The Raiders have earned a much-deserved reputation struggling to cover tight ends, but Seattle is probably the 2nd-worst defense in that regard. That makes Greg Olsen -- probably Carolina's best healthy receiver anyway -- an intriguing option this week.
Seattle has allowed 5 TD passes in its first five games, and 4 of those have gone to tight ends. It's a continuation of last season, when Seattle's Legion of Boom allowed only 5 TDs to wide receivers, but more than twice that (11) to tight ends.
The table below shows how tight ends have fared against Seattle. Note that Jimmy Clausen threw for only 63 yards up in Seattle, while the Lions lost starter Eric Ebron to injury during their game (so they used Tim Wright as well).
| TIGHT ENDS AGAINST SEATTLE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Yds | TD |
| Jared Cook | 5 | 85 | 0 |
| Lance Kendricks | 2 | 42 | 1 |
| Richard Rodgers | 3 | 23 | 1 |
| Martellus Bennett | 4 | 15 | 0 |
| Detroit | 3 | 48 | 0 |
| Tyler Eifert | 8 | 90 | 2 |
--Andy Richardson