Seattle Seahawks:
Seahawks are the dark horse coming out of the rain
Since breaking into the National
Football League in 1976 the Seattle Seahawks have been anything
but a force to be reckoned with. They have had 11 winning seasons,
2 divisional championships, six playoff appearances, no conference
championships and no league championships. However, the sun does
come up at the end of the night. The Seattle Seahawks of more
recent memory are a young up and coming team that has an almost
unlimited potential. The team is led by 28 year old signal caller
Matt Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck was hand picked by coach Mike Holmgren
who was familiar with the quarterback when he was a back up to
Brett Favre in Green Bay. Hasselbeck earned his first invitation
to Honolulu and was very deserving of it. He passed for 3,841
yards, 26 touchdowns and only 15 interceptions, while completing
61% of his pass attempts. They are also led by their fresh legged
running back Shaun Alexander who is the ripe old age of 26. Alexander
has averaged 1,309 yards and 14 touchdowns in the three seasons
he has been the featured back in the Seahawk offensive attack.
He was also named to his first Pro-Bowl along with Hasselbeck,
offensive tackle Walter Jones, 30, guard Steve Hutchinson, 26,
and wide receiver/special teams specialist Alex Bannister, 25.
The youth movement with the Seahawks has made them the trendy
pick to dethrone the St. Louis Rams in the NFC West.
Last year the Seahawks stepped
back into contention for a Lombardi Trophy. The team
finished the season with a 10-6 record which put them
in second in the NFC West, behind the Rams, and earned
them a playoff game against the Green Bay Packers in
the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. The Seahawks found
themselves down 20-27 with a little less than three
minutes left in the game. Matt Hasselbeck went 3-5
for 59 yards on the tying drive that was capped off
by an Alexander one yard touchdown run. In overtime
the Seahawks won the toss and Hasselbeck said, “We want the ball and we’re
going to score.”
The Seahawks took the ball and
punted it away after three plays and the Packers followed
suit when they got the ball. The Hasselbeck completed
two passes to get a first down and on third and eleven
from the Seattle forty five the unthinkable happened.
Packers cornerback picked off a Hasselbeck pass and
took it 52 yards the other way to finish the game.
After the game Holmgren said “I’m dying
inside. It hurts to lose a game like that.”
In the off-season the Seahawks brought in two very
high profile players to help give the defense a well
needed shot in the arm. Cornerback Bobby Taylor and defensive
end Grant Wistrom are two players who have played in
and won a great deal of big games in their career and
will be looking to do the same in the Emerald City. They
also let go of a number of defensive players from the
year before like linebacker Randall Godfrey, defensive
end Lamar King, defensive tackle John Randle, cornerback
Shawn Springs, and strong safety Reggie Tongue.
In the draft the Seahawks started the youth
movement of their defense by using four of their seven draft
picks on defensive players. With their first two picks they grabbed
defensive stopgaps Texas defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs and Florida
State outside linebacker Michael Boulware. Boulware will actually
see time at the vacant strong safety position because he has
the athletic (4.44 40-yard dash) and playmaking ability to be
a Pro Bowl strong safety in the league. With these new players
coming in the team hopes to sell more Seahawks
tickets.
The Seattle talent level on offense
is rivaled only by their divisional foes the St. Louis
Rams. They not only feature a Pro Bowl quarterback
(Hasselbeck) and running back but they have two very
good very young receivers manning the outside. Koren
Robinson, 24, and Darrell Jackson, 25, are expected
to have Pro Bowl type seasons this year. The offensive
line is also a very young unit that isn’t afraid
to throw defensive lines to the ground to make holes
for Alexander.
The Seahawk defense is hoping to keep opposing offenses from making a big splash
against them. They lost almost half of their defense that was ranked a sub-par
19th overall in total yards last year and hope that the fresh blood will bring
more stops too.
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