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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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pherein

Run defense is going to be important in this and the next game so..

We ran at will against Philly, they are #14

We will have to run the same against SEA #7, which is possible.
#2 CAR probably wont work.
#4 SF might not work.

BTW NO has the #15 by yards allowed, which is not bad considering they usually dont concentrate on the run.

NonieT

They ran fine against Carolina in Wk16. For some unfathomable reason they stopped. They also ran fine the first time they played San Francisco.

Beastmode

This is going to be a completely different game. Their best cover option on Jimmy is out and even with him last game Jimmy still made plays and scored. They also will have to respect the run, something that was basically not even on the table last time.

WHODATINCA

Who is out? Which player?

They will have to respect the run if our O-Line performs as well as they did against the Eagles. I'm going to assume SEA's D-Line is better than the Eagle's D-Line.

Beastmode

Can't remember his name but he covered Jimmy and he won't be playing.

pherein

yeah SEA DL is better, but not way better. Philly was #17 and SEA ia #13. By NFL stats and standards that pretty close. Its inches and a couple yards to be 5 apart. Very doable. I dont think they will respect the run at all.

WHODATINCA

Is it K.J. Wright?

Also, Cam Chancellor didn't practice. That's good news.

boonedocksaint

yes. kj wright is recovering from foot surgery and will not be available.
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i believe the running game is going to be very important, but, i really believe jimmy graham is the key to winning on saturday.

if anyone can punch back at that defense, its the graham cracker. we need to go to him often. i dont think they can stop him and if they cant stop him, we will win. if he goes for more than 100 yds, we win. use him as a possession reciever, on seam routes, and use him in the redzone. jimmy needs to show lynch who the real beast is!

run the ball and throw to graham in the 1st half, then that opens a lot stuff up over the top for colston and kenny in the second 1/2.

lee909

The run games started to get going late in the season but for some reason the playcalling kept moving away from it.Ran well againsts the Panthers and stopped, every team left in the NFC will be tough to run against but not impossible and all you have to do it make them respect the run and thinking about run plays so Brees can get some passes opening the field.