When boiled down to its bottom line, what Saturday night’s game at the Metrodome comes down to for the Seahawks is communication.
It will start on offense, of course, as quarterback
Then there’s the inescapable fact that Wrotto will be matched against Jared Allen, who led the NFC with 14½ sacks last season; and Gibson will have to deal with defensive tackle Kevin Williams, who joined Allen as a Pro Bowl selection.
“The Vikings are really, really good on defense,” Hasselbeck said. “They probably have the best D-line in the league in terms of getting sacks.”
The Vikings had 48 sacks last season, but only two in their Week 11 blowout of the Seahawks at the Metrodome. In addition to Allen, left end Ray Edwards had 8½ and Williams six during the regular season, while Edwards added four more in two postseason games.
“They rush four guys and are able to get tremendous pressure that way,” Hasselbeck said. “But, there’s nothing we can do to change that. We just have to go out and do the best we can against them and just realize that they’re going to win some and just stick to the plan and stay focused.”
To help with that aspect, coach Pete Carroll had crowd noise blaring from speakers in practice this week – an unusual tactic for a preseason game. Offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates also stressed getting the ball out of Hasselbeck’s hands quickly.
“This will be a great challenge, not just playing a good football team, but also playing in the dome there and getting a bunch of guys that are trying to get their preseason right as well,” Carroll said. “So it should be very competitive and hopefully we’ll make some good progress.”But the need for better communication also spills over to the defensive side of the ball for the Seahawks.
Last week, the Green Bay Packers scored on their first three possessions against the Seahawks’ No. 1 defense – two touchdowns and a field goal. In the opener, the Tennessee Titans drove to a touchdown on their first possession.
“One thing we didn’t do a good job of last game was our communication,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “There were times, when we didn’t get lined up probably and the communication within the call didn’t get passed along well enough.
“So we’re really looking to improve in that area.”
Having middle linebacker
“He’s a very special player. We see it during the course of the week in practice,” Carroll said. “His instincts about finding routes in coverage and play-action passes, it’s just way, way above the other guys. He’s just that much better.
“Not only will he play that position better, but he adds to everybody’s play because of his alerts and his awareness. He’s going to give our guys a heads-up on what’s coming. He just has a special savvy for the game that helps everybody play better.”
Bradley concurs, and then some.
“Not that the other guys did a bad job, it’s just that Lofa’s game experience is so valuable,” Bradley said. “If for some reason we don’t get the call, or something happens, he’ll get us into a defense where we can maybe get to the next play.”
So while the offense was dealing with functioning in a noisy environment during practice, the defense also was getting an earful about improving its communication.
“We really harped on that all week with our guys,” Bradley said. “The communication has got to get better, and what better place to do it than the Metrodome.”
