Seattle Seahawks 2015 Season Preview

Seattle Seahaws

2014 record: 12

2015 O/U 11

Off Season Overview

The Seahawks just get it. They know that your championship window can disappear in a heartbeat and the pieces start to disperse. After losing Gus Bradley in 2013, Dan Quinn now leaves the staff and extends to two coaches in the Carroll tree now heading franchises. With that they consistently have lost depth pieces for the last two years. This year it leaves James Carpenter, O’Brien Schofield, Malcolm Smith, Jeron Johnson, and Zach Miller. They know that time is short to win before all the pieces are gone so adding Jimmy Graham could be a major change. Losing Max Unger in the trade for Graham is going to affect this team, as you now lose a core center from your squad, but Graham changes the dynamic, and he changes the way you game plan. A team with a bunch of possession receivers was praying for something tall to take red zone targets and here we are. Ahtaya Rubin is a low risk, high reward guy who hasn’t cared about football in Cleveland recently, and Cary Williams was not great, but in a Seattle system that seems to breed corner backs he may step in be not much worse than what Byron Maxwell was. All in all you know that nothing lasts forever, but this team has three straight Super Bowl appearances on their mind, and the hope is that the Graham addition can do it.

Offensive Strength

The Beast as they call him will be getting every carry from the one yard line this year. Marshawn Lynch may be the most valuable player on a team where about six guys can make that claim. He carried the ball at 4.7 yards a run and lead the league in yards was third in the league in yards after contact. The Seahawks were the most efficient rushing team in the NFL and that is despite losing Unger for 10 games last season. Russell Wilson is the second offensive strength and his ability to contribute in the ground game is what makes him so dynamic. He can out run you, stop on a dime and hit a twenty yard out on a dime. Wilson has completed 63% of his passes for his career, and his career high in interceptions, 10, came in his rookie year. He is basically Alex Smith with the ability to throw a bomb and a better runner. His two way threat ability makes him one of the top threats in the league and to compliment him with Lynch is what makes this team such a success. They tried to make Percy Harvin his go to guy, but now Jimmy Graham becomes the man and to that I see an upgrade. You always saw the wide outs and you love all their ability but you say, why aren’t any of them six foot tall? We all remember the Super Bowl and even if they shouldn’t have thrown the ball, at least with Jimmy Graham it makes sense. When you combine not only Graham and his average of 10 TDs a season in New Orleans, but also Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, Jermaine Kearse, and Chris Matthews. I envision Baldwn being the top wide out, and he should be a nice third threat now coming off of a season of career highs in catches and yards as well as two 100 yard games. They also added Lockett in the draft who I think will get a lot of time as a third round rookie. He has the footwork of an NFL player and has been dynamic in the pre season. He was one of favorite college players last year and I think his addition with Baldwin, Kearse and the 6’5” Chris Matthews, this becomes a dangerous set of playmakers. The team finished in 10th in passing efficiency and I would say there is a chance it could be better in 2015.

Offensive Weakness

The big question is can this offensive line piece together and find a rhythm. They looked bad when Unger was out, and didn’t lose a game when he started. Drew Nowak, who has never started an NFL game will now hoist in as the anchor of this team. That is not a minor problem and his pedigree, and past doesn’t bare well for him to be an easy fix. The guard was a rotation last year and may remain the same this year. It really just makes you want to think about Lynchs’ value more after seeing how weak the team is on the line and then see where they are in terms of rankings. The line wasn’t leaps and bounds better last year and this offense as a whole should remain in the top ten in efficiency, but it will be interesting to see if they can fill out to really make a run at this thing.

Defensive Strength

Where do you begin with this defense? Well first you begin with the shut down secondary that has been a top five unit for the past three years. Earl Thomas to me is the leader of the team and their can’t miss player. The safety was second on the team in tackles, and he did it by flying all over the field, from blitzes to protecting to the center of the field against the deep ball. He creates a no fly zone for almost any deep ball. Richard Sherman then blocks off the left side of the field. As far as almost any statistic is concerned Richard Sherman is the best corner in the NFL. He plays only on the left side and he basically shuts that down on a week-to-week basis. Between the two is the basher, Kam Chancellor, and the tackler Bobby Wagner, and basically the pass is shut down right after the catch. Beside the back end and Wagner, the biggest strength of this team will be getting to the quarter back and not blitzing those four. Frank Clark will be added to Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, and Bruce Irvin in a rotation of pass rushers who need to get there so that these guys don’t have to blitz. 18.5 sacks were combined from the three last year and Clark is a rookie who should provide rest for the core. To think that this defense had lost Cliff Avril mid game to concussion, Richard Sherman played through a torn UCL, Earl Thomas through a separated shoulder, and Chancellor through a sprained MCL and were still one play away from winning the Super Bowl is pretty remarkable, and I can’t wait to see what they bring in 2015.

Defensive

The second corner back behind Sherman is a question mark. You start to wonder if it matters after the Seahawks just keep pumping guys out. First Walter Thurmond, then Byron Maxwell and Jeremy Lane left. Thurmond is on his second team in two years and now changed positions so that Maxwell could start at corner for his new team. Cary Williams now goes from starting where Maxwell takes over, in Philadelphia, to Maxwells’ old home in Seattle. You kind of wonder if at the end it will be Seattle laughing but for the moment that is a weakness. If you want to get nit picky, the rotation at defensive tackle is inconsistent. Jordan Hill is effective but only in limited plays Brandon Mebane is coming off an injury and also missed the Super Bowl. Demarcus Dobbs, Jesse Williams, and potentially Rubin can sub in so it isn’t exactly weak, there just aren’t any potential all pros there. To get real nit pick nobody is talking about all these guys coming off of an injury. How about the Kam Chancellor hold out? My gut tells me that he is there week1, but success does bring egos so here we go in year two after a championship, and year one after the tough championship loss.

Where do they rank O/U 11

I see Chancellor in uniform and I see this defense as strong as ever. I think Graham and Lockett are additions make this offense better than last season as well, and if costs Unger, who started only six games, so be it. The Seahawks are my Super Bowl favorites for the third straight year and it would take a major change to knock them off. Vegas has them regressing by one game and it may due to coming off of that loss and that schedule, but I could see this team right back at 12-4 and in the driver seat for home games until the Super Bowl. It isn’t a strong sense and there could be some drop off, but I would look over and look at the Seahawks winning the west.

Parkers Pick: 1st in the NFC West, No play (lean over)

Logans Pick: 1st in the NFC West, Over 11 wins