Fitting End to a Rough Year-- Seahawks 24 Cardinals 26

Seattle needed just two things to go there way to put themselves three games away from their 3rd Super Bowl appearance under Pete Carroll.

They needed to handle their business at home against a floundering division rival and they needed the Panthers to express some interest in winning their division by beating Atlanta.

Tampa Bay rallied to beat New Orleans, which meant that a Panthers win would give Carolina the NFC North title. Unfortunately, Cam Newton played like shit and the Falcons' victory eliminated the Seahawks from the playoffs, regardless of the outcome of Seattle's game.

Seattle, before a raucous home crowd, did what they had done too many times all season.

The committed too many penalties.  They failed to convert third downs. They started slow.  They played down to their competition.  They could not run the football.

Perhaps most fitting of all, Blair Walsh missed the game-winning field goal wide right. 

I'd love to think that Vikings fans are having a good chuckle at our expense, but they're probably just enjoying their team's victory and dreaming of a home Super Bowl.

There's no doubt that the rash of significant injuries suffered by key personnel played a substantial role in Seattle's struggles this season.  I'll dig deeper into those when I write my end of the season review, but I wanted to bring them up now because I do not want to hear about them being an excuse this season.

Injuries are a part of the game.  Since it's a quarterback-driven league, unless your signal caller is knocked out for the year, the expectation is for you to figure it out and move on.

If anyone tries to peddle this BS excuse to you-- remind them that we just lost on our home field to Drew Stanton and the David Johnson-less Cardinals.  They were without their best player (Johnson) and their franchise QB.

Additionally, the Vikings lost their franchise QB last year to an injury that kept him out almost two full seasons.  They then traded their first round pick to acquire Sam Bradford, who was lost for the year.  Couple that with the fact that, when their franchise-leading running back, Adrian Peterson, parted ways like Marshawn Lynch did with us-- they didn't just hope that an undrafted kid would hop right in and assume the load.  They drafted Dalvin Cook, one of the top rated backs in the draft, only to see him lost for the year early in the season.

Now, Mike Zimmer could've made excuses for his misfortune.  He could have even sat out the year to recover from a serious eye issue that caused him to miss some time.  Instead, the Vikings made adjustments and now have a first round bye in the playoffs.

The Seahawks problems in this game were no different that their problems all season long-- and probably the past two seasons, as well.  Pete Carroll's belief in his philosophy is so steadfast that he seems blinded by reality.

I, personally, have completely bought in to Carroll's philosophy-- but it is nothing short of maddening to see them flat out ignore the cold hard reality of what is right in front of them.

The Seahawks were hit hard by injuries and had some preseason gambles bust on them. They are by no means the only team that can claim that hardship this year.  Good teams find a way to play to their strengths-- even if that means throwing out the game plan and starting from scratch.  There is no pride to glean from 'going down with the ship'. 

Maybe Dave Wyman is right-- perhaps I'm spoiled by the Seahawks recent string of success. 

But we were never without Russell Wilson this season.  Not even a half-injured Russell Wilson.  When you have a player like that on your team, there is no reason to not win ten games. 
 

Staying Alive-- Seahawks 21 @ Cowboys 12

The Seahawks, despite a lackluster offensive performance, managed to keep their postseason hopes alive in Dallas on Christmas Eve.

In an atmosphere that felt strangely like a playoff game, Seattle fended off the freshly reinstated Zeke Elliott and the Cowboys while the Falcons lost their game, keeping Seattle squarely in the hunt for the final NFC Wild Card spot.

The defense was able to shake off an abysmal showing against Los Angeles last week to hold the Cowboys to a handful of field goals. Largely due to having KJ and Bobby back in the lineup, but also due to the fact that Dak Prescott simply isn't that great. I admittedly haven't seen much of Dak's film but he did not live up to the residual hype of his rookie season.

I've watched enough of the Seahawks to know that our defense is in arguably its roughest shape since Pete Carroll arrived and they made the Cowboys look nothing more than ordinary on Christmas Eve.

The offense continues to look lost.  Even Wilson has played his way out of the MVP discussion, despite Carson Wentz being done for the year and Tom Brady having nothing to play for the final few weeks of this season.

Even with everything on the line and a relatively healthy offense, all Seattle has done to affect the MVP race recently was to put an enormous spotlight on Todd Gurley.

Nevertheless, we find ourselves with one game remaining in the regular season.  It's a home game, though that doesn't seem to hold the same regard this season.  It's against a crestfallen Cardinals team that has not only no playoff hopes, but will quite possibly be without Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald and coach Bruce Arians next season. Also, the Seahawks destiny isn't solely in their own hands-- we need to not only win our match up with Arizona, but a Carolina win over Atlanta in order to play football in January.

Oh, yeah.  Even if all of that falls the Seahawks way, it's more than likely that they will have to play the Rams in the Wild Card game.  Sure, we beat them in LA, but the most recent game appeared to show that the Seahawks have no answer for Gurley and Goff.

I desperately hope that Seattle is able to reach their sixth consecutive post season, but I'm admittedly not terribly optimistic of their chances.  Not only to get in to the playoffs-- but what they might accomplish, should they get in.

If not for the majesty of number 3, this would've long since been considered a lost season for the Seahawks. Not only have the Seahawks been severe victims of attrition, but seemingly every gamble they took in the offseason has seemingly blown up in their faces. 

I will undoubtedly have a lot to say when they season is ultimately completed for the Seahawks, but I will say this with confidence-- if the defense can perform anywhere close to its potential and the offensive line simply doesn't play its worst games in January -- Russell Wilson has the potential to win the Super Bowl.

There's just one guaranteed game left this season-- keep dreaming.

Surrendering the West-- Seahawks 7 Rams 42

Did you hear that?

That was the sound of the Seahawks' championship window slamming shut.

That doesn't mean that a Wilson-captained Seahawks team will never reach the big dance.  Not at all.  What it does mean is that the landscape where the Seahawks were clearly elite has most certainly transformed.

I hate to start in on my end-of-the-year-post-mortem when we still have two games to play, but the Seahawks had the opportunity to control their own destiny heading into the playoffs and, instead, let the Rams-- who haven't made the post season in 13 years-- beat the stuffing out of them on their home turf.

Now, Seattle is not yet mathematically eliminated from post season play-- but now they must not only win-out, but they will need help from other teams in order to back into the playoffs.

We've been seeing the tides change in the NFL this season.  Perennial pushovers like the Rams and Jaguars now appear to be legitimate, young powerhouses in this league. Don't let the Browns fool you-- this is how the NFL is set up to operate. Bad teams with a decade of top-ten picks are supposed to eventually turn their rosters around, providing the parity the NFL thrives upon.

They Seahawks aren't old.  They have a core group of seasoned veterans with ample playoff experience, but I don't really see anyone on this roster that we should worry about retiring in the offseason-- from injury, perhaps, but not age.

What happened with the Seahawks was that they gambled and lost.

They have been rolling the dice with their run game and offensive line since Marshawn left.  With the exception of a stretch of games with Thomas Rawls 2 seasons ago and a few games this year with Chris Carson-- the Seahawks have majorly whiffed on their backfield.

Rawls never looked the same after breaking his leg.  Despite being healthy, he cannot seem to get on the field.  The free agent signing of Eddie Lacy will go down as one of the worst moves in the NFL this year.  Lacy wasn't productive last season with Aaron Rodgers and a decent line-- why on earth would he be any better behind a markedly worse line?

The Seahawks went into this year expecting to lean heavily on its talented defense while putting the offense entirely on the shoulders of Wilson. That might have been a good plan had Seattle used its cap salary to sign some veteran offensive linemen like Andrew Whitworth and used some of it draft capital to bring in a promising young lineman instead of selecting Malik McDowell. 

When your team has no threat of running the ball and your line is bottom of the barrel-- teams are going to have no issue blitzing the hell out of you.  They send the house at Russell.  Sometimes he scrambles for his life and makes a remarkable play, but more often than not, it doesn't work.

The defense has suffered unparalleled loss this season when it comes to injuries.   Losses we've largely been able to overcome because we had decent depth, except at the cornerback position.  All together, the defense had hung in admirably with the exception of this Rams game.

I don't want to hear about injuries, though.  Vikings coach, Mike Zimmer, is without question the Coach of the Year.  He lost his franchise QB last season and was forced to trade high draft picks to get Sam Bradford to fill in.  Not only did they lose Bradford this year, essentially causing them to rely on their 3rd string quarterback, but their first-round running back went down early in the season, too.

Yet, the Vikings are battling for the #1 seed in the NFC. 

