Easley Concerns Knox, So Does Blocking Taylor

The Seattle Seahawks’ Chuck Knox is worried about two players--Ken Easley and Lawrence Taylor.

He’s concerned that Easley, the heart of the Seahawks’ defense, won’t be able to play today (Ch. 2, 1 p.m.) against the New York Giants in week seven of the NFL regular season.

And he’s worried that the Seahawks won’t be able to block Taylor, the Giants’ six-year outside linebacker who leads the NFL with 7 1/2 sacks this season. Four of Taylor’s sacks came in a 35-3 romp over Philadelphia last weekend. He had 13 tackles against the Eagles.

“We’re going to have to block him, somebody is going to have to get in his way if we’re going to throw the football,” Knox said of Taylor. “There’s no mystery to that.”

The 5-1 Giants have won five straight games and are tied for first place in the NFC East with Washington.

The 4-2 Seahawks have lost two of their last three games, including a 14-10 defeat to the Raiders in Los Angeles last Sunday. And Denver (6-0) is threatening to make the AFC West a runaway.

Easley, the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1984 and a four-time Pro Bowl selection at strong safety, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Monday. A piece of cartilage was removed. He is listed as doubtful for the Giants game in the Kingdome.

Easley wasn’t able to practice all week and says he won’t know until Sunday whether he can play. If he can’t, he’ll be replaced by backup Paul Moyer.

“Obviously, we would miss Kenny Easley,” said Knox. “He is an impact football player, a catalyst, he sets the tempo with his hitting. He’s got great leadership. We would definitely miss him.

“If he can’t play, we just have to go on and get a little extra effort from everybody else and pull together and get the job done.”

Despite the Giants’ hot streak and the possibility of Easley’s absence, the oddsmakers have installed the Seahawks as 3-point favorites against the Giants.

After dropping its opener in Dallas 31-28, the Giants have beaten San Diego, the Raiders, New Orleans, St. Louis and Philadelphia. The Eagles’ offense could muster just 117 yards against the Giants’ defense.

“We haven’t been consistent offensively most of the year but we’ve played pretty well on defense the last five weeks,” said Giants’ Coach Bill Parcells.

New York has a troublesome injury, too. Tight end Mark Bavaro may not be able to play against the Seahawks because of a sprained foot.

Bavaro is the Giants’ leading receiver this season with 30 receptions for 431 yards. He’s listed as questionable.

The Seahawks’ Steve Largent needs just two pass receptions to take over second place on the NFL’s all-time pass receiving list. Largent has 648 career receptions and is one short of Charley Taylor, with 649. Charlie Joiner is the all-time leader with 728.

Largent ranks third in all-time career receiving yards with 10,377. His NFL consecutive game receiving record now is at 129 regular season games.