so please do not come after me for writing a “jinx” post w

The Seattle Seahawks are headed to the postseason Tedric Thompson Color Rush Jersey , hen there’s still a game between now and then. It shouldn’t really matter all that much what happens against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, but most scenarios have the Seahawks going to Dallas in the wild card round of the playoffs: The Cowboys are locked in as the four seed, while Seattle is 94.8% to be the five seed. A win or tie vs the Cards guarantees them the spot, or a loss or tie by the Minnesota Vikings to the Chicago Bears.And if it so happens that the Seahawks do become the six seed and face the Bears instead of the Cowboys, oh well. I previewed a team that they aren’t facing in 10 days, I can live with that.But Seattle played both Dallas and Chicago early in the season. Those teams have changed a bit since then and I want to detail some of those changes for the Cowboys since the Seahawks beat them 24-13.Left Guard - Connor Williams to Xavier Su’a-FiloWhen Dallas and Seattle were rumored to be discussing an Earl Thomas trade, the Cowboys second round pick (50th overall) was oft discussed as the biggest chip to use to acquire 29. The trade didn’t happen and the Cowboys used the pick to select offensive lineman Connor Williams out of Texas. (ET’s alma mater, as a matter of fact.) Dallas was said to be so high on Williams that his availability was one of the reasons they didn’t make the deal. Williams started the year out as the Cowboys starting left guard, playing between All-Pro left tackle and center Joe Looney, who’s filled in for All-Pro Travis Frederick as he deals with a serious illness this year.Williams started the first eight games as Dallas sputtered to 3-5 with a bad offense, then a knee injury forced him out of the following two contests. Jason Garrett replaced him with Xaiver Su’a-Filo, a second round pick of the Houston Texans in 2014, and the team rushed for 303 yards in the next two games after rushing for 145 in the previous two. Su’a-Filo has remained the starter even though Williams is healthy.In fact, Williams has started one game since: he filled in for Zack Martin at right guard in Week 15 against the Indianapolis Colts. The Cowboys were shutout that day.So is Williams a bust? Did Dallas find their next great lineman in Su’a-Filo and is their offense, specifically their rushing offense, unstoppable again in a way that it wasn’t in Week 3? Not according to one Cowboys writer, who says that Williams should have the job back and that correlation is not causation.John Owning of SportsDay DallasNews says that Garrett is making a mistake starting Su’a-Filo, who is a lesser pass blocker than Williams:While Ezekiel Elliott approaches his second rushing title in three years (and would’ve had the third one if not for suspension), Dak Prescott has been sacked 52 times in 15 game; Prescott had been sacked 57 times in his first 32 career starts. In a shocking 13-10 win over the New Orleans Saints, Prescott was sacked seven times. The guy on the other side that day, Drew Brees, has been sacked 17 times all year. The Seahawks got to Prescott five times in Week 3, tied for their second-highest total in any game this season after the six they got against the Oakland Raiders.And that was with Connor Williams, not Su’a-Filo. That day, Seattle gave Quinton Jefferson 64% of the snaps, while Dion Jordan got 32%. In their most recent game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Jefferson and Jordan both played 56% of the snaps. Also Ethan Pocic Color Rush Jersey , Shamar Stephen played 66% of the snaps against Dallas while Poona Ford was inactive, and they basically split snaps against the Chiefs. There’s no telling what the defensive line rotation will be in two weeks, but we can assume that it is more likely that Ford will play and that Jefferson’s playing time could come close to matching Jordan’s.Owning goes onto say that Williams is also a more well-rounded run blocker than Su’a-Filo despite the team’s success on the ground. He also says that Su’a-Filo is playing through an ankle injury, while Williams is healthy. We’ll see if Garrett makes a change at guard, but for now it seems that despite the Cowboys’ recent winning ways, the current offensive line rotation might not be their best.Amari Cooper as the number one receiverOf course, a lot of Dallas’s success is being attributed to the acquisition of Cooper from the Raiders for a first round pick. The team was 3-4 without him and they’re 6-2 with him, as Cooper has put up 48 catches for 694 and six touchdowns in those eight games. That’s a full season pace over 1,300 yards, which is kind of remarkable given how inept the passing offense looked in the first two months, including against the Seahawks.