Coffee and Cigarettes: Seahawks Links for Monday

Gameday, baby.

3TFO: Packers @ Seahawks, Week 3 | ProFootballFocus.com
It may have gone unnoticed with Chris Clemons only having one sack, but through two games the defensive end has been devastating rushing the passer. The end result has been a sack, two hits and nine more hurries as he has the highest pass rushing grade (+11.2) of any defensive end in the league currently. While he’ll predominantly rush from the right side, he’s the kind of talent who the Packers can expect to see on the left and playing with his hand up, while also being versatile enough to drop into coverage.

Monday matchup is football in bold-face for Seattle Seahawks | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune
Some games just seem to count more, and carry greater weight; and if you win them, the "W" needs to be in a larger font, and printed in bold.

Doug Baldwin’s status for Seahawks game up in the air | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune
If Baldwin can’t play (he’s listed as questionable), Charly Martin would serve as the slot receiver. Martin, who’s also dealing with a chest injury that forced him to miss last week’s game against Dallas, practiced all week and is probable for Monday’s game.

NFP Sunday Blitz | National Football Post
An NFC personnel man pointed out that if a corner is tall and has speed, change of direction skills, willingness to tackle and ball skills, he is a top 10 pick—like Patrick Peterson of the Cardinals. But there aren’t many like him. "We’ve been trying, but how many come out every year?" Seahawks general manager John Schneider said. "Guys who can really drive, there’s maybe three or four. There are a lot of taller guys who can’t break on the ball that well."

Seahawks have blueprint to beat Green Bay at home - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
As former Seahawks coach Chuck Knox used to say, "It's not who you play, it's when you play them." As Seattle prepares to take on the Packers Monday night, it's important to keep that adage in mind.

Seahawks won't catch Packers off guard - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
As a self-confessed blind squirrel, I'm surprised that I'm 2-0 at picking Seahawks games against the spread, choosing underdog winners and nailing it both times. I took Arizona, as a 2.5-point dog, to beat the Seahawks 20-13 two weeks ago, and the Cardinals prevailed 20-16. Last week I took the Seahawks, as three-point dogs, to beat the Cowboys 24-17, and they won 27-7.

Jon Gruden on the Seahawks: "They can hand it to you" | The Brewery | The Seattle Times
Gruden has plenty of concerns about the offense, but he bases the Seahawks' legitimacy on three things: Marshawn Lynch and the run game, the special teams and, of course, the defense. "I really like their defense," Gruden said. "Their personnel is good, and almost all of their starters from last season returned. They play a unique system that's really exclusive to the Seahawks. They can dominate you on defense if you're not ready. They can hand it to you."

Anatomy of a Play: Wilson to McCoy Touchdown - 12th Man Rising - A Seattle Seahawks Fan Site
This week’s play breakdown is going to be Russell Wilson’s beautiful TD to TE Anthony McCoy. It was a great throw and catch, but it was an even better play design and play call by offensive coordinator Darrell Bevel. The combination of formation and route combinations had the Cowboys lost confused, and great execution by the Seahawks turned that confusion into 6 points.

Know Your Enemy: The Green Bay Packers - 12th Man Rising - A Seattle Seahawks Fan Site
It’s time to begin getting ready for this week’s prime time Monday Night game against the Green Bay Packers. To start things off, I tracked down the editor of Fansided’s Packers affiliate for a quick Q&A. Answering my questions this week is Ray Rivard from Lombardiave.com.

Vikings upset 49ers, and Christian Ponder takes some major steps forward | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
"We knew through the summer that everyone was counting us out -- everyone was probably counting us out of this game," Ponder said. "But we know what kind of personnel we have. Coach [offensive coordinator Bill] Musgrave came up with a brilliant gameplan, and all we had to do was to execute and finish. We believed we could do it, and we did it."

Christian Ponder earns Minnesota Vikings' trust - ESPN
"We know with him back there, he's going to be accurate and we're going to pick up first downs," center John Sullivan said. "We're never going to be out of a football game, and I feel like we have incredible stability at that position now. We've kind of been in flux for a couple of years. Christian is answering all the questions. Hats off to him. "I knew it was there," Sullivan added. "But at the same time, it has to work out on Sundays. We're 2-1, and we don't want to overstate that. But this is a really good football team here that we beat here today, and [Ponder] was a huge reason why we won this game. It's an enormous step in the right direction."

