[browna]

The only time Rogers went deep was when he had free plays (or thought he did...one of them wasn't, and was a Sherman INT). With the pass rush with Avril, Bennett, Irvin, and mixing in other guys like Schofield, they can force the QB into a pass that second or so earlier. Athletic LB's that can keep up with most WR's, let alone TE's, makes the passing window tighter, as do CB's and safeties who are the top overall secondary in the league and always looking for the ball, or a big hit.

But, like SD early in the year, GB did the dink and dunk two weeks ago and try to make it 3rd and 3 most sets, and then have to covert those, and keep Seattle's defense on the field. That is the key...not so much to wear down the SEA defense (it worked in SD because of the heat), but because last week showed that Wilson (who had a rough game coming) takes a while to get in sync. Toss in an INT and a KR fumble, and they were really behind it.

Recall for all the domination Seattle had in that SB last year on defense and offense, they only had FG's to show for it after 1Q...the Malcom Smith INT TD and then the Harvin kickoff in the second half put it out of reach....all meaning that the offense needs to get going, and it usually takes the better half of the game.

Seattle is great at making adjustments at halftime. They have look fairly ordinary many times, or, if looking good, have come up short of scoring as many points as they have should've. But it seems after they get past halftime, the playbook opens up and there are different looks than they show in the first half.

Wagner, Wright, Thomas and Chancellor will match up with Gronk...recall the two Thomas' and the Welker last year. All the talk in the SB was how was Seattle going to defend the "natural" pick play....well, Welker got set on his butt early, and then again early in the second half, and that was that. Julius Thomas didn't want to run the seam.

Big thing over last year; Belichek will be better prepared than Fox last year was for both sides of the ball, and will take more risks (not really going out a limb here) than McCarthy did 10 days ago, at key moments.

But, as all football games go, turnovers and special teams will play their part. Seattle no longer has Harvin, sometimes using a rookie WR, but more often using the unexciting but sure handed Bryan Walters to get the token 6 yards.

Wilson can't play as poorly as he did last week, or as he did for large stretches of the year, he's got to get into the game early and use his feet early. His TE's have to get free (still miss Zach Miller) as the third look for Wilson, and of course Lynch has to keep churning away even without early success.

Seattle's defense has to play the way they always do (they've done so game in and game out the last 2 seasons), and just hope Thomas and Sherman are 75% or better so they can't get totally exploited.