Seattle Seahawks

The Importance of Monday Night Football for Seahawks

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Seattle Seahawks aren’t playing on Monday Night Football tonight, but you should watch anyways. No, seriously, you should! You have my permission.

In case you need an excuse to watch tonight’s Monday Night Football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Jets (you should never need an excuse to watch NFL football), we’ve got you covered. Tonight’s game is quite important for the Seattle Seahawks.

The Seahawks are 4-1, and fresh off their win over the Atlanta Falcons. As their preparation begins for next week’s gamer against Arizona, it’ll start by watching them play tonight.

Standings

NFC West Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	Streak
Seattle Seahawks	4	1	0	.800	105	78	27	3W
Los Angeles Rams	3	3	0	.500	110	137	-27	2L
Arizona Cardinals	2	3	0	.400	125	101	24	1W
San Francisco 49ers	1	5	0	.167	127	185	-58	5L

The LA Rams are a mediocre team. Their decent back to .500 was entirely predictable. With their offensive personnel, the Rams don’t pose a threat to Seattle’s quest for another division championship.

The Cardinals on the other hand have the talent to give Seattle a challenge. They won the division last year, and had a 3-game lead in 2014 before Carson Palmer was hurt.

Obviously, a loss tonight will provide the Seahawks with a nice cushion over Arizona. With the two teams playing next week in Glendale, that extra separation would be nice to have.

Game planning

The Seahawks played the Jets before the bye week. Arizona plays them tonight. There is a lot that can be learned by watching the tape of the two teams playing a common opponent.

It doesn’t even matter that New York and Seattle’s teams are extremely different. By examining how the Cardinals attack certain aspects of the Jets’ game plan, and comparing that to how Seattle attacked those same elements, Seattle’s coaches can get a window into how the Arizona coaches think.

For instance, If the Jets line up with 12 personnel on 3rd and 1, do the Cardinals bring up the FS and go with zero coverage to try and stop the run? Do they play 2-deep to avoid giving up a big play-action pass?

The answers to these questions can be helpful in determining what Arizona will likely do against Seattle next week. It isn’t a perfect window into their thinking, but it doesn’t need to be.

Hey, we were looking for an excuse to watch the game, right? I just gave you two. Now go grab yourself a beverage and lets watch some football.