We usually are more bullish on the Seahawks than most.

Examples: In 2018, many picked them to struggle (as few as four wins) after the Legion of Boom was dismantled, but we projected 11 wins and they finished with 10. Last year, as Vegas put the O/U at 5.5 wins, we predicted eight– and they finished 9-8 and made the playoffs for the 10^th time in Pete Carroll’s 13 years.

This year, we are not as high on the Hawks as many seem to be. Some think they will win as many as 12 games, but those people have a lot more faith in the defense than we do.

While the offense looks loaded and capable of repeating as a top-10 scoring unit and improving on its 13^th ranking in yards, the defense does not look that much better than the side that ranked 25^th in points and 26^th in yards in 2022.

All but one of the eight losses last season featured at least 150 rushing yards by the opponent, and Seattle’s No. 1 focus this year supposedly was to fix the front seven. But, aside from a big splurge on Dre Jones, it doesn’t appear that happened.

The team has no proven nose tackle – Jarran Reed is playing out of position (sound familiar?) and rookie Cameron Young was injured all preseason so we know nothing about the fourth-round pick.

The inside linebackers do not inspire confidence that they can hit their run fits. Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks have made most of their tackles downfield over the past few years. Wagner’s return after a year with the Rams is a feel-good story, but it does not give us any reason to think the run defense will be any better.

The secondary has major star power, especially if Jamal Adams and Devon Witherspoon get healthy and perform as the Seahawks expect. But how does that help the run defense? Maybe the three-safety personnel that Carroll has long wanted to use with Adams will be effective, but that hardly seems worth counting on.

The defense will get tested right out of the gate.

All three September foes ran over Seattle in 2022. The Hawks start Sunday against the Rams, who ran for 318 yards in two 2022 meetings. Then comes a game at Detroit, which ran for 145 yards in a 48-45 loss to Seattle last season. Then comes Carolina, which ran for 223 yards in a 30-24 win.

After Dallas gashed the Hawks for a big inside run this preseason, Michael Bennett pointed out the weakness on the KING-TV broadcast.

“The Seahawks are missing one thing on defense: a Red Bryant type of player, a big-body guy who doesn’t really care about making a play — he just wants to push a guy back,” Bennett said. “They just need to stop the run.”

That’s the key to the season. If they can figure that out, they can win playoff games. If not, we’ll probably see the same sort of season we watched in 2022 – a .500ish year that teeters on a playoff berth and a first-round ouster.

No matter how the defense ends up, it is sure to struggle in the first month. The unit features seven new starters/key players. They have not played together much yet, so the chemistry has been built only in practices. That probably won’t be good enough in September.

The offense will have to pick up the slack – maybe all season long. Geno Smith and all of his weapons might have to win a lot of shootouts – something they struggled to do in 2022, when they went 2-4 in close games that featured at least 50 total points.

Vegas puts the O/U for the Hawks’ win total at 8.5 this season. The schedule is not easy – ranked eighth toughest based on projected win totals.

They have a particularly tough stretch in November and early December — facing the Rams, the 49ers twice, the Cowboys and the Eagles. We figure they will be somewhere around 5-4 heading into that run, which will determine whether they are a playoff team or not.

The offense should be good enough to carry them to nine wins again. To win more, the defense is going to have to surprise us.

Here we go …