Monday Night Football matchup: Seattle vs. Washington

Here’s a breakdown of the Monday Night Football matchup between Seattle and Washington:

SERIES HISTORY

Washington leads the regular-season series 11-4, including six straight victories dating back to 2001, and is 5-3 in home games. The Seahawks, however, do have the advantage in the postseason, beating Washington on the way to Super Bowl XL, then again in the Wild Card round of the 2007 and 2012 seasons.

KEY MATCHUP

Washington’s edge rushers against RT Justin Britt (and whoever is helping him)

After three solid seasons to open his career, outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan appears to be taking his game to another level this year, piling up five sacks in four games. Seeing as Kerrigan figures to spend much of his time lined up across from the right side of Seattle’s line, he is somebody who could pose a big problem for the Seahawks. Not only do the Seahawks start a rookie at right tackle in Justin Britt, they’re also missing their best tight end, Zach Miller, who is out with an ankle injury.

While the Seahawks are confident in their other tight ends behind Miller, the fact remains that neither Luke Willson nor Cooper Helfet is as good of a blocker as Miller, plus they’re not as well-versed in the offense.

“It’s a huge premium,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said of pass protection. “You would say that really every week. We really need to protect our quarterback, but anytime you have different guys in there, the communication will always come down to that; making sure that that is key, and that they’re all in on the same page, and that we get it communicated across the line. We won’t be home so we’ll have crowd noise to deal with as well. So there’s a lot of things added into it when you get new pieces.”

And the pass rush will come from more than just Kerrigan. Former first-round pick Brian Orakpo is also a handful, and with an aggressive play-caller running the defense, the Seahawks will have to be on their game when it comes to pass protection.

“Their front seven is really good,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “They’re really good. (Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett) does a really nice job to utilize them. They’re on the attack, so it’s going to be a challenge. There is nothing easy about playing these guys. Jim has a background of being very aggressive and getting after it. His players fit that mold. That front seven is really good.”

KEY NUMBER

.714: Seattle’s winning percentage on Monday night (20-8), the highest in the NFL. The Seahawks are also 10-1 under Pete Carroll in primetime games.

IMPORTANT INJURIES

Seahawks — TE Zach Miller had ankle surgery during the bye week, so Luke Willson will take over as the starter. CB Tharold Simon is making progress, but continues to be out while recovering from knee surgery. Backup T Alvin Bailey, who might have been used as an extra blocker with Miller sidelined, has been ruled out with an oblique injury suffered in practice last week. Everyone else is expected to be available, including LB Bruce Irvin, who missed Seattle’s last game with an oblique injury.

Washington — QB Robert Griffin III (ankle) and CB Tracy Porter (hamstring) are out. A handful of players are also listed as questionable, most notably Pro Bowl LT Trent Williams. Both Williams and Washington coach Jay Gruden expressed optimism that Williams will play, but he was limited in practice Saturday.

BREAK IT DOWN

Seattle will win if it …

• Doesn’t lose track of DeSean Jackson. One of Seattle’s top priorities on defense is limiting big plays, but that won’t be easy against Washington’s speedy receiver, who has scored 18 touchdowns longer than 50 yards in his career.
• Gets ahead early. Even though Carroll preaches the importance of finishing, not fast starts, a quick start would make Washington one-dimensional, which would be very bad news for Kirk Cousins after a four-interception performance in his last game.
• Picks up where it left off on defense. After a poor tackling performance contributed to a loss in San Diego, Seattle’s D was at its best for most of the Week 3 win over Denver. The Seahawks will have needed to knock off any rust from the bye week to match that performance.

Washington will win if it …

• Establishes the run. When these teams met in the playoffs two seasons ago, Washington built the two-touchdown lead it would eventually lose thanks in large part to the running of Alfred Morris. The Seahawks have been stingy against the run this season, but Washington still needs to try to establish a running game to take pressure off of Cousins, who is coming off a bad outing.
• Wins the turnover battle. On paper this game favors the Seahawks in nearly every facet of the game, but nothing can flip the scrip faster for an underdog, especially one playing at home, than a key turnover or two.
• Balances dealing with Percy Harvin and Marshawn Lynch. And yes, those two are both a handful but any defense that puts too much energy into stopping one is setting itself up to be burned by the other.

PICK: Seattle 31, Washington 16

Never mind the fact that they’re well rested, the Seahawks are also the better team in this match-up, which should be more than enough to overcome what should be a raucous crowd for a primetime game.