We’re just a couple of hours away from kickoff between the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers. These teams have met three previous times since 2019, with the Steelers taking two out of three. That one Seahawks win, thought? A 28-26 victory at Pittsburgh during Week 2 of the 2019 season. Could history repeat itself and we see the Seahawks get a huge road win in a hostile environment? If not, then this place might panic for a little bit.
Last week’s predictions were a bit of a disaster, but we’ll
review them anyway.
Bold prediction: The Seahawks never trail from start to finish
Well, they lost, so by definition this is a fail. They also didn’t score first, so I was doomed in the opening quarter.
Seahawks offense prediction: Cooper Kupp is Seattle’s leading receiver in catches
Not even close.
Seahawks defense prediction: Seattle forces multiple takeaways
Two is multiple, right? Should’ve been three if not for Riq Woolen’s horrendous misplay in the end zone on that final drive.
49ers prediction: Jake Moody misses at least one field goal
Not only did he miss a chip shot, he had another kick blocked, and now he’s with the Chicago Bears.
Game prediction: Seahawks win by a close-ish margin
It was close, but the Seahawks didn’t win.
Bold prediction: One of Kenneth Walker III or Zach Charbonnet will rush for 100 yards
Maybe this isn’t a bold take given Pittsburgh struggled against the run last week (Breece Hall had 107 of the New York Jets’ 182 on the ground), but I’ll consider it bold enough when it’s a road game for the Seahawks and they’re facing a superior defensive line anchored by Alex Highsmith, Cameron Heyward, and T.J. Watt. If I really wanted to be bold I’d pick both to clear 100 but that’s not bold that’s delusional.
Walker has been subject to a lot of criticism for his ineffective play and injury history, but I think the talent is still there even if the blocking isn’t. I must admit that Charbonnet looks like the better back for Klint Kubiak and John Benton’s zone blocking scheme, so it’ll be interesting to see if Zach does look like a genuine RB1.
At the moment, I back Charbonnet as more likely to have more carries, more effective runs, and maybe more consistently explosive runs to reach the century mark. Pittsburgh’s defense is good on paper but it’s not particularly young and their vulnerabilities were shown right away. If the run game doesn’t work on Sunday then the squirming among this fanbase will really increase.
Seahawks offense prediction: At least eight play-action passes
Seriously, whatever Klint Kubiak was cooking last week should result in a health-and-safety violation and a cessation of the restaurant until things get cleaned up. There is no way after that offseason and that preseason you can only have two PAs called (and one attempt) against the 49ers. No way.
Mike Macdonald will have surely gotten into Kubiak’s ear about that nonsense, and the goal will be to move the pocket for Sam Darnold while he’s under center, but also sprinkle in some PA from shotgun when they’re in 11 personnel. I anticipate the Seahawks having more plays run than last week, which means more throws for Darnold, and a much higher PA rate. If I suppose he throws 35 times, I predict a tick over 20 percent will come off of play-action.
Seahawks defense prediction: Sacks by both Boye Mafe and Derick Hall
The Seahawks pressured Brock Purdy aplenty on Sunday, but he’s quite mobile (when not dealing with turf toe) and can improvise. Aaron Rodgers may have had a strong Steelers debut, but he’s playing behind a shaky offensive line that allowed four sacks to the New York Jets’ front. Broderick Jones in particular gave up three sacks off the left side, so there will be opportunities for Seattle to get after Rodgers.
I think it’s possible that Rodgers will do some “throw it into the dirt” sack avoidance akin to what late-career Tom Brady did, but I foresee both Boye Mafe and Derick Hall, coming off of good performances last week, getting on the sack board later today.
Steelers prediction: DK Metcalf has a 1-to-1 touchdown-to-penalty ratio
With a depleted secondary definitely down Nick Emmanwori and likely down Devon Witherspoon (way more important, at this point), I do not like Seattle’s chances of containing Metcalf. I think he’ll get his first Steelers touchdown against his old team, but we also know he’s more than capable of being riled up or committing a sloppy penalty, so he’ll get at least one yellow flag on his ledger for the day.
Game prediction: Seahawks somehow find a way to get in the win column
It’s admittedly very hard to justify this given how both teams looked last week, but Week 1 is Week 1 and and you can get some crazy results that aren’t reflective of the remainder of the season. Pittsburgh is a tough place to play and the Steelers defense on paper should be much better than their showing against the New York Jets. And yet, I’m not sold that the Steelers offense is fixed with the new key faces in town, and even with key faces missing in the secondary for the Seahawks, the front seven could make things difficult for Mr. Rodgers in his new neighborhood.
I’ll go with the Seahawks to pull off an entertaining 27-23 surprise. The offense will perform much better than against the 49ers, while the defense will give up some big plays but do just enough to hold off Pittsburgh’s offense. And they better be up by more than three points late on because Chris Boswell is about as good a long-distance kicker there is in the National Football League.
That’s all from me! Make your own predictions in the comments!
