Coffee and Cigarettes: Seahawks Links For Friday

Thank GOD it's TGIF.

The Shutdown Corner Week 5 Preview Podcast: Greg Cosell - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
We're back with another weekly podcast featuring our favorite X's-and-O's analyst — Greg Cosell, the longtime NFL Films maven who's also the executive producer of ESPN's "NFL Matchup." As always, we go through this week's upcoming games with a scout's eye and Greg in control of the All-22 tape.

32 Teams, 32 Observations | ProFootballFocus.com
Seattle Seahawks: One of the many problems with the secondary – Earl Thomas has six missed tackles which is the most for all safeties compared to just 19 made tackles.

Seahawks.com Blog | Wednesday in Hawkville "
FOCUS ON No-huddle. While the Seahawks were working on the offensive strategy that has spiked their offensive output the past two weeks, the New York Giants were working against it during their practice. "Obviously we practice it a great deal and did utilize it some of today’s practice for a great deal of that," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said during a conference-call interview. "The communication thing – we are at home, we should be able to communicate the idea that we’re in the proper alignment positions relating to and making sure everyone knows what the huddle call was. So we’re working on those kinds of things as well."

Week 5 - Carroll Press Conference Wednesday

Seahawks Blog | Kenny Mayne looks 'Back to the Future' | Seattle Times Newspaper
Kenny Mayne is one former Seahawk who knows how to make a successful transition to the East Coast.

Feed the beast: Seahawks' run game is out of rhythm | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune
Feed the beast. With the addition of offensive line coach Tom Cable, a zone-blocking guru, and a renewed focus on running the ball by coach Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch expected a steady diet of running plays this season.

NFL Football Scouting - National Football League - ESPN
Protect the quarterback: The Seahawks are allowing way too many sacks. In fact, their protection is among the worst in the NFL. And now they are visiting the home of one of the league's best pass-rushing defenses. New York shouldn't have to blitz with much frequency to generate pressure this week. Jason Pierre-Paul has been amazing in his second season. A fantastic physical specimen, he has grown up a great deal as a player in a very short amount of time. Seattle didn't allow a sack against Atlanta, so that might be progress for the Seahawks. Left tackle Russell Okung is Seattle's best offensive lineman in protection and has immense talent, but this year has been a struggle, and he is committing far too many penalties.

Giants' Justin Tuck, Michael Boley back to practice | NJ.com
Justin Tuck told reporters on Wednesday they would find out today if he had a shot to return to the playing field this weekend. The answer is apparently yes.

Bivens Seahawks Weekly - Seattle Football Blog, Kam Chancellor, Zach Miller updates
Tarvaris Jackson had 70 more passing yards last week than he had any other week in his NFL career. Zach Miller hadn’t jumped as he caught the ball and took a big hit in the end zone that caused the ball to pop and be intercepted.

Re-Focused - Falcons @ Seahawks, Week 4 | ProFootballFocus.com
The Seahawks were coming off a big divisional game against the Cardinals where they showed a ton of improvement on offense – an area that looked hopeless with out Sidney Rice. Tarvaris Jackson continued to develop and he put together a game where he graded out higher than the three previous, but it wasn’t enough to knock off the high-flying Falcons.

10/6: Leaving early could help Seahawks' road woes - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
Brock and Salk propose an earlier departure as a way for the Seahawks to counteract some of the problems they have had when playing in the Eastern Time Zone, which they'll do Sunday when they take on the Giants in New York.

New York Giants' Brandon Jacobs, David Baas sit out for 2nd straight day - ESPN New York
New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs is waiting to be unleashed. But Jacobs continues to experience swelling in his knee, missed his second straight practice on Thursday, and it remains uncertain as to whether he'll be able to play on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. "I feel pretty good [Thursday]," said Jacobs, who suffered the injury last Sunday in Arizona. "I didn't do much. I'm just waiting until the time [the medical staff] lets me do a little running and stuff like that, but I feel good though."

Seahawks Blog | Zach Miller returns to practice, Marcus Trufant sits out | Seattle Times Newspaper
The Seahawks doubled the number of tight ends on the active 53-man roster who participated in practice Thursday.

Seahawks Blog | Video: Tarvaris Jackson talks about a Giant challenge | Seattle Times Newspaper
Can the Seahawks sustain the offensive momentum they generated in the second half against Atlanta? Let's ask quarterback Tarvaris Jackson.

Trufant surprise addition to injury list | Seahawks Insider
Rookie Richard Sherman worked with the first unit at cornerback in place of Trufant and had a pretty good practice. "It was a situation with Tru where we felt like we could get Richard in there," Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. "Richard’s got to be able to play corner for us, nickel for us, so we’ve got to get him up to speed. And this time of year you see guys get nicked, and we just feel like we’ve got to bring those younger guys along and get them more reps on the field."

Tarvaris Jackson says offense more confident | Seahawks Insider
Scoring 21 points in a half can do wonders for a team’s confidence. Just ask Seattle Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson. He believes his team will build off last week’s second-half performance against Atlanta last week.

