Seattle offense vs. Green Bay defense

	SEAHAWKS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	28
	Pass	15
	Tot. Yds.	22
	Scoring	16
	Int's allowed	2
	Sacks allowed	19
	PACKERS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	25
	vs. Pass	19
	Total yds. allowed	24
	No. of INTs	15
	No. of Sacks	15
	Turnover differential	0

Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren is doing his best with the Seahawks' marginally talented offense and he might have uncovered a new weapon last week in RB Ahman Green. Seattle's sagging run game needed a jolt of speed and Green delivered against the Bills, tearing off three carries for 29 yards. It is becoming apparently clear with each passing week that starter Ricky Watters is unable to carry the load for this offense.

Considering how the Packers have struggled this season against speed backs like Napoleon Kaufman and Warrick Dunn (in the passing game), look for Green to get a few more carries on Monday night. Seattle's much-maligned offensive line played their best game of the season last week but the Seahawk coaching staff has reminded them that the Bills were playing without starting DE Phil Hansen and MLB John Holecek -- two of their three best run defenders.

The Packers rebounded last week after being embarrassed by Denver's Olandis Gary and they'll need another big game from OLBs George Koonce and Brian Williams. Koonce always plays physical but he anticipated better last week than at any point in recent memory.

Look for Seattle to run predominantly to the strong side of the field on Monday because offensive line coach Tom Lovat knows what kind of player RDE Vonnie Holliday is. Although LOT Walter Jones is playing at a higher level than any player on Seattle's line, they can't afford to run at Holliday's side of the field because it's basically a losing proposition. Holliday is so valuable to Emmitt Thomas' defense that he has sat out just 10 plays the entire year.

Seattle recognized that teams were sitting on their flat routes and made some nice adjustments to target the middle of the field in last week's win over Buffalo. QB Jon Kitna came out and hit underutilized TE Christian Fauria with three quick strikes before connecting deep with WR's Derrick Mayes and Sean Dawkins. Between MLB Bernardo Harris and FS Darren Sharper, the Packers don't play very tight coverage up the middle. If they can get their running game on track early, look for Seattle to run a lot of play-action passes to exploit the Packers' seams.

Word out of Green Bay has DT Santana Dotson returning this week after a lengthy stint in the training room, which should help restore the inside pass rush. Replacement Billy Lyon has been solid against the run but neither he nor Gilbert Brown has collapsed the pocket. In fact, the only player that has gotten after the quarterback with any consistency is edge rusher Keith McKenzie. McKenzie normally uses his outstanding speed off the edge to simply run by OTs, but he is beginning to stunt more inside, which sets up SS LeRoy Butler on the blitz.

Over the past few years, offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis campaigned to open up the offense but his ex-boss always overruled his pleas. Now that Lewis doesn't need approval, look for Favre to take his share of shots deep on Monday. The Packers finally have two receivers (Schroeder and Bradford) that can stretch the field and they have both drawn huge pass interference calls in recent weeks.

The Seahawks will likely attack Favre with a blitz-heavy approach so look for Green Bay to counter with a lot of three-receiver sets, which will force Seattle to replace their playmaking LB's with nickel and dime backs. The Chargers went after Favre with five or more rushers on half the downs last week and the Packers line held up well, allowing only two knockdowns the entire game.

Jim Lind's defense, LDE Michael Sinclair in particular, has had trouble putting pressure on the quarterback but the secondary has done a good job of holding coverage longer than usual. Seattle's opportunistic secondary, which got their hands on 15 of 26 incompletions last week, has some guys playing the best football of their careers. The one thing Seattle DB's cannot afford to do on Monday is turn their backs to Favre while they run with receivers. A good amount of Favre's big third-down completions occur when WR Antonio Freeman breaks off his route and comes back to the football in front of an unsuspecting defender.