BALTIMORE – Say what you will about the Seattle Seahawks’ road woes, their inability to put teams away or their propensity to play down to their competition.
But it’s impossible to argue with the 15 plays.
Make that The 15 plays.
In coach Mike Holmgren’s system, the first 15 offensive plays are the key to setting the tone every Sunday. He and his offensive assistants script the plays early in the week, work on them during practices, then unleash them Sunday afternoons with the expectation of near perfection.
This year, that’s what the Seahawks have gotten.
The Seahawks have scored points on six of their 10 game-opening drives, including five touchdowns. They have been forced to punt only twice on opening drives, while missing a field goal and fumbling the ball away near midfield on two others.
Over the past four games, Seattle has piled up 442 yards in its first 15 plays – an average of 7.4 yards per play – while scoring 38 points on drives that began within the first 15.
“Those are the plays that we work on all week, and we’ve been getting results,” wide receiver Koren Robinson said. “We’re going to keep it up. We’re going to keep going out there and putting up points.”
To continue that trend today would be crucial to Seattle’s success. The Baltimore Ravens, who host the Seahawks in a game played today at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, have the No. 3 defense and run the football but offer very little in the way of a passing offense. If the Ravens (5-5) fall behind, it may be difficult to catch up.
“If we put points up on them early,” Robinson said, “they might start to lose their confidence.”
Baltimore’s confidence has been waning recently, even though the Ravens are still tied atop the AFC North. Back-to-back losses mean the Ravens will enter today’s game with extra motivation.
Middle linebacker Ray Lewis, an emotional leader who never needs pre-game pep talks, should have his team fired up for the Seahawks.
“What you have to do against Ray Lewis is you have to match his intensity, as hard as that is,” said Seahawks backup quarterback Trent Dilfer, a former Raven. “You have to match his preparation, as hard as that is. You have to do everything you can do to match that, and then you play football.”
The Seahawks (7-3) may have lost their last three road games, but the results didn’t have to do with a lack of intensity. Seattle was leading or tied after the first quarter of all three games, only to let things eventually slip away. The Seahawks had chances at score-tying or game-winning drives late in each of their past two road games but couldn’t close the deal.
“In Cincinnati and Washington, we made mistakes that cost us,” Robinson said. “If we just figure that out, I feel like we can get a win on the road.”
Maybe they haven’t been able to finish in some of their road games, but the Seahawks have certainly proven they are capable of getting off to a good start.
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