Seattle Seahawks: Stopping Greg Olsen is Key to Victory

The Seattle Seahawks will face off against the undefeated Carolina Panthers at CenturyLink Field on Sunday hoping to go 3-3 on the season.

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In order to get the much-needed W, the Seahawks will have to stop the Panthers’ outstanding tight end Greg Olsen.

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The Seahawks defense has struggled against tight ends this season giving up an average of 65 receiving yards per game and a total of four touchdowns in five games.

Cincinnati Bengals’ tight end Tyler Eifert shredded the Seahawks secondary for 90 yards and scored two touchdowns in Week 5 as the Seahawks lost in overtime 24-27.

Olsen has been one of the league’s best tight ends over recent seasons and this season seems to be no different. Olsen looks to be on target for another 1000-yard season.

The Seahawks will use Safety Kam Chancellor to cover Olsen on Sunday and if needed he will be helped out by K.J Wright, who is arguably the NFL’s best cover linebacker.

Chancellor and the Seahawks have played against the Panthers four times since 2012 and have held Olsen to a mere 12 receptions for 167 yards.

In the two games last season he was held to just five receptions for 74 yards (The teams played in both the regular season and playoffs).

The Panthers will look to attack the Seahawks defense in the same way that the Bengals did in Week 5, with the tight ends, particularly on seam routes.

After the Bengals game Chancellor was criticised for his performance and Pro Football Focus called it the worst performance by any safety in the NFL last week after he allowed nine receptions on 11 targets for 102 yards.

Chancellor admitted that it wasn’t the best game he’s played but vows to put things right and silence his critics on Sunday.

“He’s a good comparison with Eifert,” Chancellor said of Olsen, via the Seattle Times’s Bob Condotta. “The quarterback (Cam Newton) looks for him a lot. He gets the ball thrown his way a lot. They have a lot of plays designed for him.”

If the Seahawks secondary can contain Olsen and limit his touches it will give the defensive line the chance to dominate in the trenches, allowing defensive coordinator Kris Richards to send everything but the kitchen sink at Cam Newton.

With Olsen locked down, Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner will get the job of spying Newton with the hope of taking away his ability to pick up yards on the ground. This is a task that Wagner will be very familiar with especially after playing against Seahawks own quarterback Russell Wilson every day at practice.

It all starts with stopping Olsen, taking away Newton’s second and third reads and keeping him in the pocket. Chancellor is more than capable of having a big game and shutting Olsen and the Panthers down.

I see the Seahawks dominating on defense and limiting Olsen to just five receptions for minimal yards. Cam will be held to under 200 yards passing and be under constant pressure all game. The Seahawks win a tight game 21-17.

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