Sidney Rice ready for prime time, and no, we're not talking about night football | HeraldNet.com - Seahawks blog
While you're no doubt aware by now of Sidney Rice's talents as a wide receiver, did you know the Seahawks' free-agent acquisition apparently decided to dabble in acting this offseason as well?

Why I’m rooting for Landry Jones " Seahawks Draft Blog
In my opinion, there are two truly special quarterback prospects in this draft (assuming they declare):  Andrew Luck and Matt Barkley.  After that, there’s a drop off point to the remaining quarterbacks, including Landry Jones.  I’m not as critical of the remaining quarterback group as Rob is, but I do agree that there is a big difference in quality after Barkley leaves the board.

Seahawks | Doug Baldwin an unlikely catch | Seattle Times Newspaper
The undrafted receiver who arrived at Seattle's training camp with three days' worth of clothes has caught more passes than all but three rookies in the NFL.

Seahawks-Giants Preview - Oct. 5, 2011 - NFL - CBSSports.com Game Preview
Eli Manning and the New York Giants are surging, and they have beaten the Seattle Seahawks by a combined 72 points over the teams' last two meetings. The Giants will try to stretch their win streak to four straight Sunday and hand the Seahawks a seventh consecutive road loss.

Will the Giants be able to run Sunday? - NFL Nation Blog - ESPN
Chris Snee, the Giants' best offensive lineman, sounds as though he's had enough. "We just have to get it going, period," Snee said. "I'm tired of seeing 80 yards a game average and three yards a carry. So it's got to be fixed."

Brandon Jacobs & Ahmad Bradshaw not living up to 2010 stats, NY Giants look to sort out ground game - The Giants' offensive plan was supposed to be a simple one. They wanted to be a power team, not a finesse one. They wanted to run the ball, and run it a lot. So far, though, they just haven't run it very well.

Giants hope to improve run defense against Seattle Seahawks | NJ.com - Throughout the Giants’ locker room, defensive players insist the team prides itself on stopping the run. It’s fundamental to their strategy of forcing opposing offenses to become one dimensional, and the pass rushers can then wreak havoc on the quarterback.

NFL: Will the Giants Learn From Their Upset Losses? - WSJ.com - The Giants are supposed to have it easy Sunday. The Seahawks are 1-3, the Giants pounded them 41-7 last year and Vegas heavily favors the Giants. But then, that was the case last year against the 1-7 Cowboys. (Result: Cowboys 33, Giants 20.) And the year before against 6-8 Carolina. (Panthers 41, Giants 9.) And every year of the Eli Manning era. For six years now, the Giants have been good for one inexplicable loss at home, right after a road win and against a team they should beat.

Giants ready for new-look Seahawks - NYPOST.com - These ain't your older cousin's Seahawks. Since Pete Carroll took over as coach and vice president of football operations in Seattle last season, the Seahawks have only 10 players on the 53-man roster remaining from 2009. They have 24 players in their first season with the team and they carry the youngest starting unit in the league.

LuckWatch 2011: Sorry, Seahawks - NFC West Blog - ESPN - The latest in an occasional series sizing up five NFL teams' prospects for landing Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, the consensus projected No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft: The Seattle Seahawks have gone from topping our inaugural LuckWatch item two weeks ago to dropping from the top five.

Where NFC West teams rank in turnovers - NFC West Blog - ESPN - Only the Pittsburgh Steelers have forced fewer turnovers than the Seattle Seahawks this season. Pittsburgh has one. Seattle has two. "We're trying to do everything we can, but when you don't affect the quarterback and you're not getting to him -- we didn’t get any sacks last week -- that’s where most of it starts," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday.

Seattle Seahawks Blog - Hawk Blogger: Seahawks Progress Report @ Season's Quarter-Pole - Good teams judge their seasons by only one metric, wins. Great teams judge their seasons by one game, the Super Bowl. The 2011 Seahawks neither good nor great, so their season must be judged differently. Four games into this season, the team is 1-3, but there are reasons to be very excited as a Seahawks fan. Players and position groups crucial to the team's future success are heading in the right direction, some at startlingly fast rates.

The underdog: Doug Baldwin, Madden and anger management | Seattle Seahawks & NFL News - seattlepi.com - Doug Baldwin is bright. He’s interesting. He’s polite. He answers questions in an honest, thoughtful manner. So it’s very hard to believe the Seahawks rookie receiver when he tells you why he’s so effective as a slot receiver in the NFL. "I think you have to have a bit of an anger management issue, to be honest with you," Baldwin said Wednesday in front of his locker. Anger management? Doug Baldwin? Really?

Truly tough guys don’t have to brag about it | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune - If you watch closely, you can see young players grow from game to game, and you can learn more about them in weekly increments. Against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, rookie Seahawks guard John Moffitt had one particularly illustrative play in the third quarter.

Week 5 rematches: NFC West vengeance? - NFC West Blog - ESPN - Key play: With Seattle already down 14-0 in the first quarter, the Giants returned Leon Washington's fumbled kickoff return to the Seattle 4, setting up Ahmad Bradshaw's touchdown run on the next play.