The Seattle Seahawks have won 2 games in a row but they have not been too good on the road.  The Seahawks are 1-2 on the road where they have been outscored 71-40.  The Raiders are coming off an absolute beatdown of the Broncos in Denver 59-14.  The Raiders have also played pretty well at home as they are 2-1 in the Black Hole outscoring the opponents 75-72.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Seahawks have the ball:  The Raiders have big time issues stopping the run as they are giving up 138.9 yards rushing and 5.0 yards per carry so far this year.  The Seahawks will likely feed the ball to Marshawn Lynch & Justin Forsett against the Raiders for a good portion of this game.  After the Seahawks get the running game going look for them to run some play action with Matt Hasselbeck looking deep to Mike Williams & Deon Butler.  TE John Carlson also could more involved than usual this Sunday.

When the Raiders have the ball:  The Raiders are averaging 158.4 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per carry while the Seahawks are only giving up 77.5 yards rushing per game and 3.3 yards per carry……so something has to give.  Look for the Raiders to feed the ball to Darren McFadden and Michael Bush a lot in this game.  The Raiders are going to be without WR Louis Murphy which means that rookie Jacoby Ford is going to get the start tomorrow.  Darrius Heyward-Bey and Jacoby Ford give the Raiders the fastest set of WRs in the league and they could give the Seahawks some trouble if they catch the ball because the Seahawks are giving up 261.3 yards passing per game this year.

PREDICTION:  RAIDERS 20, SEAHAWKS 17

The Seahawks have re-signed RB Quinton Ganther.  Ganther played in 2 games for the Seahawks earlier this year but he didn’t get to touch the football.  Ganther has played in 25 games in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 71 times for 262 yards (3.7 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He has also caught 15 passes for 142 yards (9.5 avg) in his NFL career.  It never hurts to have a guy like Ganther around and he should be able to step right in if needed because he already knows the playbook.

The Seahawks pushed around the Cardinals today and it showed on the scoreboard.  Matt Hasselbeck was efficient in this game as he completed 20 of 38 passes for 192 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 11 yards (5.5 ypc) today.  Marshawn Lynch got a lot of work in today as he carried the ball 24 times for 89 yards (3.7 ypc) in this game.  Justin Forsett pitched in with 41 yards on 9 carries (4.6 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 31 yards (15.5 avg) in this contest.  WRs Mike Williams (11 rec, 87 yards, TD) and Deon Butler (3 rec, 41 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Seahawks today.  The Seahawks finished up with 144 yards rushing on 36 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 38 passes for 158 yards as they had possession of the ball for 37:17.

DT Colin Cole (7 tackles) and rookie safety Earl Thomas (3 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception) led the way for the Seahawks’ D in this game.  CB Marcus Trufant, CB Kennard Cox, CB Roy Lewis and DT/DE Raheem Brock each had a fumble recovery apiece in this game.  The Cardinals finished up with 113 yards rushing on 20 carries (5.7 ypc) and they completed 12 of 33 passes for 114 yards in this game.  The Seahawks are now a surprising 4-2 on the season.

The Seahawks have been awesome at Qwest Field this year as they are 2-0 and they have outscored the 49ers and Chargers by a combined score of 58-26.  The Cardinals are not too good on the road as they are 1-2 having been outscored 95-34.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Seahawks have the ball:  The Seahawks should be able to do whatever they want this weekend against the Cardinals who are allowing 140.8 yards rushing (4.3 ypc) and 241.2 yards passing per game.  With that in mind the Seahawks will likely try to be balanced.  That means that Marshawn Lynch & Justin Forsett will likely get 25-30 carries between them tomorrow afternoon.  The Cardinals only have 8 sacks this year so Matt Hasselbeck should have time to throw the ball and he will spread it around the field to multiple receivers.

When the Cardinals have the ball:  The Cardinals would probably like to run the ball a little bit more than usual tomorrow to help out rookie QB Max Hall.  That will be easier said than done as the Seahawks are only allowing 70.4 yards rushing per game and 2.9 yards per carry.  The Cardinals need to protect Hall better or he’s going to have a very long day.  Cardinals’ QBs have been sacked 19 times already this year and the Seahawks have 17 sacks of their own.  The Seahawks have to get to Hall or he could have a good day against a Seahawks’ D that is allowing 290.8 yards passing per game this year. 

