Three Things to Watch: Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers warmly welcome Golden Tate and the Seattle Seahawks Friday night and NFL Writer Andrew Garda gives you the low-down on what to watch because, let's face it, there's no tension at all between these two teams.

When these two teams meet Friday night at 8pm EST, there will be absolutely nothing extra on the line. It's not as if there is a little something extra in terms of recent history between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks.

Aside from lingering animosity, there really are some good reasons to pay attention to the game. Here are three things which should attract your eye.

1) For all the tumult after Bryan Bulaga went down this summer, the offensive line had kept the quarterbacks from being sacked more often than not, only allowing 4 sacks in two games. That said, this will be their biggest test, as the Seahawks' front seven actually got better this offseason. Rookie left tackle David Bakhtiari has had some good moments and the rest of the line is holding up relatively well. Expect to see a lot of pressure from Seattle though, to see where the cracks are in this line.

2) The Seahawks have accrued almost 200 yards in penalties in two games. That's a staggering display of undisciplined football. If they start losing ground due to flags, and worse if they start to give the Packers good field position, they could be in trouble. Right now, the Seahawks are outscoring their opponents, but at some point those penalties will cost them.

3) Eddie Lacy had a great first game, but CHTV favorite (well, Nagler and I maybe) DuJuan Harris got some first team reps as he returned to practice. Does Lacy still have the lead back spot? Or will Harris get a shot? Does it even matter or will the Packers just ride the hot hand? We should get a good look at that tonight, as both Harris and Lacy will see action. Lacy still probably has the edge, but there's a good chance nothing is fully decided yet.

 

Andrew Garda is a member of the Pro Football Writers Association. He is also a member of the fantasy football staff at Footballguys.com and an NFL writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him at @andrew_garda on Twitter.

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Comments (11)

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Evan's picture

August 23, 2013 at 03:18 pm

200 yards in penalties in two games? You take away their adderall and they lose focus, I guess.

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TommyG's picture

August 23, 2013 at 04:25 pm

200 yards and they are still dismantling the opposition.

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J.'s picture

August 23, 2013 at 04:21 pm

Harris will be the man this year..Go Foxx Go!!!

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TommyG's picture

August 23, 2013 at 04:23 pm

No injuries, please! I don't care if we lose 60-0. NO INJURIES!!!

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Tundrabum's picture

August 23, 2013 at 04:39 pm

rAmen

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Jay's picture

August 23, 2013 at 04:31 pm

Whatever happens, remember this: this game doesn't count.

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TommyG's picture

August 23, 2013 at 04:33 pm

Bingo! Do watch the 1v1 match-ups though, especially the O-line. This will be a fairly good barometer to judge what our offense will look like this year.

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Mojo's picture

August 23, 2013 at 05:19 pm

A little surprised Seattle is favored considering the Pack beat them last year on the road. Vegas must think the betting perception is they did a better job than GB in the off season.

One of the things I'm going to look for is something I noticed last week. ARod did not hold the ball very long. Don't know if that was by design to avoid injuries or just a quirk. Anyway, what Rodgers does this year correlates greatly to the Packers chance of success. And IMO, ARod getting rid of the ball quicker on average, is a good thing.

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jh9's picture

August 23, 2013 at 06:17 pm

I'll be looking for 2nd year players to make impact plays. Primarily, I'll be looking for DuJuan Harris, Nick Perry, and Terrell Manning to make at least one big play tonight. They've been around long enough that now is their time. If they don't make at least one special play, I'll be disappointed.

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TommyG's picture

August 23, 2013 at 07:50 pm

I just watched AR play the first quarter, and a couple snaps of the 2nd. Harrell is already in, and just like that the most over-hyped preseason game I can remember has already been conceded. Good. Now we can worry about the rest of the regular season.

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LG's picture

August 24, 2013 at 01:23 am

I agree with jh9 about Harris and Perry..I will also be very disappointed if they don't make a move.

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