SmashMouth

The New Orleans Saints didn't show very much of a running game in their regular-season meeting against the Seattle Seahawks last month.

But the Seahawks are expecting that to change this time around after the success the Saints had on the ground in defeating the Philadelphia Eagles during the wild-card round of the playoffs. The Saints, behind Mark Ingram, uncharacteristically ran the ball 36 times for 185 yards against Philadelphia.

The Seahawks, who host New Orleans on Saturday in the divisional round of the playoffs, are expecting to see more of the Saints' ground attack as a result.

"I think that's a very effective way to run their offense," said Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman. "It allows them to be balanced and create the play-action fakes and allow their offense to become more explosive in that sense.

"They will try to bring more guys into the box and then throw it over their heads. That's old school football."

The Saints' effectiveness running the football, especially with starting back Pierre Thomas out of the lineup last week, was surprising, though Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said Wednesday he wasn't stunned by the performance.

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