NFL PREVIEW: SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

by DMtShooter, Five Tool Tool

Hey, Seabag Fan! No one who works for or reads this site actually knows any of you, or will admit to it in the wake of your post-Super Bowl conspiracy puling that the Steelers had the refs in the bag. So it's been left to me, your Epic Garbageman, to take out the trash that is your team. Let's go to the tape!

When we last saw the Seahawks, they were disrespecting the ghost of Sean Taylor (when they beat the Redskisn the week before, they took possession) by falling apart in the snows of Lambeau Field. Since then, they've sent Shaun Alexander to a nice farm up state, lost a ton of wideouts to injury, signed some fourth tier running backs and welcomed the farewell tour for Walrus Holmgren, who will be put on an ice flow at the end of the year.

The net effect of all of this is more or less even, and the team continues to be sheltered by the kitten-soft NFC West and their strong homefield advantage. But this team was positively gutless against good opponents, and while there is talent here (Lofa Tatupu is among the five best LBs in the game, and Marcus Trufant is the best corner that no one knows about), it almost seems aimless... like an Atlanta Braves-esque constant playoff presence without any real danger of actually breaking through.

Hope for 2008 starts with the running backs. Julius Jones, Maurice Morris and TJ Duckett are all unlikely to be in the league in 3 years, and Seahawk Fan is not going to be buying their jerseys in big numbers... but they can't be worse than Alexander, who redefined the term "Spent" last year so much that he remains unemployed despite not actuall retiring. Even if these guys are just mediocre, the Seahawks could rise from the absence of suck.

Next, Matt Hasselbeck. He had a sneaky good year last year, especially for all of the fantasy honks that got him on the cheap after a bad 2007. By the end of the year, he looked like his arm was going to fall off from overuse, but he knows the system back and forward, and the offensive line is still tolerable, especially in pass protection.

The wideouts are another matter entirely. It's Nate Burleson -- himself hardly a paragon of virtue -- and the utter unknowns, with Deion Branch and Bobby Engram on the shelf, and even Ben Obomanu banged up. Assuming that he can't make Courtney Taylor into a rookie sensation, and that Will Heller and Jeb Putzier don't turn into a two headed Antonio Gates. In a West Coast offense, the quarterback can cover for a lack of wideouts to some extent, but this is getting ridiculous.

Defensively, the Seahawks are a schizophrenic bunch. At home, they rely on their exceptional crowd and get after the passer. On the road, they get pushed around and give up big points. So that makes them a playoff pretender, and it's hard to imagine how that's changed a lot in the past year.

The schedule should help them get off to a fast start -- at Buffalo, then St. Louis and the Niners at home before the bye. They should then struggle big, with a road date in New York, the Packers at home, at Tampa and San Fran before hosting the Eagles. The last three games if the year is about as easy as two out of three road games can get (at St. Louis, New York and at Arizona). I'm seeing 10-6, with a stirring stretch drive and a Week 17 showdown win in Arizona that puts them over the top... just in time to lose in the first round of the playoffs. You know, like always!