![\"Seattle](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3918,h_2203,x_0,y_216\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/packer_central\/01jf58yda6y8x2knf0d5.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Seattle Seahawks have won four consecutive games. A couple of those trends could be big factors against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf (14) tries to get away from Green Bay Packers during the 2019 playoffs. \/ Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n GREEN BAY, Wis. \u2013 The Green Bay Packers will face the Seattle Seahawks in one of the most intimidating venues in the NFL, Lumen Field, on Sunday night.<\/p>\n The Packers are 2.5-point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook and elsewhere, but here are three reasons why they will be upset by Seattle.<\/p>\n On paper, this is the big mismatch.<\/p>\n With former All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander out again and rookie safety Javon Bullard out as well, the Packers are thin in the secondary. That\u2019s not exactly ideal given the opponent.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re playing against some premier players, sometimes it\u2019s helpful to have a premier player to have out there with him,\u201d defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said on Thursday, when he might have expected Alexander to line up against Seattle\u2019s premier players.<\/p>\n DK Metcalf is a premier player \u2013 and has been for a while. In his sixth season, Metcalf has 54 receptions for 812 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games. He\u2019s on his way to his fourth 1,000-yard season and has a chance to match Randy Moss by going 6-for-6 to start his career with seasons of 50 receptions, 900 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n \u201cThey’re a great team in this league right now and they’ve won some tough games, but it’s going to be a great game for us,\u201d Metcalf told reporters in Seattle. \u201cThey’re a competitive team and it’s going to be a good test for us to have a team of that caliber come in here and try to beat us. But I’m taking us 10 days out of 10.\u201d<\/p>\n At 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, he\u2019s a physical mismatch for any defensive back. When he entered the NFL as a second-round pick in 2019, he had 4.33 speed and a 40.5-inch vertical.<\/p>\n With all those tools, he is a matchup nightmare. Only Pittsburgh\u2019s George Pickens (14) has more receptions on deep passes than Metcalf (13), according to PFF.<\/p>\n \u201cNo team that we’ve faced is just going to leave him one-on-one,\u201d Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith told reporters this week. \u201cI think it’s a gift and a curse because you want to throw him the ball as much as you can. You want to give him the ball. But you also realize you can’t force it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he’s understanding, man. He’s drawing so much attention that it’s opening up things for other guys, and him being the selfless player that he is, the selfless person that he is, he enjoys that.\u201d<\/p>\n One of those \u201cother guys\u201d is Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the team\u2019s first-round pick last year. He is sixth in the NFL with 75 receptions and fifth with 911 yards. He\u2019s scored five touchdowns, forced 10 missed tackles and dropped only two passes, according to Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n With Smith ranking second in the NFL in passing attempts, Seattle has one of the most pass-happy attacks in the NFL. He is going to put all sorts of stress on a defense with a banged-up secondary and suspect pass rush.<\/p>\n Green Bay\u2019s pass defense, which finished last week\u2019s game without Alexander, Bullard and safety Evan Williams, allowed Jared Goff to complete his final 13 passes.<\/p>\n Does Xavier McKinney like the state of the pass defense?<\/p>\n \u201cI do. It\u2019s going to be a challenge, though,\u201d he said. \u201cLike you said, they\u2019ve thrown the ball a ton this year, and it\u2019s going to be a challenge. We\u2019re going to have to be on our Ps and Qs. They\u2019ve got really good receivers, guys that can make plays really whenever they touch the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s crazy is DK, I don\u2019t even think he\u2019s their leading receiver. I think it\u2019s Njigba, so that should tell you a lot about the guys that they have on their team, the receivers that they have. But we\u2019ll be ready and prepared for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n The Seahawks don\u2019t exactly have a who\u2019s-who list of defensive backs in their secondary. And their pass rush is 17th in sack percentage and 18th in pass-rush win rate.<\/p>\n However, that group is playing as well as any in the NFL as they\u2019ve really found their stride under defense-centric coach Mike Macdonald.<\/p>\n During their four-game winning streak, Seattle is second in opponent passer rating (78.6).