The Seahawks simply drank too much of their own Kool Aid this year and it came back to bite them in the ass. There will undoubtedly be consequences to this season.  The band will break up.  You can expect some familiar faces to be dealt or let loose.  I hope the coaching staff gets a bit of a face lift, as well.

It's great when Pete & John find a late-round gem in the draft, but I'm getting real sick of relying on them to pay off.  It's been too long since a late pick turned into a major contributor.  I want to see Seattle trade up to get someone that is a consensus top-pick.  I want to see Seattle add some experience as well as talent to their offensive line in free agency.

Most of all, I want to see the Seahawks get back to being a physically-intimidating, dominate team.

Hard Fought -- Seahawks 24 Jaguars 30

The better team lost on Sunday. For that matter, the better fan base lost on Sunday. 

I know there are a lot of people on both sides upset, frustrated, disappointed, angry and embarrassed by what transpired in the final moments of Sunday's loss to the Jaguars.  I understand why you would feel that way, just having witnessed the opportunity for victory slip from the hands of the team you worship. 

The blame for the transgressions of the last few plays rests solely with one group.

No-- it's not Michael Bennett, no matter how badly some 'fans' would love to vilify him as the everything that is wrong with the Seahawks.  All Bennett is guilty of is playing the game of football for a full 60 minutes.

Seahawks fan Bob White asks Mike Salk how he's supposed
 to explain the late-game skirmish to his children.

It's not even Sheldon Richardson or Quinton Jefferson who let their emotions get the better of them at the end of the game.

The fights, the penalties, the awful behavior of the fans can be squarely placed on this officiating group.

Jacksonville, its players, coaches and fan base, are about as familiar with success as fish are with the concept of aviation.  Winning is completely and utterly foreign to them.  There is no question that they are a good team right now with a spectacularly talented defense and a powerful rushing attack. However, it was evident very early in the game that this was their Super Bowl and because of that, their players were unnecessarily chippy.

There were no less than 4 plays in the first half of the game where Jacksonville players more than

warranted a late hit or a taunting penalty. There were a number of plays throughout the game where pass interference probably should've been called-- but these officials, for whatever reason, opted to 'let 'em play'.
Football is a game of extreme emotion.  When you let that kind of shit persist-- you're inviting fights like we saw at the end of this match.

Moose Johnson and Chris Meyers did fans a tremendous disservice.  Not just by virtue of calling the game, but by insinuating that Michael Bennett's actions were motivated by spite or poor-sportsmanship and ultimately suggesting that he's unworthy of his Man of the Year nomination.

The only thing Michael Bennett is guilty of is never giving up.  There was still 51 seconds on the clock and the Seahawks had a timeout.  When the Jaguars were in victory formation, Bennett tried to 'intercept' the snap by shooting low through the A gap. I will never be upset with a player going 100% until the game is over.

Seattle overcame costly, early-game mistakes to find themselves a touchdown away from victory.  A victory Seattle surely would have saw if only the officiating crew had seen the most blatant defensive holding penalty executed this season.

Once again, most of the obstacles Seattle faced were by their own creation.  As the offense continues to improve, our defense continually falls victim to attrition. Its no coincidence that Jacksonville scored 27 of their 30 points after Bobby Wagner left with injury.

In spite of a loss that undoubtedly left the team and fans emotionally exhausted, I feel good about the direction this team is heading. Seattle faces an equally banged up Rams team, that they already defeated earlier in the season, at home with the division title on the line. We have to hope that we start getting some guys back from injury soon, but the offense is rallying behind Wilson-- and I've always said that this team goes as far as Wilson will take them.

Thriving in December-- Seahawks 24 Eagles 10

Russell Wilson lives for primetime games in December.  Make no mistake about it-- this was far and away the most exciting game of the year.

The week leading up to this game had all the experts going against Seattle.  Even the staunchest of 'homers' believed the Seahawks to be outmatched by the NFL's top-ranked Eagles. Why shouldn't they feel the Seahawks were done?  After all, they are without Cliff Avril, Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman.

The Seahawks, on the other hand, never had a single doubt.

Admittedly, I, too, was worried going into this game.  Not necessarily because of anything the Eagles do-- but because I know the Seahawks most difficult opponent has always been themselves.

My fears were put to rest after the very first play of the game when Darrell Bevell called a designed run for Wilson. The play only picked up seven yards, but it wasn't so much the result of the play that calmed me, but the statement that play made. Rather than cross their fingers and hope that Mike Davis was the answer to their rushing attack's prayers, they made a concerted effort to do what they do best.

The Seahawks basically said that they were going to play their brand of football and dared the young Eagles to try to stop it.

Seattle came away with a field goal on the opening drive, but it was enough to fire up the 12s and set the tone for the rest of the game. On their 3rd possession of the game, the Seahawks did what no other team had done this season against the Eagles-- they scored a touchdown in the first quarter.

When dumb penalties had become a consistent theme in Seattle's losses this year as well as their victories, you could tell early on that Seattle was executing at an extremely high level.  They played as if they had been preparing for Philadelphia for two weeks or more.

Seattle only committed 5 penalties all game. The offensive line seemed to have altered it's blocking style overnight, adapting a scramble-friendly style that provided protection while preventing bone-headed holding calls.  It was a hopeful sign that this line is solidifying just in time for the playoffs and meaningful December football.

The defense had been criticized all week.  They were told they were good, but that they simply could not be elite in the absences of Sherman, Chancellor and Avril. This obviously got back to the players, because we saw a colossal effort from the entire defense. 

Frank Clark has made it to the next level.  He's shown that he can be the Chris Clemons of this year's team, recording two sacks and numerous QB hurries.  Quinton Jefferson is starting to come along, too. Byron Maxwell, Justin Coleman, Shaq Griffin and the rest of the secondary stepped up big in this game.

However there were three players on the defense that really stole the show.  Bradley MacDougald was lights-out with a dozen tackles, filling in for Chancellor. Still, this new amalgamation of the Seahawks defense belongs to and runs through it's veteran linebackers-- KJ Wright and Bobby Wagner. Those two are on a whole other level.

If Bobby Wagner isn't the Defensive MVP, no one is.

In private conversations leading up to this game, I said on more than one occasion that if Seattle doesn't win this game, there is no chance at them winning the Super Bowl.  While mathematically untrue, dropping this game to the Eagles would have been the 3rd home field loss for Seattle this year and would essentially confirm the national opinion that Seattle has not and cannot beat a good football team. 

There's still plenty of room for improvement in these final four games.  Seattle has the opportunity this week to get a road win against an playoff-bound AFC team.  The offensive line needs to continue to gel while showing consistency.  We should even get some guys back like DeShawn Shead and Dion Jordan that will provide rotational depth.

There was plenty of praise to go around from the Sunday Night matchup, but one point cannot be stressed enough-- Russell Wilson was extraordinary.

Number 3 is the very definition of a Most Valuable Player.  Over 80% of Seattle's offensive production has gone through Wilson.  He is carrying this team and the sky is the limit.

A lot can shake up in the 4th quarter of the season.  Seattle could very likely win-out and find themselves in the top seed.  This loss could potentially send the Eagles into a tailspin of self doubt.  The NFC South should continue to cannibalize itself and we essentially control the Rams fate. As good as Case Keenum has been, I'm just not convinced that he has what it takes to lead the Vikings to the #1 seed.

It's December now.  This is when Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks are at their very best.  Buckle up and brace yourselves for a remarkable final four games.

Playing Down to the Competition-- Seahawks 24 @ 49ers 13

It's Monday morning and Seattle has a record of 7-4.  Respectable, but far from intimidating.  Playoff projections show the NFC South claiming both Wildcard spots with the Seahawks on the outside looking in.  Only 5 games remain, but a lot can happen in the final month of the regular season.

In their final 7 games of this season, Seattle will face 4 of the projected playoff teams.  They already lost to Atlanta and will next face the Eagles in Seattle, who possess the NFL's best record, on Sunday Night Football.

We now find ourselves 12 weeks into the season and it's pretty clear what team's identities, strengths and weaknesses are.  If you haven't figured yourself out by now, you're not going to this year.

 After yesterday's convincing-yet-somehow-challenging victory, here's what we know about our team as they prepare for this season's 4th quarter:

• This team lives and dies with Russell Wilson.  Despite his apparent one-stupid-turnover per game quota of the past few games, Wilson is having another spectacular season. With Wilson, Seahawks are never out of any game, no matter the opponent.  However, Wilson isn't without his flaws.  Wilson will end up as either the MVP or the scapegoat for this team's failure to win the Super Bowl.  Fair or not, there is no in between.

