SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Seahawks’ run game is moving forward, but they need to avoid sliding back in secondary

Dec 9, 2016, 10:54 AM

Thomas Rawls led the Seahawks' season-best rushing effort last week against Carolina. (AP)...

Thomas Rawls led the Seahawks' season-best rushing effort last week against Carolina. (AP)

(AP)

Another step forward.

That’s what Seattle wants to take in Green Bay on Sunday, carrying forward the momentum built up while running over Carolina last week.

Two steps back.

That’s what Seattle’s secondary wants to avoid, a fear that the season-ending injury to Earl Thomas will leave Seattle vulnerable on the back end especially against an opposing quarterback like Aaron Rodgers.

Seattle’s game in Wisconsin isn’t going to be any sort of crossroads or gut check. The Seahawks come in with a cushion, leading their division by three games with four left to play. What Sunday’s game will be, however, is the most difficult matchup the Seahawks will play the rest of the regular season, and it comes at a particularly important time.

Last week – for the first time this season – the Seahawks looked like themselves. They ran the ball right at the Carolina Panthers. They ran it repeatedly. They ran it relentlessly, and yet the most lopsided victory this season was counterbalanced by the loss of a player who has been a cornerstone in Seattle’s ascension under Pete Carroll.

“He’s a really good player,” Rodgers said of Thomas in a conference call with Seattle-area reporters. “Tough to see an injury like that for anybody.”

It might be even more difficult in Seattle where Thomas is the center fielder whose range is unparalleled. Put him back as the single high safety and he can cover both seams while still having that hair trigger to follow his instincts and make a play. Now, he’ll be replaced by a third-year player in Steven Terrell who’s plenty fast but not nearly as experienced.

It is not a coincidence that Carolina threw deep down the middle the first play after Thomas left last week’s game with a broken leg. It is also at least a little concerning that pass was completed for 55 yards and resulted in the Panthers’ only touchdown in the game.

Henderson: Seahawks may have to brave elements in snowy Green Bay

That’s the kind of vulnerability Seattle can’t show on Sunday in Green Bay. Not with Rodgers playing quarterback and Jordy Nelson returning to become one of the league’s most dangerous downfield receivers. He had 118 yards receiving last week in the snow against Houston and he’s caught 10 touchdown passes this season.

And while the questions in Seattle’s defense remain up in the air, their offense seems to have found its footing with three straight games in which Seattle has rushed for more than 100 yards.

That may not sound all that great. In fact, it isn’t all that great when you consider the Seahawks failed to rush for 100 yards as a team only once in the 2015 regular season. But hitting triple digits marked significant progress this season.

The Seahawks went six straight games without hitting triple digits on the ground, a streak that ended against Philadelphia when Thomas Rawls returned from a broken leg and C.J. Prosise reeled off a 72-yard touchdown.

Well, Prosise remains sidelined by a broken shoulder blade, but Rawls has picked up speed, and last week he had 103 yards on the ground in the first half alone as Seattle finished with 240 yards rushing against a Carolina defense that ranked second against the run entering the game.

Another step forward. That’s what the Seahawks took last week, picking up speed in that element of the game that has been there identity.

Two steps back. That’s what Seattle needs to avoid on Sunday in Green Bay.

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Seahawks’ run game is moving forward, but they need to avoid sliding back in secondary