The Seahawks head north of the border this weekend to face the Buffalo Bills in Toronto’s Rogers Centre in a matchup of two teams heading in opposite directions.
The Bills have dropped five of their last seven games, including a disheartening 15-12 defeat to Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams last week in the waning moments. Buffalo enters the game averaging just more than 22 points per game on the year, good for 19th in the league. The rushing game is ranked sixth, but will be without running back Fred Jackson, who was injured in the St. Louis game. Leading rusher C.J. Spiller will likely see more carries in Jackson’s absence and the former Clemson star already has 944 yards on 144 carries this year with five scores.
Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks running game is ranked fourth in the league and the scoring offense has climbed to 15th at just more than 23 points per game.
“He’s been very consistent with his output and effort and style,” head coach Pete Carroll said in his Monday press conference. “He’s come out strong, fast and looked sharp every single time we’ve shown up.”
Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson has entered himself into the Rookie of the Year discussion with his performances of late, including an efficient if unremarkable 7-13 day for 148 yards against the Cardinals.
Carroll said the dominating performance in all three phases of the game, and especially the eight turnovers his team created, was encouraging.
“It was great to see the activity, guys hauling tail to get to the ball,” he said. “We need to see if we can do it again going on the road this week.”
Wilson has 20 touchdown passes on the year against only nine interceptions and has thrown for just shy of 2,500 yards. He has been outstanding in the fourth quarter and overtime thus far in 2012, throwing seven touchdowns and only a single interception.
Seattle set franchise records in the 58-0 win over the Arizona Cardinals and have taken four of their past five. The game will be a homecoming of sorts for running back Marshawn Lynch, who spent more than three seasons with the Bills before coming to Seattle during the 2010 year.
Carroll also said leading wide receiver is nursing a bruised foot and could miss the game.
A win by the Seahawks combined with a San Francisco loss in New England would set up a divisional showdown the following week for the lead spot and possibly the second playoff seed from the NFC. A handful of teams including Washington, Dallas, Chicago and Minnesota are currently in the mix with Seattle for one of the two wildcard playoff spots, should the 49ers win the West. If Carroll and the Seahawks can win each of their final three games, they will be assured of at least a wildcard spot.
This will be the second time the Seahawks have played in Canada and the third time playing internationally. The team suffered a 10-7 loss to Denver in the 1990 American Bowl in Tokyo, Japan and lost 24-21 to the 49ers in Vancouver, Canada in 1998.