• Seattle cannot run the football.  Period, end of discussion.  The Seahawks knew coming out of last year that this was a problem and they took a gamble on the potential solution.  They opted to address the offensive line in free agency with Joeckel, Aboushi and Tobin.  They drafted Pocic  in the second round but didn't draft a running back until the seventh.  Before all of that, they signed Eddie Lacy and gave him the cap resources that might have better been served resigning Steven Hauschka.  The only bright spots in their run game were seemingly afterthoughts in solving their rushing inefficiencies-- McKissic, who just doesn't have the frame to be the workhorse, Carson, who went out for season with a bad leg injury and Mike Davis, who promptly hurt his groin after getting his shot.
• We have a kicking problem.  Wouldn't it be great if Blair Walsh made the kick that sends this team to the Super Bowl?  That'd be a wonderful redemption story.  Unfortunately, what's more likely is that he misses the kick that ends our season.  We're blessed with a quarterback that will always keep us in games, but sometimes that means getting the team in position for a game winning/tying field goal.  If Walsh hits it-- he'll be a hero.  If he misses it, we'll be second guessing every personnel decision that is made this offseason, which could quite possibly lead to a breaking up of the band when it comes to the team's core group of players.
  
  
• The defense can hang.  Look-- with Chancellor, Sherman, Griffin, Avril and so many other key personnel out or otherwise banged up-- you're not going to see the pure, shutdown defensive performances we've all been spoiled with the past few seasons. That should be expected.  But as we've seen the past two games, these backups are no slouches. We saw some of the young bucks like Branden Jackson and Marcus Smith get home for sacks against the 49ers.  We'll need more of the youngsters to step up down the stretch.  If history is any indicator, we should expect this to continue. Pete Carroll's teams have always sprinkled in youth early in seasons to prepare them for a more expansive role as the season progresses.  We've seen tremendous results in the past with this process.
  

• If you're getting paid, earn your keep.  This is not an indictment of any of these guys, but December is where you need to earn your paycheck.  Wilson, Thomas, Graham, Brown, Britt, Baldwin, Wright, Wagner and Bennett need to play like the players we know they are. I would include Lacy in that list, but to paraphrase Denny Green-- he is who we think he is.

San Francisco certainly appears to be heading in the right direction.  Their rebuild will continue for another season or two, but I expect this rivalry to heat up like it used to be. Kyle Shanahan isn't nearly as annoying as Harbaugh, but it could still return to being a preeminent rivalry in the NFL.

Seattle will need to win, at minimum, three of these next five games if they have any hopes of a post season birth.  It's still entirely possible that they could win the NFC West by beating the Rams and closing the gap in their records. Either way, the path to the Super Bowl will more than likely be a road trip for the Seahawks.  They will need to start making their case for respect by taking care of the Eagles next week. 

Finding Ways To Lose-- Seahawks 31 Falcons 34

The reigning NFC Champions came in to Seattle for a prime time Monday Night showdown with major playoff implications on the line. Seattle was banged up and without two of their best defensive players, but the 12s had their back.  This game had all of the trappings for a great match up-- and if you didn't have a dog in the fight, it was a great one.

For Seahawks fans, it was rough.

The Falcons began the game by marching right down the field for a touchdown.  On the subsequent drive, Russell threw an absurd interception to local kid, Desmond Trufant.  Before you knew it, the Falcons were up two scores and things looked awfully bleak.

Wilson kept his team in the game throughout by making remarkable plays with his arm as well as his feet. This team will never be out of a game with #3 at the helm.  Additionally, I think we can say with confidence that this team has three legit receivers in Baldwin, Lockett and Richardson. Jimmy Graham might be the least physically dominant player in the NFL, but he's an athletic, rangy receiver who has evolved into a fantastic weapon for this team.

It's been disappointing how little production we've seen from rookie Amara Darboh. There hasn't been any evidence of marked improvement from him this season.  Tanner McEvoy, outside of a few special teams plays, has largely faded into obscurity.  This season, perhaps more than any other, we'll need to see the Seahawks receivers step up to make plays and win games. A specialty of former Seahawk Jermaine Kearse, someone will have to replace his production in big spots.

I had been screaming for Mike Davis to get called up for weeks.  He was off to a tremendous start in his first game as a Seahawk, only to hurt his groin and exit the game.  Unless Seattle is confident he will be able to return Sunday, they need to bring in some free agent running backs this week. McKissic has been pretty good and fun to watch, but we can't keep running him into the wall.  Similarly, I've had just about as much as I can stomach from Eddie Lacey.

I love trick plays.  I will typically defend all matters of unconventional play calling. The Seahawks ran a fake field goal wherein Jon Ryan flipped the ball to Luke Willson coming across the line.  Willson was devoured, almost immediately, by the Falcon's nose guard.

It was a stupid, stupid call.  Not because we were in field goal range. Not because we happened to lose by 3 points.  It was stupid because the Seahawks were out of time outs, it was 4th down and there were only 7 seconds off the clock. I might have been more supportive of the call had McKissic been the ball carrier, or if any of the circumstances were different, but I don't think there was any universe in which Luke runs by everyone for the score.

Seattle was already down its two best defensive backs going into this game. Just moments into the game, they lost their other starting corner, rookie Shaq Griffin.  The Seahawks played almost the entire game with a cornerback that joined them just days ago, and a corner they tried to trade away not two weeks ago. I thought both played admirably and gave their best effort.

You can chalk this loss up to coaching.  You can blame injuries. You can lay it on special teams.  You can call for Blair Walsh's head.  All of those things factored in to the loss, but far and away the biggest contributing factor to the Seahawks coming up short was excruciating penalties.

Sure, Wilson threw a stupid pick early that resulted in points and took a strip sack that was taken in for a touchdown.  But he brought you back and put you in position to take the game to overtime.  Yeah, the defense was banged up, but they largely kept the reigning MVP in check and made an important stop that set you up for a potential game winning/tying drive.

The team and coaches made mistakes, but for the most part, they overcame those mistakes.  But you cannot give up 100 yards in penalties every game and expect to win.

So, now the Seahawks find themselves on the outside looking in on the playoff picture.  They have to all but win out in hopes of getting a 1 or 2 seed, and that seems daunting with match ups against the Rams, Eagles, Cowboys and Jaguars ahead. Even a Wildcard birth might not be enough with the way this team has struggled on the road.

What can the Seahawks do to get right down the stretch?  Well, I think it starts with the offensive side of the ball.  I would like to see some free agent running backs brought in this week, especially if Davis can't go.  I think you have to bench Germaine Ifedi.  Even if it doesn't make you better right away, its the only way he'll ever learn to stop making stupid penalties. 

I'd love to see the line on Sunday go Brown, Pocic, Britt, Glowinski, Joeckel.  Bench, or better yet, cut Lacey.  Start passing to set up the run.  Bevell's play-calling has been its best these past couple games. 

Defensively, you gotta hope Shead can come back soon.  If not, let's see someone else take over for Lane. Neiko Thorpe has earned an opportunity or bring in competition from the street.  Dion Jordan had been great the past two games, but he'll need to take on much more of a role down the stretch to help the depleted secondary.

Above all else, this team has to execute better.  Front office, coaching staff and all the way down.  You can afford to be aggressive and make a few mistakes when you're at your best. This team is far from it's best. 

Good Enough? -- Seahawks 22 @ Cardinals 16

I can't remember the last time I felt this bad in the aftermath of a Seahawks victory.

They were able to win a road game against a bothersome divisional opponent.  Blair Walsh evidently snapped out of the curse that plagued him the week before.  Jimmy Graham and Russell Wilson seemed to have overcome their redzone deficiencies.

Those were the positives.  Few and far between.

The worst news of the night didn't even wait for the game clock to expire before breaking.  Richard Sherman went down in pain with what was initially called a heel injury, however, sideline cameras were able to capture Sherman mouthing the words "I tore my Achilles" and in another intimate conversation with quarterback, Russell Wilson, it certainly looked like he said "I'm done for the year".

Make no mistake-- this is devastating news.

Richard Sherman is, without question, the best cornerback I've ever seen. I've seen the greats-- Deion Sanders, Darrell Green, Champ Bailey, Eric Allen, Darrell Revis, Ty Law, Rod Woodson, etc. I have seen some great cornerbacks in my nearly three decades of football fandom. None of them are nearly as complete as Sherman.

There have been a lot of playmaking corners in that time, but none of them could (or would) tackle like Sherm.  There have been great tackling, run-stopping corners-- none of them were flatly avoided by opposing QBs.  Richard Sherman has been a shutdown corner, a fierce tackler, a community leader and one of the guiding voices in the Seahawks locker room

And he hasn't missed a game in his career-- until next Monday when the Seahawks take on the Falcons.

