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Seattle • Mike Glennon and Russell Wilson nearly were inseparable. Whether it was sharing quarterback meeting rooms at North Carolina State or being roommates on the road, everywhere Wilson went, Glennon followed.

Glennon and Wilson will be reunited on the field Sunday when the NFC-leading Seattle Seahawks host the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And Glennon gets the first shot at trying to break down Seattle's impenetrable home field, where the Seahawks have won 11 straight, one shy of their franchise record.

"He knows how to study, he knows how to learn," Wilson said. "He doesn't make too many mistakes. He's a guy who has a great arm. He's very poised in most situations. I have a lot of respect for him. I like the way he plays, and it'll be fun seeing him soon. He's a lot taller than me. He's like a giraffe compared to what am I, a zebra? Something shorter."

The relationship between Wilson and Glennon dates to N.C. State but has continued past Wilson's departure from the school, which led to Glennon becoming the starter. Glennon was Wilson's backup until the spring of 2011. Wilson, who was pursuing a pro baseball career, was granted his release from N.C. State and was able to transfer to Wisconsin and play immediately as a graduate student.

Glennon became the Wolfpack starter, Wilson led the Badgers to the Rose Bowl and both ended up as starters in the NFL. They've remained in contact, and Glennon wasn't surprised by how successful Wilson was in his rookie season. It looked familiar.

"The thing that was crazy to me watching him a lot last year was he made the NFL look like college all over again," Glennon said.

Here are two more things to watch as the Bucs try to keep Seattle from a 12th straight home win:

Passing problems

Seattle's passing game is a mess, but not because of Wilson. The line has struggled in pass protection, giving up seven sacks against St. Louis last week and leading to one of the uglier offensive performances in recent memory by Seattle with 135 total yards of offense. Giving Wilson adequate protection has been a problem since starting tackles Russell Okung and Breno Giacomini went down with injuries, and that really was exposed by the Rams.

Bucs DT Gerald McCoy said Tampa Bay can draw encouragement from how the Rams played defensively against Seattle.

"It means they have a flaw, that everybody can have a bad game," McCoy said. "The thing about it is it may give us confidence, but just from the guys I know over there, and from being around Pete Carroll, after a performance like that, they're going to come out on fire."

Beast mode

Carroll said he sat next to Marshawn Lynch flying back from St. Louis, both frustrated with the lack of touches for the star running back.

Lynch had just eight carries against the Rams. More baffling, for the second straight game the Seahawks failed to give Lynch the ball in a goal-line situation.

"There was no intention in it at all. Unfortunately we didn't get him going. That's not how we play," Carroll said. "Hopefully we'll do better this time. Sometimes it happens, and it was unfortunate for a lot of reasons, but I share the frustration with him. I don't mind one bit him being frustrated about that, I was too." —