Patriots Blog: Sizing Up The Seahawks
BOSTON (CBS) - When the Patriots wide receivers take the field against the Seahawks on Sunday, they will face possibly the biggest secondary in the NFL.
The Seahawks cornerbacks and safeties are mostly over 6-feet tall and mostly over 200 pounds. They can hit, play well in space and cover their man.
Take second-year corner Richard Sherman, who stands at 6-3 and 195-pounds. He only has about four tackles per game on the season, but has a forced fumble, two interceptions and seven passes defended. Then there is the 6-4, 221-point Brandon Bower, who has a pick and two forced fumbles -- on of which came against Carolina last week.
Coach Bill Belichick the big Seahawks defenders as a huge problem.
"These guys are long, they're extremely big, they're 6-4, 6-3 corners," Belichick said earlier this week. "You just don't see them very often, and to see them on one team, they're hard to get away from. They're big and they're physical and they take up a lot of space. A lot of guys aren't used to going up against that size a player; 220-pound corners."
Read: Patriots-Seahawks Preview
"For the quarterback, it's hard because it's no different from playing against a taller middle linebacker; a guy like (Chicago's Brain) Urlacher or somebody like that who's 6-4, 6-5 in the middle of the field. Their range and their height just make those throws in the middle a little tougher."
It's going to be up to the receivers to free themselves and find the holes in that defense. Wes Welker admits this will be a tough task.
"It's always a challenge in the NFL, so especially with these guys it's going to be really tough," said Welker. "You gotta make sure you're not sloppy. (You have to be) physical and quick and fast, and all those different things, in order to get open."
Read: Levan Reid's Patriots Blog
For comparisons sake, New England's biggest receiving threat is Brandon Lloyd at 6-0, 200-points. Welker stands at 5-9, 185-pounds, with Deion Branch 5-9, 200-pounds.
It's a good thing Tom Brady has all 6-6 and 265-points of Rob Gronkowski to throw to.
Read: Mike Hurley's Week 6 NFL Picks
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