It's a devastating blow to an already decimated Seahawks defense. It was strange and unsettling when, at one point late in the 4th quarter, the Seahawks were completely without the Legion of Boom.

But the defense is far from this team's greatest concern.

This offensive line is horrible.  But that's nothing new to the Pete Carroll-led Seahawks, right? What is different with this year's group is that they haven't shown a lick of progression from game to game this year.

Every game starts the same-- failed running plays, 3 and outs, Russell Wilson running for his dear life.  The defense is forced to shoulder the load and Wilson is forced to exhaust the defense and make miraculous plays that, more often than not, give the Seahawks an opportunity to win in the closing moments of a game.

Week in week out. Things change, but they never get better.

We've always given Tom Cable a pass, as I wrote last week.  He won us a Super Bowl with guys like Breno Giacomini and Paul McQuistan on the offensive line.  Slow starts were quickly forgiven because the offense always seemed to begin to gel about halfway into the season before gaining momentum heading into the playoffs.

However, since that Super Bowl run, the team has clearly made more resources available to Cable and his offensive line.  They went out and got free agents that Cable most assuredly had a hand in bringing here.  Luke Joeckel, Oday Aboushi, Duane Brown, Matt Tobin, Isaiah Battle on the offensive line and Eddie Lacy in the backfield. 

They've also used a number of their high draft selections on linemen. Germain Ifedi, Ethan Pocic and Justin Britt were all taken within the first 64 picks in their respective drafts. 

With all of that commitment to the offensive line and running game, the Seahawks find themselves somehow worse for the wear. You could make the argument that Seattle seemingly doesn't excel at identifying offensive talent, but you'd be wrong.

That argument is immediately dismantled when you see that the tenth best running back in the NFL right now is Seahawks castoff, Alex Collins. 

I don't think Collins registered a single, double-digit run in his tenure with the Seahawks.  He was clearly the odd man out in a seemingly crowded Seattle backfield. Yet, he gets scooped up by the Ravens, who themselves are struggling and riddled with injury, and has a career resurgence.

Did the Seahawks merely underestimate Collins' ability? Unlikely.   Every week, the Seahawks offensive line makes their opponent's defensive front look like world-beaters.  Even if that's not at all the case.

So, where is the disconnect?  It can't be entirely linked to the absence of Marshawn Lynch.  That excuse may have worked last season, but they have now had two complete off seasons to address Lynch's departure.  Somehow, their efficiency is even worse in the second year after Lynch.

Tom Cable isn't doing his job.  Period.

It's one thing to have a talent deficit. That happens sometimes.  Guys retire, salary caps force roster moves and sometimes you simply strike out in the draft. 

Sometimes you have your salary cap resources allocated to other areas of the roster that force your hand.  In those instances, you have to play the hand you've been dealt.

There are even times when a rash of injuries spoil your plans.  There's nothing you can really do about that. That's where the 'next man up' philosophy comes from.

Even in those extreme situations, your job as a coach is to get the best out of the group of guys you have. Coach them up and help them get better week to week.

Cable has not done that at all this season.

Darrell Bevel has made adjustments, in games and throughout the season, that have helped this team win games and stay competitive each week. That hasn't always been the case in previous seasons, but he's been outstanding this year when it comes to doing the best with what he has.

Even the penalties are different from previous seasons.  I could live with the nasty, personal foul penalties we'd see from Giacomini and James Carpenter, but these false starts and holding calls are killing this team.  The bottom line is that this team will not win a playoff game if they can't sustain drives with the run.

I don't know enough about coaching or offensive line play to discern whether these struggles can be attributed to the complexity of Tom Cable's system or not, but I've watched enough football this season alone to see that this is far from a league-wide problem.

Even the teams that go up against the Seahawks phenomenal defense seem to start strong, regardless of injuries or personnel.  The Seahawks line starts bad and finishes just as poorly.  Bevell adjusts the play calling, they abandon the run and leave it all on Russell Wilson to scramble wildly and make plays. Everyone else on the team makes adjustments and, more often than not, gets better as the game goes on.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I don't know who else should be responsible for the embarrassing shortcomings of the offensive line if not the man whose job it is to manage that group.

Outplayed, Outcoached, Outclassed -- Seahawks 14 Washington 17

This was far and away Seattle's worst performance of the season.  It's arguably the most undisciplined and dysfunctional performance of the Pete Carroll era.  When you have a mediocre opponent like Washington that was as banged up as they were-- you must find a way to get the victory.

The Seahawks did exactly the opposite of that.  They went above and beyond to find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. With the lone exception of Niko Thorpe, the Seahawks special teams unit played like garbage. Jon Ryan didn't provide much in the field position battle and Blair Walsh choked on all three of his field goal attempts in the game. Add to that not one, but two missed 2-point conversion attempts and you have to wonder if Washington beat Seattle or did they simply beat themselves.

Russell Wilson had a bad game but not for lack of trying. He was just shy of 300 yards passing with a pair of touchdowns and 77 yards on the ground.

However, Wilson had two costly interceptions and the game-ending hailmary looked to me like it was picked off as well. Still, in spite of a lackluster performance, Russell Wilson is clearly not the problem with this offense.


It's high time we start laying more of the blame at the feet of this team's assistant head coach-- Tom Cable.

Coach Cable seems to evade criticism largely due to his reputation as a future head coach. To his credit, the run game has consistently ranked among the best in the league in his tenure here in Seattle, but has sharply declined since Marshawn Lynch left the team. He has seemed to coach up and make due with scrapheap guys-- but perhaps that was more to Lynch's credit than his own.

In today's game, Seattle came out with their newly aquired, All-Pro left tackle, Duane Brown.  Next to him at left guard was a second-round rookie, Ethan Pocic.  At center, we have another second-round draft pick and last year's Pro Bowl alternate, Justin Britt. The Seahawks signed free agent, Oday Aboushi, in the offseason and now he's your starting right guard. Starting at right tackle, you have second-year player and former first-round draft selection- Germain Ifedi.

That is a lot of  valuable resources provided to that group.  You can't begin to tell me that this team is neglecting it's offensive line.

Couple with that the fact that you came out publicly earlier in the week and expressed a profound commitment to feeding the ball to Eddie Lacy.  Lacy-- the same player you paid five and a half million dollars this offseason to take the lion's share of the touches for your offense.

You got your guys, you got home field advantage and you got an opponent that is without one of it's starting defensive ends. Take your quarterback out of the equation and your rushing offense only got you 71 yards today.

That is not acceptable if this team has any notions on predicating themselves as a running team.

So why haven't more fingers been pointed in Cable's direction when it comes to this team's offensive bouts of ineptitude? Darrell Bevell has taken a beating from the media and the fanbase-- and most certainly from me.  Still, Tom Cable is celebrated as an offensive mastermind.

I'll admit, I am guilty of overlooking Cable's shortcomings this season-- and maybe that is because of his past accomplishments. Now we have to get ready to play the Cardinals on a short week Thursday as we've given first place in the division to the Rams.  The Seahawks need to figure themselves out and do it quickly.

Cable definitely needs to be called out on 'Tell the Truth Monday', but he's definitely not the only one.  Since Chris Carson went down, Seattle only has one person on the team that hits the hole running full speed.  Sadly, he's not on the 53-man roster at present.  No, Mike Davis is still on the practice squad while every Sunday we act surprised to find CJ Prosise, once again, inactive.

Maybe it's time the Seahawks took a cue from the Colts and just admit that Prosise, like Andrew Luck, evidently needs the whole year to get his body right to play football.

McKissic is the most effective back on the team, but he can't take the full workload.  Meanwhile, Prosise occupies an extremely valuable roster spot that could be used by Davis to solidify our abysmal rushing attack.

Seattle is heading into a tough stretch of games in which they'll need to execute better in hopes of reclaiming the division lead.

Shootout in Seattle-- Seahawks 41 Texans 38

What a remarkable game.

It was back and forth.  I was confident we'd win and I was certain we had blown it.  It was an emotional roller coaster where we saw Seattle's best players step up when we needed them most.

Russell Wilson made his case for MVP today. Wilson finished with 4 touchdowns for over 450 yards but threw a lone interception that appeared to have sealed the victory for Houston in the final moments of the game. Seattle's defense held on as Richard Sherman made his second interception of the game to put the nail in the Texans' coffin.

I have to give credit where it's due-- and it's due in a lot of places where we typically dish out harsh criticism after the game.  Coach Bevell called a great game.  Blair Walsh had me like-- "Hauschka who?" The offensive line played perhaps its best game against a beastly Texans front.  Don't let the failures of the running backs fool you.

