2011 Seattle Seahawks Predictions
Last season, the Seattle Seahawks became the first team to march into the playoffs with a losing record. They won the NFC West with a 7-9 mark. It was their fifth division title in seven years.
Seattle can further solidify itself as the cream of the crop in the NFC West if it can add another title in 2011.
Offense: The Seahawks ranked 23rd in the league in scoring last season with 19.4 points per game. They ranked 28th in total offense with 297.8 yards per contest.
Matt Hasselbeck is out and Tarvaris Jackson is in. Jackson has 20 career starts under his belt but is still largely unproven. Seattle is hoping its getting the player that led the Vikings to an NFC North title in 2008. In nine starts that year, he threw for 1,056 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions.
Jackson benefited from defenses paying attention to Adrian Peterson during that season. Defenses aren’t likely to pay as much attention to Seattle’s running game, which ranked 31st in the league in 2010 with only 89.0 yards per contest.
The team is hoping for a better season from Marshawn Lynch, who rushed for 573 yards and six scores in a Seahawks uniform. The Seahawks are holding out hope that he can return to the form that saw him produce back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 2007 and 2008.
Lynch will need to see better blocking for that to happen. Seattle added James Carpenter and John Moffitt through the draft. They team with Russell Okung and Max Unger to give the Seahawks a nucleus for the future.
The receiving corps received a big boost this offseason with the addition of Sidney Rice and Zach Miller. They’re expected to join Mike Williams in the starting lineup. He led the team with 65 catches for 751 yards and two scores last season.
Defense: The Seahawks finished 25th in the NFL in scoring defense a year ago with 25.4 points allowed per game. They ranked 27th in total defense with 368.6 yards allowed per contest.
Despite injury issues, the defensive line was respectable in 2010. Led by end Chris Clemons, who finished firth on the team with 11 sacks, the Seahawks ranked 13th in the league with 37 total sacks.
The second layer of the defense did not play to expectations last year as three-time Pro Bowler Lofa Tatupu battled bad knees and 2009 top draft pick Aaron Curry did not earn his hefty paycheck.
Tatupu has been released after he and the team couldn’t agree on a restructured deal. Now, the Seahawks are asking David Hawthorne to man the middle. He has led the team in tackles the last two years.
The secondary is the weakest link of the defense. The Seahawks tied for third-worst in the league with 31 touchdown strikes allowed in 2010 and ranked 27th in the league with 249.6 passing yards allowed per game.
Free safety Earl Thomas, who intercepted five passes in his rookie season, is a keeper. The Seahawks are hoping corners Richard Sherman and Byron Maxwell can make an immediate impact in their rookie campaigns. Sherman has the better chance of cracking the starting lineup.
Prediction: 4th Place NFC West – A sixth division title in eight seasons isn’t out of the question but the odds aren’t in Seattle’s favor. The Seahawks went 3-7 down the stretch last season and will be asking a lot of a quarterback who has failed to deliver consistently. Plus, the other three teams in the division have made moves to get better. NFL odds makers have hit the Seahawks with the longest odds (+500) to win the NFC West.
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