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Danny O'Neil covers the Seahawks for The Seattle Times.

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September 6, 2008 1:23 PM

Bills vs. Seahawks -- Matchup Microscope

We're less than 24 hours away from kickoff, time to break out a magnifying glass for some of the matchups that could end up looming large in Seattle's season-opener in Buffalo on Sunday.

First, if you didn't take a look at what Doug Farrar did when he dropped some mathematics on the matchup back on Wednesday, be advised that it's worth a peek. Here's the link to that right here.


LT Langston Walker	vs.	RE Lawrence Jackson
Jason Peters may be on the Bills sideline Sunday, but he isn't expected in uniform. That leaves Langston Walker in Peters' position at left tackle, effectively weakening Buffalo at two positions because Kirk Chambers is now at right tackle. In Jackson's first start, he'll be going against the 366-pound dump truck of a man in Walker and Jackson's speed should let him treat Walker like a traffic cone and right on by.

DT Marcus Stroud	vs.	Seattle's interior line
Stroud is the mountain of a man the Bills acquired this offseason to put in the middle of their defense. The Seahawks will remember him from the season-opener in 2005 when Stroud was in Jacksonville, playing alongside John Henderson in a game where the Jaguars walloped the Seahawks in the second half. The Seahawks have new guard Mike Wahle, Rob Sims who moved to the right side and then center Chris Spencer, who missed a good chunk of training camp with a bad back. Are they ready for the challenge?

WRs Lee Evans & James Hardy	vs.	CB Marcus Trufant & and Kelly Jennings
The Bills have been talking about a quick-throw offense under new coordinator Turk Schonert, and that may be true, but I expect Buffalo to take a couple shots downfield against the Seahawks. That's going to be the early scouting report given the size of Seattle's secondary -- or lack thereof. Evans is an established threat, Hardy is a rookie out of Indiana who caught only three passes in Buffalo's exhibition games. Coach Dick Jauron said that injuries slowed Hardy, but he might have a bigger role in Sunday's game plan than anyone expects.