'O Quah Tangin Wann' -- Riley Martin

Wilson broke the franchise's single-game passing record in today's victory.  I'd love to see the Seahawks adjust their playbook to look more like the Saints back when they had Graham.  Russell can sling it, we have a lot of shifty pass catchers and the best running back that is currently on the roster is JD McKissic-- a speedy playmaker that is best served getting the ball in space.

While I don't expect Seattle to overhaul their gameplan in the middle of the season, I do expect them to continue trimming and tailoring their playbook to accommodate their strengths.

I thought Rees Odhiambo played well considering his assignment.  Jadeveon Clowney is a phenomenally gifted athlete that has terrorized opposing quarterbacks when healthy.  He got the better of Rees a couple of times, but Rees had is number on a few critical plays.

The run game has become a problem.  Thomas Rawls seems to be in his own head while Eddie Lacey is just too goddamned slow to account for our run blocking deficiencies. McKissic is clearly the best option, but can't handle more than 10 carries between the tackles in a given game.

I think it's time to put CJ Prosise on IR and give Mike Davis a call up from the practice squad.  Like the old NFL adage goes, the best thing you can be in football is available-- and Prosise has been all but completely unavailable.

Now the Seahawks find themselves with a slim lead in their division and will host a banged up Washington team next week.  This team is poised to hit their stride right when they usually do-- the cold months of November and December running into the playoffs.

Making Due with What You Have-- Seahawks 24 @ Giants 7

The Seahawks featured 4 different running backs on their first 4 plays of the game.  While it is nerve-wracking and aggravating that we find ourselves 7 weeks into the season with no idea who this team's leading back might be-- I love that they seem to be going with a committee moving forward.

CJ Prosise managed to once again hurt himself on his first play back.  At this point, I'm ready to shut him down for the season and call up Mike Davis from the practice squad.  Sadly, that's not my decision to make, so we will likely spend the next few weeks hearing Pete Carroll tell us how close Procise is.

Neither Rawls, Lacey or McKissic have come close to matching the consistency we were getting out of Chris Carson, but each of those backs have their own special skill set that could work well together when used as a committee.  

I have been surprisingly pleased with coach Bevell and the offensive play calling the past couple of games.  It usually isn't until late November and on into December before this team comes to grips with their identity and begins to click together. 

That's not to say the offense hasn't continued to struggle.  Seahawks receivers were dropping passes like they came straight from the oven.  Particularly Jimmy Graham, who inexplicably choked two potential scoring plays away in the game.

The offensive line had arguably their best performance of the season against a tough Giants defense on the road.  Unfortunately, Justin Britt may have sustained an injury that might linger through the year.  There were two scoops of good news that came from his injury-- he was able to return to the game and rookie utility lineman Ethan Pocic was able to get some experience at both guard and center in the game. 

I have a strong feeling Russell Wilson is going to quietly work his way into the MVP discussion by the end of the year.  He's thrown 11 touchdowns to 3 interceptions so far this season and seems to be getting hotter by the week.  

He owes a great deal of credit for his success to Doug Baldwin, who has been extraordinary this season.  He's been the team's most reliable playmaker, Wilson's security blanket and a quiet leader on and off the field.  Baldwin will probably never get the credit he deserves, but if this team can earn another championship while he's here-- it could be difficult to exclude him from the halls of Canton.

Still, this team is predicated on defense.  A remarkable defense that impresses so often, it becomes ordinary.  Bobby Wagner, Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Jaran Reed were outstanding on Sunday.  Then again, so was KJ Wright, Justin Coleman, Shaq Griffin and more.  It's insane how great this defense is and how they've been able to sustain greatness so long.

The Seahawks have the Texans coming to town with a red hot rookie QB of their own. There has been considerable talk about the Seahawks doing a trade with Houston to acquire their left tackle, Duane Brown, who had been holding out all season.  The belief is that Seattle would be willing to part with Jeremy Lane, given their depth in the defensive backfield with the emergence of Griffin and Coleman along with the eventual return of DeShawn Shead from injury. 

Brown ended his holdout on Tuesday and could potentially start his first game of the season against the Seahawks this week. I'm glad the deal didn't go through, because Brown only has 2 years left on his deal at almost $10 million per season.  He might be a 3 time Pro Bowler, but Seattle can't allocate that much cap space to him with so many contracts coming up at the end of this season.

Byron Maxwell was recently released, so I would not be surprised at all if Seattle does find a trade partner for Jeremy Lane that brings back an offensive or defensive lineman.  Dwight Freeny was brought in for a physical as a potential pass rush rotatory. Halloween is the trade deadline-- hopefully something ghoulish transpires between now and then. 

Resilience in LA-- Seahawks 16 @ Rams 10

The Rams came into this game as the #1 rated offense, coming off a big win against the Cowboys in Dallas.  New coach Sean McVay seems to have his team poised to be a factor in the NFC this year. Despite the new coach, one thing that never changes about this rivalry is the physicality-- and this game was no different.

Earl Thomas had a remarkable performance that may single-handedly have punched his ticket to Canton. After the Rams ran at-will in the opening drive, Todd Gurley was once again denied via the Earl Thomas karate chop.

Seattle tried some trickery early-- a lateral to Tanner McEvoy that was bombed out to JD McKissic.  I loved everything about it, except that it didn't work. I hope this doesn't deter coach Bevell from drawing from that well again.  I think that's a play that catches defenses off guard more often than not.  The Rams defensive back made an outstanding play on the ball.

The Rams got the ball back and displayed why their offense is so highly touted. Jared Goff is markedly improved from last season.  He seems much more confident than his rookie campaign, but that could be due to the offensive additions provided to him this offseason. Gurley seems to be having a bounce back from his sophomore slump, but it was a carry from Tavon Austin that put the Rams on the board first.

Fortunately, Austin gave the ball right back to the Seahawks on a muffed punt.

In spite of the great field position, Seattle couldn't score.  Wilson threw an ill-advised pass that was damn near pick-sixed, if not for the speed of Wilson and McKissic to chase the defensive back down. The defense held the Rams to a field goal, but the Seahawks found themselves down 10 on the road.

The Seahawks had some fight in them for this one.

Russell and Jimmy rekindled their chemistry, connecting on the teams only touchdown of the day.  The offense adapted to what the Rams were giving them and managed to have a decent day against a really good defense. 

The Seahawks defense were the stars of this game.  Earl Thomas had a clutch interception to go with his touchdown-saving chop.  Sheldon Richardson had an outstanding game, notching an interception and recovering Frank Clark's strip sack of Goff and rumbling 20 yards up-field with it.

I always complain when the schedule comes out and I find the Seahawks with an early Bye Week, but more often than not, it seems to help the team get right in the second half of the season. This year is no different in that regard. 

Luke Joeckel is having a knee procedure, Baldwin and Sherman have been banged up-- and I'm not entirely convinced Russell hasn't been a little less that 100% healthy.  The team comes out of this bye with a relatively soft landing against a hapless Giants group that might have a worse offensive line than we do.

Getting in the Groove-- Seahawks 46 Colts 18

Despite a slow start, the Seahawks managed to overcome adversity and seemed to find themselves in the process. There are few teams as downtrodden as the Indianapolis Colts, giving this game all of the trappings for a Seahawks field day, but the Colts did not intend to be the Seahawks punching bag.

Seattle drew first blood with a field goal, but gave back two points when Russell Wilson held the ball too long and surrendered a safety. Justin Coleman came up with a pick six and gave the lead back to the Seahawks, but Jacoby Brissett marched the Colts right back down the field and Robert Turbin punched in a touchdown.

Russell Wilson had a pair of interceptions, both on passes to Jimmy Graham.  It could easily be argued that both picks were more Graham's fault than Wilson's-- but Russell has shown bouts of inaccuracy this year and I worry that it might stem from a lack of trust with his linemen.

My mouth was agape in dismay when the whistle blew for halftime and the scoreboard had the hometown Seahawks trailing by a five spot.  Jacoby Brissett was in the Patriots' quarterback meetings just two weeks prior. The Colts main running backs are a former Seahawk castoff and graybeard Frank Gore. What is going on here?

The second half of this game was vastly different. Seattle's defense gave up just 3 points in the second half and the Colts looked more like the team-in-flux that they are.

Wilson got his act together with an electric 23-yard touchdown scamper. He started to sling the ball around and make plays with his feet and it paid off big.  Wilson finished with 295 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Unfortunately, the Seahawks starting running back is now lost for the season.

Chris Carson suffered an apparent broken leg late in the game that most likely put an end to what has been a tremendous rookie campaign.  Carson had been the only member of the Seahawks backfield that was reliably consistent.