(Don’t tell anyone, but actually Oakland was 1-5 with Cooper and have won three of their last six games as the offense sort of seems to not miss him all that much in that span, yet I’d hate to be the one to ruin a narrative. Points scored in the last six games: Seahawks, 182. Raiders, 140. Cowboys, 122. Jets ... 132.)Back to the differences in Week 3 and today with Cooper. Check the snap count at receiver in Week 3, which was a big traffic jam of mostly players you’re not likely to see much of in the playoffs, if at all:Allen Hurns, who was supposed to take over as the new number one, played four snaps in their most recent game. He had four targets, two catches, and 22 yards against the Seahawks. In the last six games, he has four targets, three catches, and 25 yards.Deonte Thompson had two targets, two catches, and 23 yards vs Seattle. In 10 games since Shaquill Griffin Color Rush Jersey , he has 18 targets, eight catches, and 78 yards.Tavon Austin scored a touchdown against the Seahawks despite having two yards on three catches. He was pretty much Tavon Austin and hasn’t played since Week 6 due to a groin injury.Terrance Williams was placed on injured reserve.The rotation now is clear: Cooper, Cole Beasley, and Michael Gallup. Beasley is a known product and he’s a decent receiver but both of his touchdowns this season (and his only 100-yard game) came against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He had three catches for 46 yards in Seattle, which is line with expectations. Gallup started getting more playing time around the acquisition of Cooper and he’s good for roughly 35 yards with a season-high of 81 against Washington. He had 76 yards in that win over the Saints, but followed it with four catches on nine targets and 24 yards vs the Philadelphia Eagles.Cooper is certainly the biggest change to the offense and a major upgrade over...well, not having anyone like Cooper, but they’ve also settled into a more clear 1-2-3, with Gallup and Beasley filling those roles. (Sometimes you’ll see a dash of Noah Brown, but he’s more like their “Malik Turner” if anything.) But while Cooper had 473 yards in a three-game stretch, he’s also had eight catches for 52 yards in the two games since.Also, Cooper did face the Seahawks this year: They held him to zero catches on one target in his final game for the Raiders.Starting tight end: Dalton SchultzA fourth round pick on a blocking tight end? You don’t say. The Cowboys selected Schultz 17 picks after Seattle plucked Will Dissly from Washington. While the Seahawks unfortunately won’t have Dissly, who had one catch and four yards in Week 3, Dallas has added Schultz to their rotation since then and he became the starter five weeks ago. His pre-draft writeup at NFL.com:In the last five games, Schultz has 10 targets, five catches, and 66 yards. We can assume though that Garrett loves him as a blocker and that’s why he’s in there. He played 33 snaps last week, while Blake Jarwin had 27. The starter in Week 3 was Geoff Swaim, who went on injured reserve in Week 12, opening the door for Schultz. Jarwin is more likely to receive a target, and he has 16 catches for 146 yards in the last five games.No more holding back Leighton Vander EschIf the Seahawks were holding out for a first round pick to give up Thomas, then the Cowboys are probably very happy with their decision to hold onto it for Vander Esch. Of course, Seattle could have also just drafted Vander Esch if they wanted to pair him with Bobby Wagner and call it the best linebacking duo in the NFL, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Dallas took him 19th overall and he’s come on as a legit Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate.In Week 3, Vander Esch played in 33 snaps Delano Hill Color Rush Jersey , or 48% of the time. He still had 10 tackles that day. He doesn’t come off the field anymore: in the last game he played in all 80 snaps. He’s a force to be reckoned with and perhaps a bigger concern than the addition of Cooper on offense.CB3: Jourdan Lewis or Anthony Brown?Dallas starts Byron Jones (Pro Bowler now under Kris Richard) and Chidobe Awuzie at cornerback, with Anthony Brown as the usual guy to get the third-most snaps on the team. That’s in large part because Jourdan Lewis, a third rounder in 2017, has been a disappointment and was essentially benched and didn’t play against the Seahawks. However, Brown missed the last game, forcing Lewis into action for 65 snaps against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.While Lewis got a game-sealing interception against the Saints, he’s clearly viewed as a depth-only guy by coaches. However, what I’ve seen from fans is that they’re not pleased with any of the corners