he was in Seattle. He’s passionate — at times a little misguided in how that passion gets focused. He’s still rangy and capable of making big plays. He can still lay someone out if they do catch a ball in his area, and opponents are very much recognizing it, short-arming passes when Thomas is lurking around. He might be a step slower than he used to be, and I think he’s still figuring out Baltimore’s more complex defense, but Thomas should still be considered one of the best safeties in the game.
2) The Seahawks recently faced former Rams cornerback Marcus Peters, who was just traded to the Ravens this week. Has Peters had enough time to adjust to make an impact in Seattle?
It wouldn’t shock me if they put Peters out on the field and asked him to just shadow one receiver all game long. There really hasn’t been enough time for him to learn the Ravens’ complex coverages and schemes, and they desperately need help at cornerback right now. With Marlon Humphrey on the other side doing the same exact thing, it should give Baltimore and Peters a little more freedom to stay in man coverage all game and let everyone else play other roles. If they decide to not play him that way, I’d expect Peters’ time on the field to be severely limited as he gets up to speed over the Ravens’ bye in Week 8.
3) Coach Pete Carroll recently compared QB Lamar Jackson to Cam Newton as far has his elusiveness. How can Jackson stymie the new-look Seattle defense?
I think that’s a pretty awful comparison, honestly. Newton is more of a bruising running back than agile thanks to his 6-foot-5, 245-pound frame. Jackson is far more agile and slippery in the open field, and I wouldn’t expect him to lower a shoulder to run over a defender in the same way we’ve seen Newton do throughout his career. Part of what has made Jackson so successful on the ground has been everyone trying to fit him into a box that already exists, and while it sounds a little cliche to say, Jackson isn’t really like any other quarterback we’ve ever seen outside of maybe a prime Michael Vick. Jackson has routinely surprised players on the field with just how fast and elusive he really is, and there is a highlight reel of defenders tackling air because they thought they understood what he could do.
I think Jackson can stymie any defense by forcing them to keep a spy on him. That pulls someone out of coverage or run support to focus solely on what Jackson is doing. On his best days, Jackson can either outrun that spy on the ground for big gains (last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals is a perfect example of that) or he’ll take one fewer defender in coverage as a mismatch and beat them with his arm. Jackson’s skill set and Baltimore’s weapons can make their offense a pick-your-poison style of attack where they wait for a defense to commit to shutting something down so they can attack a different direction.
