The (tardy) ex-Seahawk report

As usual, I'm spending the morning flipping around from game to game, watching ex-Seahawks play.

It's a slow week, however, since the Detroit Sea Lions have a bye.

Baltimore hosts the hapless Bills, who have shocked the world by jumping to a big lead over the Ravens, who haven't been playing much defense today. This should force Flacco to throw the ball a lot, which could get Housh on the field more often in multiple receiver sets.


Seneca Wallace remains injured, so Colt McCoy's trial by fire continues in Cleveland. So, Chop Womack is the only Seattle exile to watch. At some point, the Browns picked up former Seahawk center Steve Vallos, but he's inactive today. The Holmgren magic doesn't seem to have transformed the Browns, who continue to lose at a steady clip. However, today Cleveland seems to have snuck up on New Orleans; they're leading.

Owen Schmitt continues to play fullback for Philadephia. He is still merely serviceable as a fullback, neither a dominating blocker like Mack Strong nor a good runner like Leonard Weaver.

Deion Branch lit it up last week in his first week back with the Patriots, outplaying the departed Randy Moss, and catching more balls for more yards than he ever did in a game in his four years with the Seahawks, which makes one wonder what accounts for the difference.

Is it effort? Does Deion just try harder for the Patriots?

Is Tom Brady that much better a quarterback than Matt Hasselbeck? Hasselbeck had as many years to develop a rapport with the receiver as Brady did...

Is it coaching, or Branch's ability to learn? The wideout looked more comfortable in the Patriot offensive scheme after a four-year layoff than he did in any of the three different offensive systems used by the Seahawks in his time with us. Is it just a matter of continuity and opportunity to learn, or have New England's coaches just that much better at customizing their offensive schemes to suit their personnel?

The Patriots visit San Diego today. It will be interesting to see whether Deion's performance last week was a fluke or a sign of things to come.