Cowboys-Seahawks scouting report: Seattle vulnerable to the run
09:19 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Sunday is one of those games in which you turn the ball over to Marion Barber.
The best thing the Seattle defense did in 2008 was play the run. But the underbelly softened in the off-season when tackle Rocky Bernard left for the New York Giants in free agency. He was Seattle's most active lineman last season with 55 tackles.
Two weeks ago, Seattle's inside run defense took an even bigger hit when middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu suffered a torn chest muscle in a 27-3 loss to Arizona. With three Pro Bowls in his four seasons, Tatupu is the linchpin of the defense.
Former TCU standout and Corsicana native David Hawthorne figures to draw his second career start in place of Tatupu on Sunday, when the Seahawks visit the Cowboys. The Seahawks were off last week, helping Hawthorne get up to speed on his assignments.
But with Pro Bowl center Andre Gurode, Pro Bowl guard Leonard Davis and Pro Bowl power back Barber, the Cowboys will have a decided edge when they pound the football inside.
The Cowboys gave Barber a season-high 18 carries in their power struggle with the Giants in September, and Barber gave them a season-best 124 yards. He hasn't run the ball more than 15 times since – nor has he rushed for more than 60 yards since.
The more you give the ball to Barber, the more effective he becomes. He carried the ball a career-high 28 times in a 2008 game against Green Bay and finished with a career-high 142 yards.
But that's a way of life for great power backs. The more they pound away, the more they wear a defense down. Three-yard carries in the first quarter become 6-yarders in the third quarter and 9-yarders in the fourth.
Playing at home against an overmatched opponent, Dallas wants to beat the Seahawks down physically and mentally. Barber is the hammer that can accomplish that Sunday.