The Seattle Seahawks Will Make The Playoffs in 2009

The Seahawks had a disastrous 2008 season, filled with losses, frustration, disappointment, letdown, and most importantly, injuries.

As a Seahawks fan, I know there is not much love outside of the West for these guys, even when they win, which over the last six years, they did a lot of.

People seem to forget that we have made the playoffs five of six years, five of which were continuous, we won four straight NFC West Titles, with four playoff wins, and a Super Bowl appearance in which they were subsequently robbed by refs, the head linesman was from Pittsburgh, which I found ironic, for all you black-and-gold pieces of (enter colorful expletives here).

I don't hesitate to think this is a playoff team. I don't even hesitate to think they were last year AS THEY WERE, with all of the injuries (four losses by three points or less 4-12...Arizona 9-7...A six-point loss to AZ in the last game, which if it had playoff implications, we would have mauled them, do the math).

Offense

The Seahawks now boast an impressive three-receiver set with Houshmandzadeh, Branch, and Burleson. Housh will draw a lot of double coverage, which will open up Branch and Burleson to make plays.

They also have one of the best young TE's in the league with John Carlson, who is a perfect fit and a nice target in the red zone who knows how to block. We have Matt Hasselbeck who (cross fingers), when healthy, is one of the top five in the league.

He is as accurate as they come, and with a precise route runner like Housh, they seem like a perfect tandem.

I'm not sold on our O-line, especially with the trade of Peterson, which makes it appear as we are going to try and lock up Aaron Curry with the fourth pick. But Jones is just a mauler; even now, he's the best tackle in the league.

Mike Wahle isn't great, but he's ok, good enough to get the job done, especially next to a guy like Walter. Spencer is just plain horrible as a center; I was hoping they would get someone like Matt Birk.

Ray Willis excites me, he has a chance to be great, he's already starting caliber, and should slide in at guard, and Sean Locklear is a solid tackle, but not worth $6 million a year like were paying him. The thing that has my hopes high is the zone-blocking scheme we are about to install; our line is PERFECT for that, quick, not to big, and very psychical

Another thing that has me excited is that our Running Back seems perfect for a zone-blocking scheme. Julius Jones is that type of one cut downhill runner that would just make the whole thing a seamless transition. If he ran for 4.4 YPC last year, it should only get better, and that stat is decent on its own

Implementing a run-first mentality when you have a Pro Bowl QB, a Pro Bowl WR, and great No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 options in Branch, Burleson, and Carlson is a great strategy, especially in the West Coast offense, I see no reason why this offense cannot achieve results like in 2005 if the key contributors can stay on the field.

Defense

The Seahawks now boast a potentially great defensive line—adding Redding was a great move in my opinion, it gives us the option of sliding him to DE, or pairing him with Kerney to form a fierce left side.

With Brandon Mebane, Kerney, Redding, Colin Cole, Craig Terrill, and a RE Tandem Of Lawrence Jackson/Daryl Tapp, we have  a line that can generate effective pass rush while boasting size, which will keep our LB's free to wreak havoc.

Even with the departure of Peterson, which I was saddened by, but realize the moves insane potential, we still have two outstanding LB's and look to be in the market for Aaron Curry of maybe a free agent—Derrick Brooks or Cato June?

Hill and Tatupu are great and can rush the passer, cover, force turnovers, stop the run, everything you could want from a LB, they are undersized, but they make up for that in the aspects of their game, bolstering the defensive line will only make them better

Now onto the secondary, which was rather invisible, disappointing, and just simply dreadful last year. They have two strong players in Deon Grant and Marcus Trufant. Trufant is one of the league's best and did not have great stats just simply because teams stayed away from him.

Grant played the entire year with a torn leg muscle and still did OK; Jennings is horrible. He does not even have a pick yet!! Wilson showed...flashes...especially in the 13-3 win against the Jets, and Brian Russell did not play well, but I feel it is unfair to pin everything on him when the unit as a whole, except for Tru, played badly.

He has a chance to rebound, as do the others.

If there is one weak link on this team, it is the secondary, and they were a key reason why they were 30th in defense last year, if they do not improve, or address the position via draft, or free agency—Chris McAlister, Dre Bly—then the Defensive Line and Linebackers will have to work overtime to make the secondary's life easier.

Special Teams

Olindo Mare was awesome, 24/27 from a guy people were saying was done was just great. Jon Ryan was an upgrade over PlackenIcantpuntworthmylife. The Special Teams Unit performed at a high level in 2008 and was sadly the best part of the team and were one of the better units in the league

The Cardinals

Our competition for the crown, who, I give props to for finally getting us, finally getting to the big game after so long, only to break my heart, they are a good young team with a great offense, and a solid defense.

But they lost Antonio Smith who has developed into a top DE who got his big payday from the Texans, have not re-signed their other top DE Bertrand Berry, who has been a very good player for many years.

They are likely to lose Anquan Boldin, which would hamper their explosive offense, and their TE Leonard Pope is a free agent, losing all four of them would be a huge blow, especially with a suspect offensive line (just like the Seahawks) and would also cripple there defensive line who's only standout is Darnell Dockett.

A lack of pass rush would allow teams to pick apart their secondary, regardless of how good they are. I just don't think with these losses that they have what it takes to defend their crown, especially with the moves the 'Hawks have made, and ESPECIALLY if the Hawks draft Curry and add a CB.

Hey, I may be wrong, if you told me last year the Cardinals would come two minutes away from a Super Bowl title, and that the Dolphins would win 11 games, and the Falcons would be playing the Cardinals in the first round, and the Seahawks would finish 4-12?

Ha, I would have been inconsolable.

Overall, the Seahawks have a chance at a great season, and appear to have what it takes to claim the NFC West crown once again