It looks like it will now fall to either Thomas Rawls or Eddie Lacy to run the ball on early downs.

On the bright side, JD McKissic had breakout performance.  We had been hearing hype for a long time now about what a terrific playmaker this kid is-- well, put to rest any doubt about McKissic. He show's a unique versatility that leads me to think that the Seahawks could use him like Kansas City does with Tyreek Hill.

McKissic's debut was stellar, but that doesn't mean we've filled to hole left by Carson's injury. JD simply doesn't have the frame to sustain him running between the tackles 20 times a game.  He's going to be a guy we want to get out in space.

The offense showed signs of life, although it came against an unimpressive opponent. I'm going to focus on the improvements we saw, particularly in-game.  This team always starts slow.  We need to look for progress being made week-to-week and I believe we did.

Waiting for the Cue to Panic-- Seahawks 27 @ Titans 33

What a bizarre game.  It was almost as if all of our strengths became our weaknesses and our weaknesses became our strengths. Seattle both played really well and uncharacteristically poorly throughout this game.

The Titans played like the young, talented & hungry team we were told they are.  They played to their strengths and made minor adjustments as the game went on.  If only the Seahawks would do this-- they might be 3-0 today.

Instead, Seattle looks like a team with a major identity crisis.

They want to be a run-first team, but the current personnel simply does not allow for that.  They seem to want to win every game 3-0 on the strength of their defense-- but that's simply not sustainable over the course of 16 regular season games and the playoffs.

It's not that the Seahawks lack for talent, that couldn't be further from the truth. It's just that the talent on their roster is not conducive to the identity they seem determined to uphold.

The defense started the game spectacularly but slowly fell apart as the game progressed, partially due to 100 degree temperatures with 97% humidity, but perhaps also due to how much they were on the field the previous two games. Conversely, the offense started the game flat but got rolling midway through, too little too late.

I want to give some credit to Darrell Bevell for the adjustments he made in game.  It took him long enough, but he finally started calling plays that keyed in on the offenses strengths. Most people credit the uptempo pace of the offense for these bouts of success, but I don't think that's the contributing factor.

When they play uptempo, they tend to be in 4 wide sets.  I feel like this opens up the field, which really helps the struggling offensive line and buys time for Russell Wilson. The offensive line played much better today and some of that can be attributed to these formations.

It's not time to panic, I get that.  We're not even through the first quarter of the season yet. However we're well beyond the time to face the hard facts that we are talent deficient across the offensive line. It is extremely unlikely that will change in this season.  It's insane to not accept that at this point considering it's been an issue for for the better part of three seasons now.

We have to spread out and throw the ball to open up the run game.  The run game needs to include Wilson, Chris Carson, CJ Prosise and even Thomas Rawls.  At this point, I might consider trying to covert Eddie Lacy into a fullback.

I still believe that the defense will be and needs to be the cornerstone of this team-- but you can't expect them to do EVERYTHING.  Especially not when you're paying your quarterback a small fortune.  If this team can avoid waiting until halftime to make the adjustments that play in to their strengths, there will be considerably less pressure put on their defense.

Ugly Football-- Seahawks 12 49ers 9

The Seahawks won their home opener against San Francisco on Sunday, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.  I didn't want to write about it until I had sat with it a while.

Monday morning I still wasn't ready to dissect the game-- so I opted to listen to Howard Stern over Brock and Salk.

Around mid day, I was ready to break it down, so I queued up the Brock and Salk podcast. It didn't take long for Mike Salk to piss me off.

I like Salk.  We share a great deal of similarities.  Like me, his only real experience in playing the game was brief and didn't make it beyond the high school competitive level, but he applies logic to his years of being a die-hard sports fan to come up with terrific analysis with a fresh viewpoint from what you typically get from former players as talking heads.

Unlike myself, Salk is an avid contrarian.  He often takes the less favorable position, most likely as an effort to fabricate 'great radio'. That desired effect never works on me.

Salk is at his best when he firmly believes in the side he's taking.  Only when he has examined a situation from every angle and taken into consideration the comments from the opposition does he formulate his stance on a subject.  He's much smarter than I am and far more articulate.  When he's right, no one drives the point home quite like he can.

For some reason, perhaps in anticipation of the flood of calls and texts he would inevitably receive on the show that day about how abysmal the Seahawks offense looked, he decided to spice things up by trying to convince the nation of 12s (or twelfths, as Sam Rosen continually used to reference our fans on the game broadcast) that what we all witnessed on Sunday was pure brilliance.

He started the show by professing his love for 'Ugly Football'.  Now, in my book, ugly football is when two teams, often in inclement weather, are so well-matched that it's difficult for either team to get an advantage.  Big plays are few and far between and a lot of good defense is being played.  That was not at all what we saw on Sunday.

He went all-in on his contrarian stance by suggesting that Russell Wilson's performance earned the grade of a B+.  Brock Huard seemed privy to what Salk was trying to do and did his best to make a lane for Salk's madness.  Huard tried his damnedest not to challenge these absurd ideas from Salk, but couldn't bring himself to agree with any of the nonsense.

I'd love to be mad at Salk, but I know he's too bright to actually believe any of the comments he made yesterday.  His argument hinged on the fact that the defense was stout and that Russell Wilson was able to lead the team on a successful, game-winning drive in the fourth.  While both valid points, Salk was forced to severely oversell those points in order to ultimately tie them into his argument.

The defense played really well.  As they should-- they're responsible for the bulk of this team's salary cap.  They were also at home, which would give any team at least a 3 point advantage, but has been more of a 7 point advantage in Seattle.  They were playing a bad team with a new coach, new system and the most rookies of any NFL roster.

When you consider all of that, which I think you must-- the defense played good, not great.

They flashed a stat graphic earlier in the game that showed that only 4 running backs have had 100 yard games against the Seahawks at home since 2012 (I believe).  Not only was Carlos Hyde one of those four, but he did it again in that game.  That's unacceptable to me. Not when you have the defensive talent of the Seahawks and you know full well that Brian Hoyer isn't going to beat anyone with his arm.

As for the offense, we did have some bright spots but let's not act like this performance assured us a spot in the NFC title game.  The offensive line took a small step forward.  Considering that the 49ers front seven is their greatest group-- that's worth celebrating.  Our line still has a very long way to go before they even reach the middle of the pack, but seeing any progress at this point is reassuring.

It also appears as though this team has found it's number one back in Chris Carson.  Eddie Lacey was a healthy scratch from the lineup, Thomas Rawls was a non-factor in his return from injury, and CJ Prosise failed miserably as a pass-catching, 3rd down back.  In a perfect scenario, the offensive line will continue to grow together and Carson's success will motivate the other backs to make the best of their opportunities.

Wilson did not have a good game-- but that is no reason to panic.  Brock put it best when defending his C grade on Wilson's performance by calling it 'uncharacteristic'.  He wasn't himself with regard to accuracy, but his receivers certainly deserve some blame for their drops.

A win is a win, I suppose.  It certainly could have been a lot worse. Still, this is a team with Super Bowl aspirations and a performance like what we saw on Sunday is not acceptable for a championship team.  For Salk to suggest otherwise is not only disingenuous, but borders on offensive to anyone that considers themselves a fan of the Seahawks and the Brock and Salk show.

Good teams will be criticized.  Great teams can handle the criticism.  We have every right to expect more from this team.  We should also expect that they will sort these issues out at some point in the season-- or at the very least, find a workaround for their problems.  They've done it for the past 5 seasons and this season should be know different.

However, we should all know by now that every game counts and we cannot afford to lose winnable games. Too many off seasons had us saying "If only they would've won that game earlier in the season, they might have had home field advantage in the playoffs."

There will be learning curves throughout the season, but this team needs to maintain a championship pace.  The next four opponents-- Titans, Colts, Rams and Giants -- are one of the softer pockets in the Seahawks schedule.  3-1 would qualify as 'championship pace' during that stretch that includes a division road game and two long trips to the Big Apple and Music City.  Anything less than that will put tremendous pressure on the second half of the season that includes match ups with the defending NFC Champs and playoff contenders like the Cowboys and Eagles.

It's crucial for Seattle to come away with a win next week in Tennessee.  A loss here would put this team on its heels and put an awful lot of pressure on the development of some of this team's less experienced players.  We need to once again rely on the strength of the defensive unit while asking our high-priced, veteran offensive players to take it upon themselves to put this game away early.

Dreadful Debut-- Seahawks 9 @ Packers 17

I woke up this morning fired up for Seahawks football.

A fresh new season filled with equal parts hype and promise.  Coming off of an undefeated preseason, restocked with talent and just about everybody healthy-- what's not to be excited about?

