Diagnostic win

Seattle escaped from Houston with a win last week, but the Texans exposed weaknesses that other teams will try to exploit.

Throughout the first half, Matt Schaub dissected our vaunted secondary, moved the ball efficiently, and built a commanding lead. The Seahawks made adjustments in the second half, turned up the pass rush to 11, shut out Houston for the rest of the game and forced overtime when Richard Sherman baited Schaub into an unwise throw and returned the ensuing interception for a touchdown to tie the game. Seattle will encounter many other teams this season that field fine quarterbacks who throw to capable receivers from behind solid O-lines with support from strong running games, including the Colts today. Our defense can't continue to let opponents run up the score for a full half before responding to the challenge. Fortunately, the return of Bruce Irvin should improve our pass rush from impressive to oppressive, so the defensive vulnerabilities Houston exposed last week are literally the least of our worries.

The greatest concern is Seattle's patchwork offensive line, with backups playing four of the five positions. Right guard JR Sweezy is the only starter playing his own position. Left guard Paul McQuistan must continue to impersonate a left tackle, while James Carpenter masquerades as a starting left guard and Lemuel Jeanpierre does his best to fill in for Max Unger at center. Rookie right tackle Michael Bowie, repeatedly steamrolled last week by JJ Watt, gets to show if he learned anything today. These replacement parts produced decent run blocking last week, but they failed utterly in pass protection: quarterback Russell Wilson got hit or sacked on 16 of 34 dropbacks in Houston. Indy's defense is nearly as good, and to compound matters, Zach Miller is unlikely to play today. One of the best blockers on the team, he often functions as a sixth offensive lineman. The only real remedies here are...
1. The backups must execute better
2. Seattle needs to establish the run and minimize passing downs
3. Our offense must employ maximum protection schemes on passing downs
4. Our receivers need to make their blitz reads and get open fast so Wilson won't have to hold the ball

DangeRuss willed the team to victory last week, using his legs to elude pressure and find room to throw and run for first downs. It is nice to know that your quarterback can do that for you, but we can't afford to make a habit of relying on it. Wilson is good at ducking big hits, but if he continues to get pummeled as often as he did last week, then we will eventually lose him to injury. Defenses have chosen to respond to the pistol by punishing running quarterbacks, by exploiting every opportunity to brutalize them. One unlucky hit can end a season. Today, the rest of the offense needs to step up to help Wilson.

Last week, three developments enabled Seattle to win. First, the defense responded after halftime. Second, Houston's defense faltered after losing wild man linebacker Brian Cushing to a concussion. Third, Russell Wilson took the team on his shoulders. (Honorable mention to kicker Steven Hauschka, who has been incredibly clutch all year.)

Today the Seahawks face another daunting challenge, another complete team in another loud dome, again with a 10:00 a.m. kickoff. Seattle's defense needs to smother Andrew Luck, a better and more versatile quarterback than Matt Schaub. The offense must account for linebacker Robert Mathis, an elite pass rusher.

The Seahawks must resolve to dominate. As the Huskies learned last night, fickle fate and bad officiating can rob you of victory in a close game.

Go, Hawks!