Seattle Seahawks: 3 Players Who Must Step Up in Week 2 or Risk Being Benched

The Seahawks' loss in Week 1 proved adjustments still need to be made after the shortened offseason. Only one week through the season, too much shouldn't be taken away from this one game—but some changes could be brewing.

Seattle is now dealing with injuries. Michael Robinson has a high ankle sprain and Byron Maxwell is dealing with his own ankle injury, creating major holes on special teams. Additionally, Robert Gallery and Sidney Rice are still unknowns.

Given their injury situation, Seattle isn't in a position to begin benching players. However, these three players need a solid showing in Pittsburgh or they could face a change in playing time.  

James Carpenter

The first-round pick struggled this preseason with the move to right tackle, proving his questionable quickness and natural fit on the left side would cause problems for his transition.

The injury to Robert Gallery forced the Seahawks to shuffle the offensive line, placing Carpenter at left guard as they started Breno Giacomini at right tackle.

Giacomini played well enough in his first start and it's unclear if Carpenter will regain his starting position once Gallery comes back—Tyler Polumbus can play right tackle as well.

Carpenter was overwhelmed in his first start; Pro-Bowler Justin Smith gave him fits all day, outworking Carpenter with second efforts and veteran savvy.

Due to the investment in Carpenter, Seattle has a couple of options. They could play him through the growing pains, keep the competition ongoing and create a rotation at right tackle or relegate Carpenter to the bench to reset.

Because of the lockout, the offensive line is behind; panicking after one week won't solve the situation. That said, Carpenter needs to improve or he could find himself out of the starting lineup.

Dexter Davis

Davis struggled with a hip injury in the preseason, finding himself in and out of the lineup and struggling to produce. The Seahawks need both pass-rush production and strong special teams play out of him; with the injuries to Maxwell and Robinson, now is as crucial a time as ever for Davis to step up.

Due to the lack of pressure packages used by the Seahawks on Sunday, Davis didn't get the opportunity to rush the passer consistently. He was involved on special teams, but didn't leave a favorable impression.

On one Ted Ginn return late in the first quarter, Davis went streaking down the middle of the field towards Ginn, who caught the ball right of the right hash and cut towards the middle of the field and Davis.

Davis was bearing down to make the play, but Ginn simply sidestepped an out-of-control Davis and cut upfield; Davis barely got a hand on him. 

On the punt return for touchdown, Davis pursued inside, diving and missing Ginn, allowing him to run outside of Davis and cut upfield.

Davis was in position to make the tackle on both plays, but instead opened the door for a big return. On return blocking, Davis made minor contributions, but was often a non-factor in the play.

Because of the injuries, the Seahawks are not in a position to bench Davis. But they do need to experiment with their special teams units and Davis needs to prove in Pittsburgh that he should remain in the rotation.      

Tarvaris Jackson

The quarterback situation has been under scrutiny since Pete Carroll named Tarvaris Jackson the starter before he even took a snap at practice. 

Questions still exist after the performance in San Francisco. Jackson engineered a horrid first half; the offense compiled 37 total yards of offense and three first downs.

In the second half, the offense gained a rhythm and scored 17 points with 15 first downs, a respectable response to a putrid first half.

Jackson took five sacks and eight quarterback hits, standing tough and surviving a brutal first game. The downside is that the sacks caused two turnovers and Jackson had a third fumble (a fumbled snap on a 3rd-and-13 in the red zone). 

His numbers were only okay and though these turnovers weren't the result of Jackson forcing a pass, like his interception in the final preseason game, three fumbles is not exemplary of Pete Carroll's mantra "it's all about the ball."

As Carroll wants his team to gain continuity, Jackson shouldn't be benched in Week 2. But Jackson can't keep turning the ball over if he wants to remain the quarterback. 

Jackson needs to start strong in Pittsburgh, which is an even more hostile atmosphere than Candlestick. The message to the team this week is how well can you bounce back from a tough defeat? Jackson needs to be exemplary of the no-quit attitude, taking care of the football and leading a spirited performance in Week 2.