PREDICTION:  SEAHAWKS 30. CARDINALS 13 

Even though the Seahawks dealt for Marshawn Lynch recently it doesn’t mean that Justin Forsett won’t continue to have a big role with the offense.  Forsett has played in 5 games for the Seahawks so far this year and he has carried the ball 61 times for 282 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 10 passes for 75 yards (7.5 avg) so far this year.  Forsett is on the small side and that’s why he isn’t cut out to a every down, workhorse type of back.  I think Forsett’s going to remain effective the whole year for the Seahawks as long as he stays healthy.

The Seahawks had a blip on special teams (Devin Hester returned a punt 89 yards for a TD) but other than that they outplayed the Bears today.  Matt Hasselbeck was sharp today in completing 25 of 40 passes for 242 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Justin Forsett led the way on the ground for the Seahawks in this game with 10 carries for 67 yards (6.7 ypc) with a TD run.  Marshawn Lynch made his debut for the Seahawks and he was so-so as he carried the ball 17 times for 44 yards (2.6 avg) with a TD run and he also caught 3 passes for 9 yards.  WRs Mike Williams (10 rec, 123 yards) and Deon Butler (4 rec, 47 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Seahawks today.  The Seahawks finished up with 111 yards rushing on 31 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 25 of 40 passes for 242 yards as they had possession of the football for 34:23.

CB Marcus Trufant (6 tackles, 1 pass defensed) and safety Jordan Babineaux (4 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, a safety and a QB hit) led the way for the Seahawks’ D today. The Bears finished up with 61 yards rushing on 14 carries (4.4 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 39 passes for 246 yards.  The Seahawks are now 3-2 on the year.

The Seattle Seahawks play well at home but they have had huge issues on the road where they are 0-2 and they have been outscored 51-17!  The Bears are 2-0 at home but they have not dominated there yet this year outscoring the competition 39-31.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Seahawks have the ball:  The Seahawks will want to run a balanced offense this week against the Bears.  Marshawn Lynch might get 20 or more carries this week against a tough Bears’ D to run on.  They are only allowing 78.6 yards rushing per game and 3.6 yards per carry so Lynch is going to have to earn every yard he gets.  The Seahawks O-Line will have to protect Matt Hasselbeck well if they are going to have any chance of moving the ball through the air.  TE John Carlson will probably be Hasselbeck’s top target in the passing game as his WRing corps is full of youngsters.

When the Bears have the ball:  Jay Cutler is back at QB and I think the Bears are going to get back to throwing the football.  The Bears O-Line must keep DE Chris Clemons away from Cutler so that he has time to throw the ball.  Cutler takes chances so rookie safety Earl Thomas is going to have a chance or two to make a big play at some point in this game.  The Seahawks are giving up 302.0 yards passing per game so Mike Martz has to be licking his chops.  Matt Forte will keep the Seahawks’ front seven honest as he will get his carries and catches on Sunday.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 27, SEAHAWKS 13

The Seahawks have traded 31-year old Deion Branch to the Patriots for a 4th round pick in 2011.  Branch played in 4 games for the Seahawks this year and he caught 13 passes for 112 yards (8.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He played in 51 games in four years with the Seahawks and he caught 190 passes for 2,347 yards (12.4 avg) with 15 TD grabs.  Deon Butler (8 rec, 83 yards, TD) and Golden Tate (8 rec, 115 yards) will likely get more chances to excel in this passing game for the Seahawks with Branch out of the picture.  This was a good trade for both the Seahawks and the Patriots.

The Seattle Seahawks gave up a lot to acquire Charlie Whitehurst from the Chargers and he will start getting more reps during the bye week.  That means that Matt Hasselbeck better step up soon if he wants to keep his starting gig with the Seahawks.  Hasselbeck has completed 77 of 126 passes (61.1%) for 814 yards with 4 TD passes and 6 INTs (70.7 QB Rating) so far this year.  To me he’s running out of time.  He needs to play well at Chicago in the first week after the bye or Whitehurst might bump him to the bench.

The Seahawks have released 29-year old RB Julius Jones.  Jones played in 3 games for the Seahawks this year and he carried the ball 12 times for 30 yards (2.5 ypc).  Jones played in 32 games in his three years with the Seahawks and he carried the ball 347 times for 1,391 yards (4.0 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 49 passes for 308 yards (6.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs for the Seahawks.  The Seahawks won’t miss Jones even if he hooks on with another team as they still have Forsett and Washington to go along with the newly acquired Marshawn Lynch.