Week four thoughts: Austin, Te’o and Lemonier impress " Seahawks Draft Blog
Credit where it’s due to E.J. Manuel. He put in probably the best performance of his career to inspire Florida State to a big win over Clemson and the Seminoles are now in pole position to win the ACC.

Revisiting Cardinals' pivotal play vs. Eagles - NFC West Blog - ESPN
The Arizona Cardinals held a 17-0 lead over the Philadelphia Eagles with six seconds before halftime Sunday. What happened next sent Arizona on its way to a 27-6 victory and the Cardinals' first 3-0 start since 1974:

Wrap-up: Cardinals 27, Eagles 6 - NFC West Blog - ESPN
What it means: The Cardinals are 3-0 for the first time since relocating to Arizona. They are alone atop the NFC West after San Francisco lost at Minnesota. Beating Seattle, New England and Philadelphia to open the season forces a reassessment of almost universally negative preseason expectations for the Cardinals. Arizona is playing great defensively. The offense showed improvement Sunday. By all appearances, quarterback Kevin Kolb played well enough against the Eagles to remain the starter while John Skelton returns to health.

Wrap-up: Vikings 24, 49ers 13 - NFC West Blog - ESPN
What it means: The 49ers fell to 2-1 and opened the door for Arizona to take sole possession of first place in the NFC West if the Cardinals defeat Philadelphia later Sunday. The NFC West, 4-0 a week ago, emerged from the early games Sunday with an 0-2 record.

Wrap-up: Bears 23, Rams 6 - NFC West Blog - ESPN
What it means: The Rams dropped to 1-2, missing an opportunity to move above .500 for the first time since the 2006 team was 4-3. Their limitations on offense were more apparent in this game than they were in the previous two. With two home games against division opponents next on the schedule, St. Louis has a good opportunity to right itself.

Arizona Cardinals 3-0 after routing Philadelphia Eagles - NFL.com
Are the Arizona Cardinals the most surprising team in football?

What we learned from Sunday's games - NFL.com
"Another week, another week of minimal production from Randy Moss, who had three catches for 27 yards in his return to Minnesota. Asked after the game about his playing time, he offered, "Next question." This feels like it's heading in a certain direction.

Jim Harbaugh cons replacement refs out of two extra challenges | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
It was the officiating crew "led" by Ken Roan that proved to be a complete disaster in last Monday night's game between the Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos, and it was Roan's crew who made perhaps the most embarrassing series of mistakes in a day of football that was nearly overwhelmed by them.

NFL Recap - Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals - Sep 23, 2012 - CBSSports.com Game Recap
"He was calling for guys to reach down and dig deep, that we really needed to make a play," Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. "He really doesn't talk that much in the huddle, but today I could tell that he was extra motivated."

NFL Recap - San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings - Sep 23, 2012 - CBSSports.com Game Recap
"You can't think that the game's just going to be given to you, especially when you guys are hyping us up and saying we're that good," 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman said. "Everyone is trying to knock us off. You just have to be prepared for it every single game."

NFL Recap - San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings - Sep 23, 2012 - CBSSports.com Game Recap
"You can't think that the game's just going to be given to you, especially when you guys are hyping us up and saying we're that good," 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman said. "Everyone is trying to knock us off. You just have to be prepared for it every single game."

Press Coverage | ProFootballFocus.com
One of the things we’re about at Pro Football Focus is continuous improvement. So when one of the NFL teams we work with asked us if we could start looking into when a defensive player lines up in press coverage, our immediate thought was ‘why haven’t we done that sooner?’

Drew Brees, Saints find themselves in big hole to start season - Don Banks - SI.com
That was a pretty low-impact homecoming for Randy Moss in Minnesota (three catches for 27 yards). Seeing the 49ers veteran receiver sitting on the San Francisco bench late in the game, nowhere near the rest of his teammates, must have seemed like old times for Vikings fans.