Game Preview: Seattle Seahawks

Today Big Blue View takes a look at the Seattle Seahawks in preparation for their game against the Giants.

Seahawks logo circa 1976

2008 Record: 1-2

Head Coach: Mike Holmgren

Last time they met: 2007 at Qwest Field, the Seahawks beat the Giants 42-30. The last time they met at Giants Stadium, the Giants won 9-6

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Gil Haskell

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: John Marshall

KEY ADDITIONS: RB Julius Jones (from Cowboys), RB T.J. Duckett (from Lions), FB Owen Schmitt (5th Round, West Virginia), TE John Carlson (2nd Round, Notre Dame), TE Jeb Putzier (from Texans), G Mike Wahle (from Panthers), DE Lawrence Jackson (1st Round, USC), DT Larry Tripplett (from Bills)

KEY DEPARTURES: RB Shaun Alexander (released), WR D.J. Hackett (to Panthers), TE Marcus Pollard (to Patriots), G Chris Gray (retired) DT Ellis Wyms (to Vikings), DT Chuck Darby (to Lions), DT Marcus Tubbs (released), LB Kevin Bentley (to Texans), LB Niko Koutouvides (to Broncos), K Josh Brown (to Rams)

Offensive Averages (league rank):

PTS 25.7 (11^th) YDS 336.7 (11^th) PASS YDS 170.3 (22^nd) RUSH YDS 166.3 (2^nd)

Defensive Averages (league rank)

PTS 26.7 (26^th) YDS 314.3 (12^th) PASS YDS 226.3 (25^th) RUSH YDS 88.0 (9^th)

NOTES AND QUOTES:

• Mike Holmgren said he has learned four things about Julius Jones in the past two weeks. He moves the pile. He rarely goes down on the first hit. He has very good vision while carrying the ball. And he is a talented pass blocker. "I'd seen it on film, but that's the first time he's done it for me," Holmgren said.
• WR Bobby Engram said he listened to his body to tell him when it was OK to come back from a cracked bone in his shoulder. So what is it telling him? "It's telling me I'm ready to go," Engram said. "Bottom line."
• Earlier this season, Mike Holmgren gave the players a day off to rest their bodies and get some camaraderie. He had the players go to a movie. Before the movie began, rookie K Brandon Coutu had to get up and sing the Georgia fight song. "I don't even know the fight song," Coutu said. "We were always in the locker room when the fight song was played. So I just sang something to get me by."
• When QB Matt Hasselbeck was a senior in high school, he had verbally committed to play at UCLA. Giants coach Tom Coughlin, the Boston College coach at the time, talked Hasselbeck into changing his mind and committing to the Eagles.
• The Seahawks could make a roster move this week because they currently have seven wide receivers on the active roster. But Mike Holmgren said he wants to see how Deion Branch and Bobby Engram perform before making a decision about releasing somebody.
• C Chris Spencer was the center for Giants QB Eli Manning when the two played at Ole Miss. The two recently went down to Duke together to watch a basketball game and visit with football coach David Cutliffe, who was their coach at Mississippi. "I keep up with Chris quite a bit," Manning said. "He is a real pal of mine."
• Giants coach Tom Coughlin formed a leadership council last season to have better communication with his players. Mike Holmgren has been doing that for years. QB Matt Hasselbeck said it keeps an open line of communication between coaches and players - sort of. "It makes the players think they are having a say in things," Hasselbeck said.

BY THE NUMBERS: 41.5 -- Numbers of sacks by DE Patrick Kerney since 2004, which is fourth-best in the NFL in that time period.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "To think it's going to be Star Wars out there, that's probably not the way it works." -- Mike Holmgren on increased expectations of the passing game now that he is likely to get most of his receivers back.