Deep Steel Blueprint: A Northwestern Enigma Served In A Grande Cup

This is not going to be easy.

Quite frankly, I'm not even sure how one goes about beating the Seattle Seahawks. I definitely don't know where to begin to attack their defense. Their secondary can man-up on any receiving corps in the league. Their front seven moves and fills lanes very well. Offenses trying to move the ball are going to have a difficult time doing so. Let's move to the other side of the ball to see where the Texans could attempt to find an advantage.

Offensively, the Texans will be staring into a mirror. Seattle head coach Pete Carroll runs a West Coast Offense with boot-action and zone-blocking schemes. From that standpoint, the Houston defense should be well versed in what they'll see on Sunday. They should know they'll see play-action, zone stretches, and a running back who doesn't dance around. As with the Houston offense, your best bet to counter the Seahawks would be to take away the threat of Marshawn Lynch entering #BeastMode.

In fact, I'll be as bold as to suggest that the Texans put it on Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson to win the game. In his brief career, including the postseason, Wilson has only thrown 30-plus passes five times. Seattle is 2-3 in those games. For the other 16 starts, Wilson's generally around 20 attempts per game. This is enough to take advantage of the play-action and keep offenses honest, but the Seahawks would rather run it 33+ times a game, as they've averaged over Wilson's career.

This isn't to suggest that Wilson isn't good or that he is incapable of putting a team on his back, but the Seahawks clearly want to control the pace of the game. Focus on the run, focus on stacking the box and getting downhill, and focus on coaxing Seattle into throwing the ball. The best route for the Texans would be to try and force Seattle off of Lynch's legs and onto Wilson's arm. As we've seen with Houston, deviating from the plan could lead to an out-of-whack game.

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