Seahawks not expecting repeat of opening night against Packers

The Seattle Seahawks may never have looked more like a defending Super Bowl champion this season than when they blew out Green Bay on opening night.

To get a chance to truly defend that title, they’ll have to beat Green Bay again — whether that’s by one point or by the 20 by which they beat Green Bay on Sept. 4, a 36-16 victory that was as dominating as any game Seattle had all season.

The Seahawks aren’t expecting this game to unfold as it did last September.

Coach Pete Carroll has pointed to Green Bay’s improvement both in running the ball and defending against the run as differences from the first game.

The Packers averaged under 90 yards rushing in their first eight games and more than 150 in their last eight — they had just 80 yards on 21 carries Sept. 4 in Seattle, with Eddie Lacy rushing for just 34.

Meanwhile, on defense over the last eight games, the Packers ranked sixth in the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed, at 691 (they ranked 23rd for the season), and were seventh in yards per carry, at 3.6 (compared to 5.2 for the season).

“They’ve had a big turnaround,” Carroll said. “They’ve had a real obvious statistical turnaround. … Their rushing stats have flip?flopped, and that’s a big change in their approach, what they can count on and all.

“Their defensive numbers have flipped, and their offensive numbers have flipped to the point where, if you’re giving up 80 yards a game rushing and you’re rushing for 150, that’s a real powerful message that you send about what you do at the line of scrimmage. And they’ve been able to accomplish that. That’s something we would be very proud of in our style as well.”

The improved running game has helped open things up that much more for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and a stouter run defense would be huge against a Seattle offense that leads with its running game — Marshawn Lynch had one of his best games against the Packers, with 110 yards on 20 carries, while the Seahawks ran for 207 yards.

Rodgers is hobbled heading into the game, dealing with a torn calf muscle. But Carroll cited his play in Green Bay’s playoff win over Dallas and said, “We’re counting on him to be right on the money with all their offense and all the things they want to do. And if it’s different, we’ll adjust from there.”

While Carroll heaped praise on the Packers this week, he also reiterated a weekly theme that the game is largely “about us.”

That Seattle mantra strengthened as the season wore on and the Seahawks weathered some early storms — a 3-3 record, the Percy Harvin trade and some talk that the team was fracturing in the locker room.

Instead, Seattle rallied to win its last six games and got a seventh with a 31-17 divisional playoff win over Carolina on Saturday to advance to the NFC title game for the second straight year.

While the Seahawks have spent much of the season saying they don’t want to talk about last season or compare this team to that team, some of them admit that it helps that they have been here before.

“It’s huge for me,” receiver Doug Baldwin said. “And for us as a team. I think as a younger group, we kind of take that for granted.

“When I was younger, being naive, I thought that it was kind of overrated, that the experience was overrated,” he said. “But … going to the NFC Championship the second year, that experience is crucial — not only because of the physical aspect of it but also the mental aspect of it. And being able to handle that in the appropriate manner and going about our way of studying and preparing for this game and being able to handle everything that comes along with it, because our families are getting at us as well, that experience definitely enables us to just be more patient, be more calm and just handle things in the appropriate manner. And so I think come game time it’s going to be a lot easier for us as well.”

SERIES HISTORY

18th all-time meeting. Packers lead series, 10-7. The two teams have met 15 times in the regular season, with the Packers winning eight. This will be the third postseason meeting between the two. Green Bay won the two prior meetings, a 33-27 overtime win in a 2003 NFC wild-card game and a 42-20 win in a 2007 divisional playoff game.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

—Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch vs. Packers LB Clay Matthews. One key to Green Bay’s improved run defense the second half of the season was having Matthews play more inside on run downs. But that strategy has not been tested in the way that it will be by Seattle and Lynch. The Seahawks led the NFL in rushing this season at 172.6 yards per game.

—Seahawks MLB Bobby Wagner vs. Packers RB Eddie Lacy. After a slow start to the season, Lacy ended up having the kind of year that was anticipated, leading the Packers with 1,139 yards. Seattle shut down Green Bay’s running game easily in the opener, as big of a factor as any in the easy 36-16 win. Wagner’s return after missing five games was also a huge key in Seattle’s defensive resurgence in the final six games of the season. Wagner’s sideline-to-sideline speed has been a big part of Seattle’s improvement against the run.

—Seahawks DE Cliff Avril vs. Packers RT Bryan Bulaga. With Rodgers ailing, the Seahawks will want to put as much pressure on the Green Bay QB as they can. Avril was a constant presence in the Green Bay backfield in the opener, especially after Bulaga left with a knee injury after 20 snaps. Bulaga missed just one game and the Packers have had their offensive line intact for the last 14 games, a big reason for the team’s offensive success. Avril has had a solid season but had been a little quiet before getting a half-sack in the season finale and a full sack in the playoff win over the Panthers.