The Seahawks’ overall depth this year has been considered the best since 2013, when they won the Super Bowl.
They have had to dip into those reserves here and there throughout the season — especially covering for Thomas Rawls, Kam Chancellor, Michael Bennett and Luke Willson.
But this week, as the Hawks try to stay on the heels of the Dallas Cowboys with a win in Tampa, the depth is being tested at every level.
When C.J. Prosise busted out on his smooth-as-silk, 72-yard touchdown gallop vs. Philadelphia, Pete Carroll likely was thinking, “That’s what I’ve been talking about.”
It was the second straight big game for Prosise, who tallied 153 yards in the Week 10 win over New England. But, just as he had started to show why Carroll was so thrilled about drafting him in the third round this year, Prosise once again got hurt.
And now we really have to wonder whether he is cut out for playing running back in the NFL — at least in the volume Carroll would like to use him.
In 2014, the last time the Seahawks put together a Super Bowl run, their proving game came in Week 14 at the Philadelphia Eagles.
That game was more of a test for Seattle’s No. 1 defense, which had built its ranking on the backs of some bad offenses and faced a big test against the league’s fourth-ranked offense. The Hawks dominated Chip Kelly’s Eagles, winning 24-14, and did not lose again that season.
This Eagles game brought a different challenge: The league’s No. 3 scoring defense against Seattle’s rollercoaster offense.
The Seahawks were coming off two pretty decent offensive games against AFC East teams Buffalo and New England, but the Eagles’ front posed a much bigger challenge.
Just like the defense in 2014, the offense proved itself in fine fashion. The Hawks put up a season-high 439 yards in a 26-15 victory that featured a bevy of big plays, a fully healthy Russell Wilson, a much more explosive running game and a resilient offensive line.
The Seahawks have weathered a few injuries to key players — Russell Wilson, Kam Chancellor and Michael Bennett, especially — this season, but they have yet to endure the kind of bloodbath they took in their 26-15 win over Philly on Sunday.
No fewer than 10 players left the game with various ailments, and the Hawks are looking at playing without at least four key guys next Sunday in Tampa Bay.
The biggest concerns this week are Legion of Boomers Earl Thomas and DeShawn Shead, plus the running back position.
With Thomas Rawls back, Pete Carroll said the Seahawks are “in a good situation” at running back.
Rawls is so pumped to return that family members are telling him to relax and “breathe.”
C.J. Prosise’s big hit after a big gain vs. the Patriots had everyone talking this week.
Here’s a preview of this week’s game, plus more to watch as the Seahawks and Eagles meet for the 15th time.
After the Seahawks lost a winnable game in New Orleans, the coaches decided it was time to let a heathier Russell Wilson make plays again.
The Eagles’ defense ranks as highly as Seattle’s in almost every category and will be a big challenge for Wilson and Seattle’s offense.
Meanwhile, Seattle’s defense has slumped a bit without Michael Bennett.
Pete Carroll has been raving about C.J. Prosise since the Seahawks drafted him last spring. But, because the running back had been hobbled by a bevy of bumps and bruises pretty much since the day he was drafted, the rest of us had no clue why — until Sunday in New England.
He started over a slightly hobbled Christine Michael and did a little bit of everything to tally 153 total yards and help the Hawks pull off a meaningful upset. In fact, Carroll was so happy about his play during the game that he wouldn’t let the rookie pull himself off the field.
“He tapped out a couple times to catch his breath,” Carroll said. “There was a time when I told him, ‘Don’t do that. Get out there. Get your butt on the field.’ He kind of looked at me like, ‘Oh, OK, I guess I can’t tap out.’ So he went back in.”
You can’t blame Prosise. The guy had touched the ball just 17 times in four other games this season — basically his personal preseason — and he got 24 touches in 51 plays vs. the Patriots.
“He’s going to get in shape and all that,” Carroll said. “He can’t be in great game shape; he just can’t be. He hasn’t played enough.”
It was hard to know what to expect in New England. Vegas called the Hawks a touchdown underdog, and most analysts went with that in picking the Patriots in the Super Bowl XLIX rematch.
But the Seahawks bounced back off a short week against the bye-rested Pats and put together their best — though far from perfect — game of the season in a 31-24 upset that Doug Baldwin said evoked a “phenomenal emotional feeling in our locker room.”
That is the feeling that this team has made its typical Second Half Turn and is headed for something special again.
This was not a must-win for Seattle, from a standings standpoint. But it certainly was a big game for Seattle’s psyche — to get even for the XLIX debacle and to measure themselves against the AFC’s best team.
Continue reading Seahawks’ season takes the usual super turn with marquee win
The Seahawks are big underdogs in New England, where they will see how they stack up against their Super Bowl XLIX opponent.
Here’s a preview of Seahawks-Patriots.
Seahawks.com offers an in-depth look at why the Seahawks and Patriots are two of the NFL’s elite teams every year.
The Seahawks will see Malcolm Butler again, among other matchups.
Some more keys to the game.
C.J. Prosise could start for a hobbled Christine Michael.
Kam Chancellor will return after missing four games.
Michael Bennett will not play, which is good news to Tom Brady, who considers Bennett to be the best defender in the NFL.
Jeremy Lane is ready for a healthy rematch vs. the Patriots.
A big reason the Seahawks were able to get Marshawn Lynch in 2010 is C.J. Spiller, so it’s somewhat ironic that the guy who helped Seattle get Beast Mode now steps into the same backfield.
Spiller was the ninth overall pick by Buffalo in 2010, joining Lynch and Fred Jackson in a suddenly – and surprisingly — stacked Bills backfield. John Schneider, in his first year running the Hawks alongside Pete Carroll, tried several times to acquire Lynch that year – finally getting the Bills to part with him in October.
While Lynch went on to star for the Hawks for most of the next six seasons, Spiller ended up a part-time player behind Jackson in 2010 and 2011 before breaking out in 2012, with 1,244 yards (6 per carry), 43 catches and eight total touchdowns. He hasn’t done much since, though, as injuries have knocked him around.
The Hawks obviously are hoping that won’t be a problem as he steps in as the third-down back.
Continue reading Spiller helped Hawks get Lynch, now follows him
The Seahawks have been bad on offense for about six games now.
There are a lot of reasons for the poor running attack so far.
With C.J. Prosise and Thomas Rawls ailing, the Seahawks loaded up on running backs at this week’s tryout session.
One of the only good things on offense in L.A. was the re-emergence of Jimmy Graham, who feels “like a beast.”
Larry Stone says it’s not time to panic yet: “This Seahawks team, under this quarterback, has earned a little bit of rope.”
As disappointing as the offensive stats are, the defensive stats have been downright nasty.
Here are six 49ers to watch when they play in Seattle on Sunday.
Marshawn Lynch supports Colin Kaepernick’s protest against cop violence. (Anyone who has a problem with it isn’t paying attention to the news: Another unarmed, non-threatening black man was killed by a cop in Tulsa this week.)
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 