While the defense deals with the sudden loss of top-notch nose tackle Brandon Mebane for the rest of the season, the offense is making plans to go on without Zach Miller — perhaps forever.
With Luke Willson trying to rally from a sprained ankle and Cooper Helfet dealing with a bum knee (and Anthony McCoy on IR), the Hawks’ only two healthy tight ends right now are guys they just signed.
The Seahawks’ defense lost Brandon Mebane at just about the worst possible time.
The nose tackle had
anchored one of the league’s top run
defenses, but now the Hawks will have to
proceed without him just as they prepare for a stretch that includes some of the toughest rushing offenses on their schedule.
With Mebane out for the season with a torn hamstring, the Hawks will have to get more out of 29-year-old Tony McDaniel and 34-year-old Kevin Williams, plus second-year tackle Jordan Hill.
With Greg Scruggs and Cassius Marsh already out for the season, the Hawks are suddenly very thin on the D-line. (Five of the 12 players on injured reserve are defensive linemen.)
The Seahawks are finally doing what you, me and everyone else thought they should be doing all year: Running the ball.
Both with Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson.
Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell royally screwed up the offense in the offseason when they plotted to take over the world with Percy Harvin as their weapon of mass destruction. But — as most of the rest of us could have predicted — he imploded, and the Seattle offense blew up with him.
Thanks to the Percy Plan and many injuries on the offensive line (again), Wilson and the passing game have simply not been in sync.
For the fourth time in five games — and third straight game at home — Wilson was very bad throwing the ball. He threw two interceptions — both his fault — in the 38-17 win over the New York Giants. That followed up a 17-of-35 game vs. Oakland and a below-average performance at Carolina.
But the Hawks have won all three because they are running the ball again.
Continue reading Passing game is still grounded, but at least the Hawks are running it
The Seahawks’ offensive line should look more like itself this week, and the secondary could be at full strength (in numbers, if not in health) for the first time this season, according to reports from Pete Carroll’s press conference.
Center Max Unger, who has missed four games with a sprained foot, and Russell Okung, who sat Week 9 with a calf injury, are both expected to play Sunday vs. the New York Giants.
Okung was to be limited in practice today, and Unger is gone for personal reasons. But both are expected to practice fully Thursday.
Despite missing nearly a dozen key players Sunday and barely beating a winless team because of it, Pete
Carroll thinks his team has turned the corner at the right time and is ready to finish strong in the second half of the season.
You might question the wisdom of saying your team accomplished something by beating the Oakland Raiders, but Carroll’s optimism is understandable considering his team’s situation.
“Under the circumstances of this game, where so many guys played that haven’t played before, I take maybe more out of it because of that,” he said. “Offense played tough, special teams played tough; we just didn’t play well all the time. The kind of effort that we need to be a good football team was there, and so that’s a good sign for us.”
Continue reading Carroll thinks his team is ready to finish strong
Wouldn’t it be fun to see what Russell Wilson could do with the passing game behind a reliable offensive line?
He hasn’t had one yet in two and a half seasons as Seattle’s quarterback, and Sunday in their 30-24 win over the Oakland Raiders the Hawks went with their 15th line combination in Wilson’s 40 games.
It was ironic that the five starters from the best line in Seattle history — the 2005 Super Bowl line — happened to be in the house to celebrate Hall of Fame tackle Walter Jones’ induction into the Ring of Honor.
As Jones, Steve Hutchinson, Robbie Tobeck, Chris Gray and Sean Locklear looked on, the Hawks started a third-string center, a second-year utility player at left tackle and a rookie right tackle — and by the end of the game they had another rookie playing left guard.
Continue reading Wilson & the Hawks are used to inconsistent OL
Earlier this week, Pete Carroll was looking forward to getting injured players back in the next couple of weeks and having his full roster available soon.
Little did he/we know it would get worse before it got better.
The Seahawks have been without four starters for the past 2-3 weeks and will be without six today, with safety Kam Chancellor and left tackle Russell Okung joining tight end Zach Miller, cornerback Byron Maxwell, and linebackers Bobby Wagner and Malcolm Smith on the sideline.
Chancellor was not on the inactive list, but he apparently will sit with injuries to his groin, hip and ankles. It will be the first game Chancellor has missed since Week 4, 2011. With Jeron Johnson (concussion) out, DeShawn Shead figures to get his first start at safety.
Alvin Bailey, who filled in at both guard spots briefly last week, figures to start for Okung.
With Malcolm Smith out for a couple of weeks and K.J. Wright moving back outside, Brock Coyle will start in the middle.
And Kevin Pierre-Louis figures to get much more playing time as well.
Here’s a look at the Hawks’ new 280-pound fullback.
The 14.5-point line for this game is tied for the third-highest home spread in Seahawks history. They covered the first two but needed OT to beat Tampa Bay, also 14.5-point underdogs, last year.
Derek Carr, Will Tukuafu and Brock Coyle are among the players to watch from Seahawks.com, The Seattle Times and the Seattle P-I.
Here’s the team-by-team comparison. Guessing that turnover margin difference will be a big factor.
That’s probably what Admiral Ackbar would say about a game that featured the defending Super Bowl champs at home against a winless, rudderless team that already had fired its coach.
But if ever there was a team that should know not to overlook an 0-7 opponent, it’s these Seahawks. As you might recall, they did that last year at exactly this time, falling into a 21-0 hole against the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home in Week 9.
Now, here they are again — facing another 0-7 team in Week 9 as the Oakland Raiders come to Seattle.
But these are not the same Seahawks as that overconfident 7-1 bunch last year that had to rally to beat Tampa in overtime.
Continue reading The Seahawks won’t fall for it this time, right?
Because the Seahawks won the Super Bowl last season, it is easy to forget that half of their roster is comprised of players with less than three years of experience.
Starters Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner, Bruce Irvin, J.R. Sweezy and Jermaine Kearse are only in their third seasons, and 21 more of the 53 players on the roster have not yet played three seasons. Eleven others are in just their fourth seasons.
The Seahawks barely used any of their rookies in 2013, relying largely on veterans — and that’s a loose term, considering some of them had just one or two years of experience.
So, coming into this season, the Hawks in effect had almost two full rookie classes. And the questions were: Would any of the remaining 2013 rookies step up to replace departed free agents and would the 2014 class redshirt as most of the 2013 class did?
Due to injuries and one big trade, the answers are yes and no, as many young players have stepped forward in recent weeks.
Continue reading This year, Hawks have needed the young guys
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 