Arizona Cardinals vs. Seattle Seahawks: 3 Bold predictions for Week 17
By Samuel Teets
Josh Rosen will be sacked at least six times
Rosen has been sacked six times twice this year, back in Weeks 7 and 15. He’s constantly faced pressure because of the porous offensive line, that’s something Russell Wilson can relate to. The Seahawks have more sacks than the Atlanta Falcons, who dropped Rosen six times two weeks ago.
Rosen has been sacked the ninth most times in the NFL, and he’s only played in 13 games compared to the 15 games most other quarterbacks have participated in. Since he’s been sacked 39 times, he’s been brought down an average of three times per game. That’s the same number of times per game Wilson has been sacked (45 times over 15 games). There are several statistical categories where it’s great to be tied with Wilson, this isn’t one of them.
The Seahawks have two great pass rushers. Defensive end Frank Clark is in his fourth season out of Michigan and is having a career year. Clark has 12 sacks, which ties him for eighth most this season with a slew of other players. Jarran Reed is a third-year defensive tackle and he’s also having a career year.
Back at the start of the season, I called for Reed to be more active as a pass rusher and make up some of the production lost by the departures of Avril and Bennett. In his previous two seasons, Reed had just three total sacks. I thought he had room for improvement, but I didn’t expect the 8.5 sack performance Reed pulled of this season. He’s performed at a Pro Bowl level.
Consider this, Reed has more sacks, combined tackles, and tackles for loss than perennial Pro Bowler Fletcher Cox. Reed couldn’t have picked a better season to explode onto the scene.
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All things considered, the Seahawks don’t have many pass rushers outside of Clark and Reed. If the Cardinals can neutralize those two then Rosen might be sitting pretty. So far though, Arizona hasn’t been able to handle the top pass rushers from other teams. I think their rookie quarterback will be spending a lot of time on his back on Sunday.