The Latest from Know Hitter: Juventus, NBA Trade Deadline and Brandon Jennings

Here’s the latest from Kingdome’s sister site, Know Hitter:

  • Spanish striker Alvaro Morata is quickly making countryman Fernando Llorente expandable at Juventus.
  • The Miami Heat’s acquisition of Goran Dragic (and his brother Zoran) have the team in a good place, thanks to the small price they paid to acquire the former All-NBA Third Team point guard.
  • Philly was active on the trade front as well, as the 76ers brought in the likes of JaVale McGee and Isaiah Canaan and a haul of draft picks for the likes of Michael Carter-Williams and K.J. McDaniels. Know Hitter deemed the team as one of the winners of the trade deadline.
  • In addition to the Heat and Sixers, Milwaukee also made a smart trade at the deadline, bringing in Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee. Know Hitter has them, along with the Heat and 76ers, as some of the “winners” of the trade deadline. Bookmark Know Hitter and check back in during the next few days for more winners and losers of the deadline as well as other fantastic content.
  • Lastly, check out Know Hitter’s piece on the trade of Brandon Jennings from the Bucks to the Pistons, and how the return has helped to shape the Bucks’ current young nucleus. What the team acquired for Jennings may surprise you.

Seattle Seahawks: 5 Important Stats from Panthers vs Cardinals

For the second straight season, the Seattle Seahawks enjoyed a bye to kick off the playoffs. The Hawks were able to sit in the comfort of their own homes and watch the competition slug it out.

Due to seeding, Seattle will host the Carolina Panthers with the winner advancing to the NFC Championship Game. Confidentially in 2014, the Seahawks also played an NFC South opponent (the New Orleans Saints) at home in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Here are five stats to keep in mind when the Panthers make their way to CenturyLink Field this weekend.

  1. 123—rushing yards by Panthers running back and Washington native Jonathan Stewart. Arizona struggled against the run heading into the game. Marshawn Lynch and Frank Gore ran for 113 and 144 yards respectively against the Cardinals, but Stewart has been on somewhat of a tear as of late. The Hawks will have to be careful with Stewart.
  2. 198—passing yards by Carolina quarterback Cam Newton. If you take out a 39 yard screen pass to Fozzy Whittaker, the total drops to 159. Of the six QBs the Hawks have faced in the last six games, they’ve held five to under 200 yards passing. The only two to eclipse that mark, Shaun Hill and Ryan Lindley, didn’t have great games. Hill had 243 yards but also threw two picks. Lindley compiled 216 yards and had only one interception, but completed a mere 18 of his 44 passes. Neither Hill nor Lindley threw a touchdown. In fact, the past six QBs the Hawks face threw a cumulative two touchdowns, both from Eagles signal-caller Mark Sanchez. The caveat is that Sanchez threw for only 96 yards. One of his touchdowns came on a drive that started at the Seahawks’ 14 yard line. The other drive started four yards away from midfield at the Philly 46.
  3. 39—most receiving yards by a Carolina receiver. Those 39 yards came on the Whittaker screen, which was the running back’s only catch. No other Panther had five catches, with Kelvin Benjamin coming the closest with four. Benjamin was the only Carolina pass catcher with more than 33 yards when the two teams met earlier in the season. He finished with 94 receiving yards, 51 of which came on one play.
  4. 35—rushing yards by QB Cam Newton. The Carolina signal caller ran for 35 after putting up yardage totals of 51, 63, 83 and 49 in recent weeks. He only had 24 yards on 12 carries against the Hawks earlier in the season, his second worst game in terms of average yards per carry.
  5. Nine—number of different receivers who caught passes against the Cardinals. The Hawks will have to watch out for Newton spreading the ball around in general, but these aren’t Tom Brady’s Patriots. Of the nine, only four caught more than one pass. Of the five with one catch, three (Brenton Bersin, Mike Tolbert and Stewart) combined for a cumulative four yards. Whittaker’s 39 receiving yards came off a screen pass (stop me if you’ve heard that before) and was predominantly thanks to the running back rather than Newton.

The Seahawks take on the Panthers on Saturday, the winner will advance to the NFC Championship Game.

All stats courtesy of http://www.pro-football-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted.

Kingdome on YouTube and the Seahawks Super Bowl Championship Banner Ceremony

Quick! Tell your friends, Kingdome is now on YouTube. Yes, that’s right; Kingdome is diving into another form of media. Check out the aptly name channel and subscribe! It will blow your mind!

To celebrate check out Kingdome’s first ever video—a recording of the Seahawks’ 2013 Championship banner unveiling ceremony right before the opening game of the 2014 NFL season at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

 

Don’t forget to subscribe. Also, to see the YouTube channel in its entirety click here.

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