When Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway puts on tape of the Seattle Seahawks offense, he sees a whole lot of what he sees on the Vikings' practice field every day.
He sees an offense that mirrors what the Vikings do. He sees a scheme that is not overly complex from a formation standpoint. He sees a team determined to start by establishing the run, then working off of that with a play-action passing game. Familiar? Yes. Even more so because many of the Vikings' vets were here when Darrell Bevell – the Seahawks offensive coordinator – was doing the same job here through the 2010 season.
But that doesn't mean Seattle will be easy to stop.
"I don't know if it gives us an advantage," Greenway said. "You still have to go out and play and react. But we do have a better sense of what (Bevell) is trying to accomplish, having been around him so much – the type of scheme, the type of passing game he's going to utilize off what he's doing in the running game. And that play-action stuff. They're going to throw some (bootleg plays) at you, try to suck the linebackers up and throw over the top of you. All these things we know. But we have to go out and play the game."
Fellow linebacker Erin Henderson agreed. "You have a good idea of how they want to do things, what they want to get done," Henderson said. "But you won't know for sure until you go out and see their first 15 plays."
Despite the good numbers Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch has put up, the Seahawks have struggled to move the ball consistently and to score points; the team ranks 30th in the NFL in yards gained and 27th in scoring.
For the Vikings to make sure that continues they have to stop the Seahawks running game first. That's a goal that, considering the problems Minnesota has had stopping the run of late, won't be easy to reach.
But familiarity might breed defensive consistency.
