Sea Hawkers,

The week sure seems to drag along when you’re waiting for a Seahawks playoff game doesn’t it? I feel like I’ve been waiting for another Hawks game for at least two weeks.

Did the Seahawks just beat the Redskins six days ago? It seems like weeks ago. Maybe it’s because we’ve had weeks worth of updates on RG3’s injury every day this week. Because of course that was the reason why Washington lost–not because the Redskins defense couldn’t hold a lead and allowed 24 unanswered points.

But this Seahawks team is getting respect, much more than we are all used to. After being picked to win last week, they didn’t disappoint. Once again, Seattle is the hot pick for an upset this week.

Speaking of respect, the NFL All-Pro team was announced today and the Seahawks have the most players on the team behind San Francisco. Richard Sherman, despite not making the Pro Bowl, was on the roster along with Max Unger and Marshawn Lynch.

If you are in Atlanta this weekend, be sure to check out the events on Saturday and Sunday. Military Sea Hawkers president Traci Williams will be there along with Seahawks fan development manager Armando Mejia and others.

I’ve randomly found myself checking the flight schedules to Atlanta and debating when would be the best time to use some saved up airline miles to go to a playoff game. My mind keeps settling on New Orleans, but I’m still envious of those who are going to be in the area.

GO HAWKS!!!

-Brandan

Divisional playoffs on afN and dts

Of course Seahawks football is on AFN and DTS this week, and hopefully it will be for a few more weeks.

This week’s game is on AFN Sports and DTS Sports at 1000 PST, 1800 GMT and 2230 in Afghanistan.

The Mighty Birds of Prey vs. the Dirty Birds

By Christopher Shurts
Military Sea Hawkers

The game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Atlanta Falcons has many appealing aspects to it. From a hard-nosed, rugged running game, the deep threat passing game to the physical, scrappy type defenses.

This game brings the #1 scoring defense with a “Bend, but don’t break” mentality, to try and hold down a team that is solely based on spreading the field and throwing long bombs to a multitude of incredibly talented receivers.

It is well known that the Dirty Birds are dangerous and incredibly explosive when tossing the rock. The Falcons have arguably one of the best receiving corps’ in the league. They’re running deep in talent, with the likes of Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez. Luckily for the Mighty Birds of Prey, they are toting arguably THE best secondary in the league. With Richard “Optimus Prime” Sherman, Brandon Browner, Kam “Bam” Chancellor and Earl Thomas all playing an incredibly dominating and physical style of defense.

The Atlanta Falcons receivers are very quick and without a doubt have the ability to burn almost any cover-man in the league. They run very crisp routes and have the talent to separate from the corners at an alarming rate. These two talents are what have made this trio of receivers an incredibly dangerous group to have to defend. Unfortunately for the Dirty Birds, at least one of these talents may be hindered by a large margin. The Seahawks style of defense matches up perfectly with the Falcons deep threats.

The Mighty Birds of Prey utilize an unyielding version of press coverage, that is bound to knock Jones, White and Gonzalez off of their routes. If these fellas are knocked off of their routes, will they be on the same page as “Matty Ice?” Or will the Hawks’ secondary succeed in getting into the heads of this group as well as they have in previous games? I personally think the physical play of the Seahawks’ defense is going to throw the Dirty Birds’ receivers through a loop and ultimately lead to multiple offensive mistakes by the Falcons.

We also can’t forget the likes of Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch. The Skittles man is a one-cut style, physical, down-hill runner that makes defensive ends cringe when the thought of tackling him comes to mind. Beast Mode has reached the century mark 11 times in the 2012 regular season and was ranked the 3rd best running back in the league only behind the bionic man Adrian Peterson and the rookie Alfred Morris.

He has a total of 1800 all purpose yards this season and is coming off of a game where he gained 140 yards and a TD along with 19 yards receiving. This spells bad news for the Falcons who are sporting the 21st-ranked rushing defense. The Dirty Birds have allowed an average of 123.2 rushing yards a game while the Seattle Seahawks have averaged 161.2 yards per game.

To add more salt to the wound, the Falcons can’t only focus on stopping Beast Mode as the Hawks have a young talented QB who is more than capable of hurting them with his legs as well as his arm. With the mix of Marshawn, and Russell Wilson managing the Zone-Read option offensive scheme the Falcons are going to have their hands full. If the Mighty Birds of Prey can pound the Dirty Birds on both sides of the ball with incredibly physical press coverage and hard nosed rugged running style, the Seahawks should walk out of the Georgia Dome with a solid victory.

I believe the Hawks walk out with a convincing win.

Hawks 34
Falcons 17

Semper Fi! Go Hawks!

Brandan Schulze
Military Sea Hawkers
VP of Communications and Membership