save for Jones. We’ll see what the health situation is for Brown in the coming weeks, but it seems as though the corners in general are a potential liability on a defense that ranks ninth in DVOA, and 14th against the pass.That being said, FootballOutsiders ranks that defense 7th against a number one receiver and 5th against a number two. Two other changes: defensive tackle Caraun Reid has been added to the defensive line rotation, while cornerback/special teamer C.J. Goodwin looks to be activated from injured reserve after breaking his arm earlier this season.There are of course differences for the Seahawks too, and perhaps the biggest change in this game, should it happen, will be the location. However, this piece is already too long and there’s plenty more time to get to those differences ... should we need to. WATFORD, England (AP) — Doug Baldwin wants to catch a few more passes and play a more vital role in the Seattle Seahawks‘ passing game.As he sees it, the one reception he had in the loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday just isn’t going to cut it.Baldwin, Seattle’s leading receiver each of the past four years, should be able to return to his reliable ways in a favorable matchup against the Oakland Raiders this weekend at Wembley Stadium.“I just look at it as another opportunity,” Baldwin said. “I’ve got to go out there and do my job and get open, and if the ball comes to me, it comes to me. That’s really what it comes down to. I’m not worried about it. I’ve got to focus on my job and do the best I can with the opportunities that I get.”The Raiders (1-4) will statistically be the worst defense the Seahawks (2-3) will have faced so far, having allowed 8.35 yards per reception, the second-worst average in the NFL, and 277.2 passing yards per game, good for 23rd.Baldwin had his lone catch on the Seahawks’ second play from scrimmage in the 33-31 loss to the Rams Earl Thomas Color Rush Jersey , marking only the second time since the end of the 2013 season the wide receiver had fewer than two receptions in a game.It was Baldwin’s second game back after he sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee in the season-opening road loss to the Denver Broncos. Both he and coach Pete Carroll said earlier this week that the knee is healthy, removing the injury as an excuse.The Seahawks have been trying to play more to their strengths, emphasizing their running game behind Chris Carson and Mike Davis. Carroll, though, insisted that despite the emergence of second-year wide receiver David Moore, Baldwin’s role has not changed.“Because the ball didn’t get to him has nothing to do with anything,” Carroll said. “That’s not part of any evaluation at all on our side. Sometimes that happens. We only completed 13 passes last week in a real productive offensive day. Doug will be right in the middle of that. He’s one of our best players and he’s been a great performer for a long time. There’s nothing to change that thought at all.”Quarterback Russell Wilson attempted only 21 passes against the Rams, the fewest he’s had in a game this season. The Seahawks could afford that, and hand the workload to the running backs, because they controlled the game for much of the first three quarters.Several big gains also helped. Seattle had five plays of 30 or more yards against Los Angeles, two of which resulted in touchdowns — a 39-yard pass by Wilson to Tyler Lockett in the second quarter and a 30-yard catch by Moore in the third.Baldwin, though, was conspicuously absent, with Wilson failing to throw to his longtime top target at any point after the third minute.“Doug’s always phenomenal,” Wilson said. “He’s one of the best in the world to do it. He’s always been a superstar, so the more times he can get the football, the better. That’s a great thing for us.”A two-time Pro Bowl selection — including last season, when he played in the game as an injury replacement — Baldwin’s omission isn’t the only issue the Seahawks have in the passing game.They have not ranked among the bottom third of teams in total offense since Wilson was drafted in 2012, though they were among the six worst passing offenses in the league during the quarterback’s first three years.They will enter the game against the Raiders ranked 27th in both categories, but after winning two of their last three games, and having a 100-yard rusher in each, Baldwin believes the offense is starting to take shape.“(Running the ball) balances us pretty well,” Baldwin said. “It makes it easier on the quarterback and the receivers when there are eight in the box having to respect our run game. It’s going to open some things up in the passing game, and as we go along in the season, I think it’ll make a lot of things easier for us going forward.”