As the Raiders and Seahawks are both pretty much average in their respective passing games on both sides of the ball and are closely matched on special teams, this game is likely to be decided in the head to head battle on the ground and in the trenches.
We all saw that Oakland Raider running back Darren McFadden, in the midst of a breakout season, is responding well to his earlier hamstring injury with a career day against the Denver Broncos.
So how good is this Seattle rush defense really?
We're going to find out.
The Seahawks haven’t faced a rushing attack like Oakland’s yet this year. The highest ranking rushing offense they have played so far is the St. Louis Rams (#13). McFadden and Michael Bush promise to test Seattle’s run defense this Sunday in whole new ways for this season.
Part of Seattle’s success in the rushing game this year has been in defending big rushing plays of 20 yards or more; they have given up 2 and none more than 40 yards. For defending big run plays the Seahawks are among the league leaders.
The Raiders runners however have broken 7 big runs for over 20 yards and 3 more over 40 yards. The Raiders are also among the league leaders in big running plays.
It’s that most compelling match up: the unstoppable force against the immovable object. This game is setup to see which one is going to give.
Raiders come in run-heavy
It’s not like the Raiders are likely to shy away from the run. The Raiders have run 236 rushes to 213 passing plays at this point in the season. The Seahawks haven’t faced that ki...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
