Staying Alive

So far this season, Seattle has trounced the weak and struggled against the strong. Looking at the present records of our opponents thus far this year, the Seahawks are 4-1 against losing teams (Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, St. Louis, San Francisco) and 0-3 versus winners.

Seattle needs to reverse this trend to stay alive for the division title. Arizona has built a 2-game lead in the division, but the Seahawks can erase that lead in head-to-head competition by sweeping the Cardinals, earning the tiebreaker advantage and--crucially--keeping at least even with the redbirds versus the rest of the NFL between tonight and the season finale in Glendale.

Arizona is really good this year. Carson Palmer has never played better, nor has he ever enjoyed such a strong supporting cast on offense. After a disastrous start to the season, Seattle's defense finally started rounding into form before the bye, holding the anemic offenses of Dallas and San Francisco to five field goals and zero touchdowns. Limiting Arizona's aerial attack will require much loftier heroics.

Fortunately, nickel cornerback Jeremy Lane returns from injury to bolster the secondary.

The Cardinals defense remains strong, and Seattle's offense has trouble getting out of its own way. The O-Line is gradually improving, but despite the excellence of our quarterback, running backs and receivers, the offense remains significantly less than the sum of its parts. Darrell Bevell's playcalling remains suspect. Russell Wilson's decisionmaking and accuracy have been a little off. Receivers have dropped a few balls. We move the ball but we can't seal the deal.

Here, too, reinforcements should help. Special teams standout Ricardo Lockette is lost for the season, but speedster Paul Richardson--who came on strong late in his rookies season--has returned from injury and is reportedly faster than ever.

I feel like Seattle is close to getting it together on offense. Bevell and DangeRuss will find their grooves, and it will be like that run late in 2013 when we were dropping fortyburgers and fiftyburgers on folks.

With Marshawn Lynch hurt--he's active, but may be limited--Wilson will need to carry more of the load. Thomas Rawls and Fred Jackson are capable runners, but I think the coaches' decision to leave Cooper Helfet--our best blocking tight end--signals their intent to use multiple-wideout sets and spread the field.

It should be fun. Roar, 12th Man, roar! Go, Hawks!