That was this morning. A lifetime ago. Now, it's about a quarter after 5 o'clock pacific time and I am absolutely fuming.

How could so much have changed in so little time?

The defense lived up to the almost unrealistic expectations that were put upon them.  Rookie Nazair Jones made a spectacular pick six that was called back on a pair of ludicrously inaccurate penalties called against the Seahawks defense during the return.  The aftermath lead to Jeremy Lane getting ejected from the game for throwing a punch that all of the broadcasting equipment failed to capture.

Shaq Griffin played admirably in Lane's place and the defense held Rogers scoreless for the rest of the first half, sacking him four times along the way.

However, just like last year, the astonishing display of offensive incompetence left them exhausted and unable to secure the victory against one of the best players in the league, in one of the most hostile road environments there are. That is a recipe for failure.

The offense was flat out putrid.  Embarrassing.  Painful to watch.

If I were Pete Carroll, I would insist that the offensive players buy dinner for the defensive staff every day next week.  They cost their team the win and jeopardized the health of the defensive players by subjecting them to almost double the amount of time on field as the Seahawks offense.

It was a game rife with missed opportunities. Russell Wilson missed on a few big throws that should have resulted in points, if not at least first and goal opportunities. Tyler Lockett looks to be at full health, but not yet on the same page with his quarterback. Jimmy Graham was off his game, as well-- though the officials certainly didn't do him any favors.

The Packers have to be feeling great right now. Not just because they won a hard fought competition against a perennial playoff team in the Seahawks-- they have to be rejoicing in the fact that they didn't make the grievous error of resigning Eddie Lacy.

The Seahawks signed Lacy to a one year, $5.5 million contract in the offseason while the Packers figured they were better off using a converted receiver to spearhead their run game. That former wide out, Ty Montgomery, had 39 yards receiving and 54 rushing yards with a touchdown. Lacy's 3 yards on 5 carries wouldn't even run him out of my living room.

Chris Carson is irrefutably the best running back on this team.  CJ Prosise has big-play ability, for sure, but lacks the consistency necessary to be a sustainable, full-time back. Carson runs with authority and is shifty enough to make defenders miss.  Lacy just doesn't have the explosiveness needed to compensate for the complete lack of run blocking from the offensive line.

I thought Germain Ifedi played pretty well.  The offensive highlights were few and far between, but there were flashes of promise.  Check out this play where Russell connects with Paul Richardson for 28 yards.  It was one of Seattle's biggest offensive plays of the day.

Go back and watch it closely, singling out a different offensive lineman with each viewing.  Justin Britt and Ifedi were the only linemen that executed their blocks.  Luke Joeckel, Rees Odhiambo and Mark Glowinski were merely turnstiles, only a minor inconvenience for Green Bay's pass rush.

The play was successful for two simple reasons: Russell got the ball out of his hand quickly and Paul Richardson is a tremendous athlete.

That is why I am infuriated.

Darrell Bevell's play calling is mind boggling to me. He seems to deliberately play to the offenses weaknesses.  It's almost as if he scripts the play calls for the entire game in advance, then refuses to deviate from it regardless of circumstance.

The argument could be made that we did not see enough of the starters, on both sides of the ball, in the exhibition games this preseason. The defense fought through dehydration and cramping that was suggestively brought on by the 'zero-to-sixty' intensity jump from limited preseason work to today's battle.

The offense looked totally out of sorts.  It's almost as if the coaches had their minds made up on some of those guys before we saw them truly battle tested. Tre Madden was a liability at fullback and the offensive line actually regressed from last season.

Chris Carson has to be the starting running back for next week's home opener against San Francisco--I can't stress that enough. If there is any credibility in the 'Always Compete' mantra, you have to give the guy the job. Sprinkle in some Prosise and even Lacy, but give Carson to bulk of the load.

I'm a firm believer in teams benefiting from early-season adversity.  The Seahawks get a soft landing at home next week and will undoubtedly bounce back, but we can ill-afford another season where the Seahawks take too long in the season to find themselves. We know we have a mobile quarterback with a great arm.  We have a litany of speedy, athletic, offensive playmakers to distribute the ball to.

Play uptempo, spread out the offense and wear the opposing defenses out while relying on the league's best defense to close out the game with the lead.

Ready for the Real Thing-- Seahawks 17 @ Raiders 13

Generally speaking, the final preseason game is pretty meaningless and insignificant. Traditionally, teams rest most of their starters in preparation for the season opener and this game was used to determine which of the 75 remaining players would make the 53 man roster.

This year was different.

Instead of incrementally cutting the rosters from 90 down to 75 after the penultimate preseason game, rules were changed that eliminated that initial cut.  This gave teams an extra preseason game to evaluate an additional 15 players that otherwise would've been cut before deciding the 53 men that would represent the team in the coming season.

For those who suggest that the preseason is meaningless-- this changed everything.

Granted, my eyes are trained precisely on the happenings of our beloved Seahawks and not so much elsewhere in the league.  From what we all saw, we can definitively say that this rule change was an improvement. Certainly in the Seahawks case.

What we saw in Oakland clearly wasn't the polished product the NFL was known for, but there was no question that this game was significant in how the Seahawks roster cuts ended up shaking out.

Ultimately, it was a story of two quarterbacks vying to be the backup to Russell Wilson.  There were
some less obvious battles in both the running back and receiving areas of the depth chart, but the most evident competition was between Trevone Boykin and Austin Davis.

The Seahawks wanted Boykin to win the job, but they weren't going to give it to him.  He had to take it from Davis.  Boykin fits the mold of Russell Wilson-- an undersized, yet tremendously athletic scrambler with a knack for making plays out of thin air. Unlike Wilson, Boykin doesn't have it all between the ears and doesn't have the same dedication in film study.

Davis, on the other hand, is the quintessential 'game manager' teams seek out to be their back up. Should the starter miss a handful of games, the hope is he'll win you half of them, but he won't necessarily lose the game.  They'll shy away from attempting the big play in favor of ball security.

This game essentially spelled out what both quarterback's collective bodies of work have already told us-- Boykin is erratic and often reckless with the ball, but can occasionally strike gold with improvisation while Davis is merely the safest bet.

That's precisely how it went down.  Boykin threw a pair of costly picks while Davis slowly and cautiously led the team on the game winning drive. Davis earned the backup job and Boykin went unclaimed through waivers and found himself back on the Seahawks practice squad.  The hope is, he will continue to develop his skills within the team's system and eventually get his job as the backup back.

Solid Dress Rehearsal-- Seahawks 26 Chiefs 13

The regular season is so close-- you can taste it.

The Seahawks move to 3-0 in the preseason with another impressive offensive performance against one of the leagues most formidable defenses. We've seen marked improvement from one game to the next on both sides of the ball-- though, special teams did not have it's best performance last night.

Russell Wilson looks ready for an MVP campaign.  Not just because he appears healthy and at the top of his game, but because his weapons look more focused and generally more talented. Doug Baldwin looks elite and the duos chemistry has never been better.

I go back and forth every week on Jermaine Kearse's future with this team.  He is responsible for some of the greatest plays in Seahawks history, but in the NFL, 'what have you done for me lately?' is the collective mantra.  He is arguably the best downfield blocker on the team, but lacks the consistency of a Baldwin or Lockett.

The offensive line performed admirably in the absence of George Fant.  They are far from being established, but I feel much better this year than I did the previous season. Ethan Pocic looks like we can plug him in anywhere on the line and get decent production.

A week or two ago, if you had asked me about Chris Carson's future with the team, I would've told
you that he was making a strong case to be on this roster.  After last night's performance-- I'm starting to think this guy might be the starting running back against Green Bay.

Thomas Rawls and CJ Prosise, two of the highest touted backs on this team, have largely been unavailable for most of the time that they have been apart of this team. When healthy, both look like they could start on any team in the league with Pro Bowl potential.  The problem is that they are seemingly injured more often than not.

Their continued absences have afforded more playing time to Carson, Alex Collins, Mike Davis and JD McKissic, who is himself making a case to be on the final roster. Collins looks vastly better than last season, but will be lucky if he finds himself on the Seahawks practice squad.  Davis has had a solid preseason and camp, but appeared to take a step back last night.

McKissic can play receiver, special teams and running back with an electricity unparalleled on this roster.  They have to find a way to squeeze him onto the roster in some capacity.

The 3 best backs on this team are Rawls, Eddie Lacy and Carson.  Rawls would ideally be the starter but we'd be foolish to bank on him like we did last season.  Lacy seems more of a change-of-pace type back but will see a healthy portion of touches.  With Prosise being a high draft choice last season and the potential he's displayed when healthy, it seems unlikely that he doesn't make the team, but I struggle to see where he fits, largely because of his availability.

