Coffee & Cigarettes: Seahawks links for gameday

Links!

The art of crunch time: How the Seahawks handle so many close games | Seahawks | The Seattle Times
"You can't help but to feel the pressure and the anxiety," said receiver Golden Tate. "This is the last few seconds. If I catch or drop this ball, it's going to determine the outcome of the game."

Expect Seahawks to emerge as a contender in second half | Jerry Brewer | The Seattle Times
If the Seahawks are the promising young team that many see, then they should make a huge jump over the final eight games.

Seahawks-Vikings at a glance | Seahawks | The Seattle Times
Batten down the hatches for Adrian Peterson. Only 10 months removed from knee surgery, Peterson leads the league in rushing and while Seattle's run defense is a strength, it was just two games ago that Frank Gore rushed for 131 yards, becoming the first back to hit triple digits against Seattle this season. Peterson rushed for more than 120 yards in each of the past two games. He hasn't hit triple digits three games in a row since 2008.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Film Room: Vikings-Seahawks
With all the attention this week going to the NFC East teams (as usual), we’re going to go against the grain and spotlight two surprising, lesser-known NFC playoff contenders: the 5-3 Vikings and 4-4 Seahawks. With these clubs being under the radar, a classic unit-versus-unit analysis is the best way to break down this Week 9 match-up.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Most Defensive Plays per Snap, Weeks 1-8
As promised in Tuesday's DVOA commentary, let's take a look at some numbers through eight weeks on defensive Plays per snap. By "Plays" here, of course we don't mean how many plays someone is on the field for. (If we did, "plays per snap" would be 1.0.) Instead, we're using the FO definition of defensive Plays as any time that a defender appears in the play-by-play: tackles, assists, passes defensed, and turnovers.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Futures: Florida TE Jordan Reed
Last week, I wrote about Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert and how his skills fit into the growing pantheon of versatile tight end play that is in vogue in the NFL. But versatility can have a number of different meanings depending on the talents of the player and his fit within an offense. The word doesn’t necessarily mean that the player can do everything well.

Rams fined $20,000 for not disclosing in-game injury | National Football Post
Groin injury to Steven Jackson was kept a secret

NFL Sunday: 5 matchups to watch | National Football Post
1. Percy Harvin vs. Seahawks’ secondary: From a pure matchup standpoint, I’m going to take Seattle’s Sherman, Browner, Chancellor and Thomas vs. Minnesota’s receivers. That’s a legit secondary for Pete Carroll. However, with Harvin we have to think multiple alignments and schemes. The Vikings will use Harvin in the backfield, as a slot receiver, outside of the numbers, pre-snap movement, etc. Creative play calling that puts the football in his hands. There is no question Adrian Peterson could see 20-25 touches tomorrow, but when it comes to making plays in the passing game, Harvin has to be productive for the Vikes to win on the road.

Nine really random things in NFL: Andrew Luck matching hype - NFL.com
The 49ers defense got game. Serious game. Four of the past five games, they've allowed fewer than six points. Of course, the only irregularity is the ugly, 26-3 loss to the Giants in Week 6, but other than that, they've been nearly perfect. It's no surprise that halfway through the season, they are ranked No. 1 in total defense. That's a point I brought up to Niners star linebacker Patrick Willis, while we talked on the phone during his campaign to raise awareness for Duracell's ProCamps scholarship donations, which can be done by using the #TrustYourPower hashtag. Willis had no idea where his group was ranked. "That goes to show you," Willis told me, "We don't go into our defensive meeting rooms and have coach say, 'This is where we are statistics-wise and all that.' Nah, we don't even talk about that." What they do have is goals. Simple goals each week. Like holding the opponent to 17 points or fewer. And having a certain number of three-and-outs. Oh, and Willis said they just want to destroy all of those goals.

Seahawks' Baldwin set to return | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune
"This is the second-most-frustrating season of my career in playing football," said Baldwin, calling his junior season at Stanford during Jim Harbaugh’s tenure the most frustrating because of inconsistent playing time. "They went to Detroit, and I was stuck at home watching it on TV, and that killed me. I have to play football."

What to watch for: Vikings at Seahawks | Seahawks Blog | The Seattle Times
Batten down the hatches for Adrian Peterson. 1. Only 10 months removed from knee surgery, Peterson leads the league in rushing and while Seattle's run defense is a strength, it was just two games ago that Frank Gore rushed for 131 yards, becoming the first back to hit triple digits against Seattle this season. Peterson rushed for more than 120 yards in each of the past two games. He hasn't hit triple digits three games in a row since 2008.

Seahawks.com Blog | Week 9: Seahawks vs. Vikings
When: Sunday, 1:05 p.m., CenturyLink Field Records: Seahawks 4-4 after last Sunday’s 28-24 loss to the Lions in Detroit; Vikings 5-3 after their 36-17 loss to the Buccaneers at home last week

Seahawks' line prospects minus Carpenter - NFC West Blog - ESPN
The Seattle Seahawks have shuffled linemen through their starting offense without great consequence. They'll be looking to continue the trend Sunday.