Road warrior Chris Clemons has chance for strong start
Sep 8, 2012, 10:18 PM | Updated: 10:24 pm
By Brady Henderson
The deafening noise at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field gives Seahawks pass rushers an advantage they don’t have on the road.
That’s true in theory, at least.
A look at Chris Clemons’ stats from the last two seasons tells a different story.
Of Clemons’ 22 combined sacks in 2010 and 2011, 15.5 of them have come on the road (those totals don’t include the sack he had in Seattle’s playoff loss at Chicago two seasons ago). Last season, he collected all but two of his 11 sacks away from home.
Clemons noted that when he joined “Bob and Groz” Thursday.
Clemons, who has played for four teams in eight NFL seasons, said playing at CenturyLink Field is a “big advantage” before adding that “a lot of times, we can’t even hear each other out there making calls, so that’s where the majority of our mistakes come is at home on defense, just not even being able to hear anything.”
The Seahawks won’t have to worry about that Sunday when they open their season against the Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz. The matchup between Seattle’s defensive line and Arizona’s offensive line appears to heavily favor the Seahawks, as the Cardinals are starting backups at both offensive tackle spots due to injuries to their starters.
Bobby Massie, a rookie fourth-round pick, will start at right tackle. D’Anthony Batiste will start at left tackle for the first time in his career. His last start came as a guard in 2007.
Clemons has four sacks against Arizona the last two seasons. He brought down Kevin Kolb last season in Seattle’s home win over the Cardinals.
Arizona, of course, has a new starting quarterback. John Skelton, at 6-foot-6 and 244 pounds, is not mobile, though he does have the ability to shed would-be tacklers and keep plays alive.