Cool and rainy Sunday in Seattle. The forecast is for a 50-percent chance of more rain showers and temperatures in the low 50s.
SEAHAWKS GAMEDAY
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (5-4) at SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (6-2-1)
Sunday 1:25 p.m., CenturyLink Field, Seattle
TV: KIRO Channel 7 Radio: 710-AM, 97.3-FM.
The series: The series is tied at seven wins each. The Seahawks have won the last two meetings, late in the 2011 and ’14 seasons. Philadelphia last won in Seattle two tries ago, in November 2008 by a score of 26-7. The Eagles have won two of the three meetings in the Seahawks’ new stadium dating to 2002. The exception was Seattle’s 31-14 home win Dec. 1, 2011, Pete Carroll’s second season coaching the Seahawks. Marshawn Lynch ran for two touchdowns that night, and Tarvaris Jackson threw a TD pass that day.
Line: Seahawks by 6½.
SEATTLE’S KEYS
See how they—if they--run: Russell Wilson is as healthy as he’s been since his first leg injury in the third quarter of the opener Sept. 11. Lead runner Thomas Rawls is back for the first time since cracking his fibula Sept. 18. The Seahawks sent fill-in Christine Michael away for the second time in 14 months this week to make room for emerging rookie C.J. Prosise, who was so impressive in moves and talent and toughness last weekend at New England, plus preseason rushing star Troymaine Pope’s promotion to the active roster. If the Seahawks don’t run against an Eagles defense that is 24th in the NFL in yards per carry allowed (4.4), they may never do it.
Make him feel like a rookie: Eagles No. 2-overall draft pick Carson Wentz, their starting QB since game one, has impressed the NFL with how he’s handled a 3-0 start and then a 2-4 dip. The Eagles have had him throw 47 times in a game, then last week helped him by running it more. But he’s 1-4 on the road and has never faced the challenge he’ll get Sunday at CenturyLink Field: the league’s loudest stadium, plus a swarming Seahawks defense. It is suddenly second in the league in sacks and caused Tom Brady’s first interception of the season last weekend. Expect end Frank Clark and Cliff Avril on stunts with middle linebacker Bobby Wagner on many blitzes to make hard harder for the rookie.
Settle the line: With former starting left tackle Bradley Sowell healthy for the first time since spraining his knee Oct. 23, he is competing with so-far starter Garry Gilliam for the right-tackle job. Undrafted rookie George Fant has won the left tackle job from Sowell – apparently. It’s game 10, high time for the Seahawks to get a solid enough performance from their right and left tackles in the same game so they can finally settle on two for the rest of the season. The Eagles are fourth in the league in sacks, so this will be yet another test.
The pick: Last week’s startling win at New England will reverberate across the country to yet another foot-down Seahawks game in November. Wilson will continue to show he’s nearly back to full health by running more freely. And Seattle’s defense makes Carson Wentz look like, well, a rookie with nine career games. Seahawks 20, Eagles 12.
PRIME NUMBERS
SEATTLE
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Year
34 Thomas Rawls RB 5-9 215 second
Back for 1st time in 7 games. How close is he to ready for a full load? The run game needs him
50 K.J. Wright LB 6-4 246 sixth
Another foe that uses RBs a lot in pass game=another game Wright shows how key he is to SEA
74 George Fant LT 6-5 296 rookie
Perfect on all 70 assignments last week in 3rd pro game. Can college hoops player do that again?
PHILADELPHIA
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Year
12 Carson Wentz QB 6-5 237 rookie
Been impressive in his first 9 games. But can he do it in this noise? Against this defense?
43 Darren Sproles RB 5-6 185 12th
Supposedly too little. Yet still excels, now as Wentz’s safety-valve receiver
91 Fletcher Cox DT 6-4 298 fifth
Headache for just about every O-line he’s faced this season. Seattle’s already has headaches
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