Seattle offense vs. San Diego

	SEAHAWKS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	27
	Pass	11
	Tot. Yds.	19
	Scoring	12
	Int's allowed	1
	Sacks allowed	15
	CHARGERS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	4
	vs. Pass	24
	Total yds. allowed	13
	# of Ints.	7
	# of Sacks	10
	Turnover differential	+5

Coach Mike Holmgren has had two weeks to dissect film and figure out what is wrong with his team's 27th-ranked run offense, although all the time in the world might not be enough to come up with a solution for San Diego's aggressive run defense. The Seahawks are averaging a paltry 74 yards per contest and will run up against a Chargers defense that held Detroit to 37 yards on 24 carries a week ago. The guy the Seahawks must contain is OLB Junior Seau. The rest of San Diego's defense does a tremendous job of funneling plays Seau's way, as the perennial All-Pro always finds a way to make the play.

Seattle FB Reggie Brown, who has yet to play up to expectations, will find the going much easier this week without MLB Eric Hill in the middle. Hill was injured last week against the Lions and will be spelled by Tracy Simien. Simien gets by on his football instincts and is still good enough to fill gaps, although he appeared rusty last week in relief, despite intercepting a Charlie Batch pass on the play following Hill's injury. RB Rickey Watters has run hard all season but his success will depend largely on Brown's ability seal off linebackers and the availability of starting ROG Brian Habib, who had arthroscopic knee surgery last week.

In light of their running woes, look for Seattle to come out throwing and test the Chargers' overachieving secondary. If Seattle can't get anything going on the ground, it will be a long afternoon for QB Jon Kitna. When it became clear last week that the Lions couldn't run the ball, defensive coordinator Joe Pascale used SS Rodney Harrison like a fourth linebacker and his aggressive calls resulted in consistent knockdowns and six sacks. Seattle's offensive line and RBs have done a poor job of picking up the blitz all season because of their unfamiliarity with the new offensive schemes. While Holmgren realizes that blitz pickups are usually the last thing that new players become accustomed to, 15 sacks in four games is unacceptable.

Kitna, who is doing a tremendous job of spreading the ball around, will be facing a banged up Chargers secondary. Kitna hung tough two weeks ago against the Raiders, making some nice improvisational plays, and should have an easier time this week against a secondary that has not yet established its consistency.

Although they welcome the return of Terrance Shaw, the Chargers' 24th ranked pass defense will be without Charles Dimry. Look for the Seahawks to use plenty of motion in order to get Sean Dawkins singled on Dimry's replacement, Jimmy Spencer. Spencer is a solid cover guy but he has struggled against big receivers in the past.

Seattle's defense is starting to adjust to their new gap-control style of play and it showed in the second half against Oakland. It's hard to imagine the Chargers doing much on the ground against the Seahawks if they could muster just 64 yards against the Lions. The big-play man thus far for Seattle has been OLB Darrin Smith, who lines up all over the field and will be an elusive target for the Chargers' guards to block.

San Diego will most likely start Erik Kramer for the second week in a row after he led the team to an important road win against the Lions without Means in the backfield. Kramer only pieced together one scoring drive last week, but he did a better job of incorporating different people into the passing game. Although they are still ranked 28th in the league in pass offense, the combination of former Bears teammates Kramer and Chris Penn is reason for Chargers fans to be optimistic. Penn was unspectacular last week but he did consistently use his size to dominate Lions DC Terry Fair.

The only hope the Chargers have of moving the ball through the air is if they can establish a ground game with Means. If that is accomplished, which it wasn't last week, it will be easier for playmaking TE Freddie Jones to get open on play-action.

Seattle is among the NFL leaders with seven interceptions and they are getting solid play from both their nickel and dime packages. Look for Seattle go after Kramer with a variety of blitzes out of their new 3-4 pass defense alignment. With Cortez Kennedy playing two-gap technique over OC Roman Fortin, the Seahawks should have a field day sending guys straight up the middle.