Every week I fall more in love with this team's depth.  The depth of talent was, in my opinion, the greatest factor in Seattle's Super Bowl victory and the lack thereof has been their shortcoming the past few seasons. It is truly exciting to think about what this team is capable of accomplishing with not only the depth that was present during the Super Bowl season-- but added to that the experience that the veteran players have acquired since hoisting that trophy.

The sky is the limit this year and anything short of a World Championship will be disappointing.

Not for the Fant of Heart-- Seahawks 20 Vikings 13

As the Seahawks were gearing up for the opening kickoff at CenturyLink Field to face the Vikings, I was heading to my end-of-summer-softball-barbecue. We had planned this gathering weeks ago and it never occurred to me that the Seahawks might have a game on that particular Friday night.

"It's only preseason." I told myself.

As long as I set the DVR, I was confident that my wife and I could enjoy our party and watch the game Saturday morning without any issues.

Not long into our gathering, I felt a buzz in my pocket and-- like the trained monkey I am-- I instinctively grabbed my phone to investigate.  I saw the ESPN update flash in my notifications.  

My brain saw the word 'Seahawks' and connected the dots.  I quickly stuffed it back in my pocket. Later, I reached for my phone again to pull up something from Facebook to reference something we were talking about. I cleared my notifications, but I did see this before I could shield my eyes.

My stomach knotted up.  I put my phone away for good, knowing that whatever bad news was looming-- looking into it further at that point wouldn't accomplish anything productive.

When we got home late that night, we couldn't wait to watch the game.  We decided we'd fight through exhaustion and watch the first half, saving the rest for the following morning. We knew something unfavorable had occurred with regard to George Fant.  We knew it happened in the first half of the game.  We just didn't know the extent of what had transpired.

Watching the pregame with the benefit of hindsight was eerie.  Brock Huard and Curt Menefee were heaping praise on Fant's offseason progress and the unusual nature of his NFL journey.  It's not common for someone to come from a totally different sport, basketball in Fant's case, and walk on to an NFL team undrafted and start at left tackle-- one of the most challenging positions in the sport.

Fant was a guy we were all rooting for.  Earlier in the week, offensive line coach Tom Cable had declared that the left side of the line was set in stone.  Recently extended Justin Britt would be the Center, offseason free agent acquisition Luke Joeckel would play Left Guard with Fant manning the blind side tackle spot.  It was reassuring for a fan base that had watched it's team struggle to find continuity across the offensive line the past few seasons.

Huard was literally mid-sentence praising Fant's progress when he went down, clutching his knee in obvious pain. It was abundantly clear that a serious injury had just befallen our newly crowned tackle. 

My wife had run out of patience.  She grabbed her phone and began searching for clarity on the injury that had by this point happened hours ago. 

"Fuck." She muttered. "It's an ACL."

As we watched the team's training staff put Fant's leg in an air cast and cart him off the field, my heart sank.  I'm sure he knew in an instant that all of the hard work he had put in this offseason went up in smoke in the blink of an eye.

There was a lot more positivity to glean from this game than there were negatives, but Fant's injury was a black cloud over an otherwise great performance by the Seahawks against a top-rated defense.  Doug Baldwin and Russell Wilson were in late-season form.  Kasen Williams continues to make a case to be on the opening day roster. The depth of this team continues to impress.

Now we're back to the drawing board.  Seattle made a trade for Matt Tobin to compete with Rees Odhiambo to replace Fant, who will miss the entire season.  It's not that the loss of Fant throws the Seahawks Super Bowl hopes into turmoil-- I don't believe it does. Seattle has had worse to work with and made it work.  At least this injury occurred midway through the preseason, when the pool of capable players is deeper than it tends to be once final rosters are set and the season is underway.

What really sucks is that George Fant is a likable dude who had made tremendous progress toward  achieving an improbable goal-- only to have the rug pulled out from under him. He's young enough to bounce back from this and get right back after it next year, but you have to feel for him. 

Rolling in the Depth-- Seahawks 48 @ Chargers 17

The Seahawks didn't enter this offseason looking to rebuild or make any drastic changes.  The championship window remains wide open, but the team needed to replenish their depth.  It appears as though Seattle did just that.

Seattle has had it's core group in tact for a handful of seasons now.  We've known for years now who to expect starting opening day at positions like quarterback, defensive end, cornerback, safety, etc. The issue the past couple seasons has been the depth behind those guys as the season drags on.

Injuries, big and small, hamper the team's efficiency down the stretch-- but even more important is
the need to look multiple seasons down the road.  There will come a time when hard decisions need to be made on contract extensions and the Seahawks need to make sure they are grooming young talent to push for those positions.

In Sunday night's preseason opener-- it certainly looked like the Seahawks have their deepest roster since the Championship season.

In all honesty, I have been concerned about the apparent lack of competition over the last couple of seasons. Much of the starting offense and defensive lineups were established just a few seasons in to the Pete Carroll era by hitting big on young, gifted and often inexpensive players in the draft and free agency. Maintaining competent depth behind those starters gets increasingly difficult with each season as more second contracts are established.

One area that was specifically concerning to me was our kicker.  Hauschka had been so reliable for so many years, but it was evident that the Seahawks would have difficulty retaining him under the salary cap.  I think many of us expected him to leave once the season was over.  With as many picks as the Seahawks had, I thought they could have easily 'wasted' one on a kicker and brought in a few veterans to inspire competition.

Instead, it appeared to me as though they handed the job to Blair Walsh-- most immediately recognized by Seahawks fans as the guy that missed a chip-shot field goal that sent the Seahawks to the Divisional playoff game in 2016.

Walsh has had a pretty successful career before that missed kick.  He was an All-Pro and Pro Bowler his rookie season in 2012.  However, after missing that potentially game-winning kick, he skidded into a slump.  He had a rough season last year, where he missed 4 PATs and saw a decrease in field goal percentage and was released by the Vikings.

Still-- I wasn't against bringing him in.  I just wanted him to 'earn' the job through open competition.

When I saw that the Buccaneers released Roberto Aguayo, another kicker with past success that is struggling with the mental side of his job, I mentioned on twitter that I'd like to see the Seahawks bring him in and kick the tires.

Suffice to say, I caught some backlash.

On what basis do people think this? https://t.co/20nPS7Xxtr

— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) August 13, 2017

Walsh performed excellently last night and looked every bit the part. Obviously, I hope that carries throughout the season-- I would've taken no joy in seeing him struggle. That would've only stood to amplify my concerns.

From what we saw last night, there will indeed be some difficult roster decisions looming over the next few weeks.  Two areas that seemed thinnest just a season ago-- running backs and receivers-- now seem brimming with talented, young players that could start on any NFL roster.

Kasen Williams took the same path as Jermaine Kearse.  Local UW standout on a bad team goes undrafted but fights his way onto the Seahawks roster.  Williams largely earned his keep on special teams and the practice squad previously and every indication was that the drafted wideouts from the previous two draft classes would push him out the door.  Kasen put on a clinic last night, pulling down 4 receptions for 119 yards, just missing out on a couple of touchdowns.

I was really intrigued by David Moore, a 7th round selection from this past draft.  He's built like future Hall-of-Famer, Steve Smith.  Kenny Lawler looked much more pro-ready, having bulked up from his rookie season. Paul Richardson showed that he's going to be a huge playmaking threat, if he's able to stay healthy.

The Seahawks coaching staff would've killed to have this group of running backs available to them last season. It seems evident that Rawls and Lacy are going to be the staples of this group, but how it shakes out behind them is anyone's guess.

Chris Carson, another late pick, looks like this season's Thomas Rawls.  Mike Davis might have been our starting running back if we'd had him last year-- now, however, he might not even make the final roster. We've seen CJ Prosise do incredible things last year when healthy.  Well, he's healthy, so we better make some room for him.

The defense restocked the cupboards, too. There seems to finally be legitimate competition for the linebacker spot not occupied by Wagner and Wright.  The young cornerbacks will eventually find their footing and we seem to have a contingency plan behind Kam and Earl for once. I would've liked to see more pass rush, but hopefully that will come in time. Four turnovers is plenty to get excited about.

By far, the most satisfying takeaway from last night's game was the performance of our offensive line.  Pass protection was good for Wilson, Boykin and Davis.  Run lanes were there for the taking.  It wasn't just the presumed starters-- we might actually have some reliable depth on the line this season!

I know it's just preseason, but football is back!  The Seahawks are looking ready to contend and we're only a few short weeks away from meaningful football.