<\/p>\n During that same span, Packers quarterback Jordan Love is third in passer rating (118.8) \u2013 even better than he was during his sensational stretch run last year.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re definitely a really good defense,\u201d Love said. \u201cI think it starts up front with their D-line. They have a good D-line. Obviously, (Leonard) Williams is a really good rusher. They\u2019re a solid defense all around. They\u2019re very sound.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the big thing with these guys is you\u2019ve got to stay out of the negative plays, going backwards, pre-snap penalties, turnovers \u2013 all those things is where they thrive. I think third down they\u2019re pretty good, as well. We\u2019ve got to be able to stay on track, have positive plays and convert third downs, but they\u2019re a solid defense.\u201d<\/p>\n Green Bay, which ranks third in sack percentage allowed, will be challenged by Seattle\u2019s front of Williams (seven sacks), Derick Hall (six) and Boye Mafe (five).<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s having a monster year,\u201d coach Matt LaFleur said of Williams, who is second among interior defenders and sixth overall with 20 quarterback hits. \u201cShoot, the Jets game, he overtook that game and he\u2019s got that capability, so he\u2019s a guy that you better understand who you\u2019re going against and what he\u2019s capable of doing.\u201d<\/p>\n In the secondary, cornerback Riq Woolen, who was All-Rookie and a Pro Bowler in 2022, when he led the NFL in interceptions, has two interceptions and a team-high nine passes defensed. Devon Witherspoon, who was the fifth pick of last year\u2019s draft, has a team-high three interceptions, eight passes defensed and has allowed just 9.2 yards per catch. Safety Julian Love is No. 1 with 88 tackles and has two interceptions.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a great matchup: For the season, Love is No. 1 with 13.2 yards per completion. During their winning streak, Seattle is No. 1 with 8.98 yards allowed per completion. Just how dominant is that? They are the only team yielding less than 10.5.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to throw a lot of different things at you, and I think they\u2019re pretty game-plan specific,\u201d LaFleur said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be ready to adjust to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Seattle\u2019s homefield advantage is famous, even if a little overrated.<\/p>\n The Seahawks this year are just 3-4 at Lumen Field. At one point, they lost four in a row.<\/p>\n But you can\u2019t ignore the history, and it will be impossible to ignore the record-setting noise.<\/p>\n In primetime home games since 2010, the Seahawks are 24-8.<\/p>\n Since the stadium opened in 2005, opponents have been flagged for a league-high 244 false starts.<\/p>\n Green Bay\u2019s offense handled the noise well during the second half at Detroit, when it scored three touchdowns and one field goal in its five possessions. It was a dismal first half that doomed the team.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a few times where I couldn\u2019t hear him that well,\u201d receiver Christian Watson said of quarterback Jordan Love in the huddle. \u201cI kind of had to piece together the play. I\u2019d hear him say a couple words. \u2018I know that we have that on only one play.\u2019 So, sometimes I\u2019d do that; sometimes, I\u2019d have to ask him real quick after the huddle one more time. It was definitely tough.\u201d<\/p>\n Does it help that the Packers just played in a challenging road environment?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s irrelevant. It\u2019s definitely hard to hear, regardless,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n As Packers coach Matt LaFleur has said multiple times, the one advantage the offense has is knowing the snap count. That advantage goes out the window when nobody can hear the quarterback.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, we all know Seattle\u2019s stadium is one of the loudest in the world,\u201d offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. \u201cSo that\u2019s something we\u2019ve definitely got to make sure we do a good job of, handling that crowd and that environment and being professional about that.\u201d<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GREEN BAY, Wis. \u2013 The Green Bay Packers will face the Seattle Seahawks in one of the most intimidating venues in the NFL, Lumen Field, on Sunday night. The Pack<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-bay-packers"],"yoast_head":"\n1. Seattle\u2019s Passing Game<\/h3>\n
![\"Packers](\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Packers-will-prove-everything-we-need-to-know-about-them-against-Seahawks.jpg?w=1200\")
<\/p>\n2. Seattle\u2019s Passing Defense<\/h3>\n
3. Seattle\u2019s Homefield Advantage<\/h3>\n