The Seahawks put up a good fight in this one, and there was plenty to like about their performance.  Lynch went over 100 yards rushing, Mike Williams and Justin Forsett finally emerged from witness protection to help out the offense, coverage on punts and kickoffs was decent, and the o-line didn't give up a single sack until late in the fourth quarter.  Unfortunately, none of that was enough to overcome a blocked field goal, two interceptions, and a ton of penalties committed in all three phases of the game.

Like the previous two matchups against the Browns and Bengals, this game is winnable if the Seahawks can manage to get their act together on offense and special teams.  Points need to be scored in the first half, the o-line needs to give Jackson time to work, opposing punt returners need to be kept out of the endzone, and Whitehurst needs to stay on the bench.

Dallas' head coach Jason Garrett runs a variant of the old Air Coryell system, an explosive, highly aggressive offense that incorporates deep options into nearly every passing play.  If Seattle's secondary can't keep up, things could get ugly in a hurry.  On the other side of the ball, Wade Phillips' tired, uninspired defense has been replaced this year by new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's inventive schemes, plus Demarcus Ware is still one of the best pass rushers in the league regardless of defensive scheme. 

The Cowboys won't be pushovers, but if all goes well neither will the Seahawks.  After sitting through back-to-back, frustrating losses to beatable opponents, a road win in Dallas would feel pretty great right about now.

SEA! HAWKS!

2nd Quarter

1-10 CIN 14 (14:51) 14-A.Dalton pass incomplete short left.  Play is not reviewable.

You know, for a play that's generated as much anger, frustration, and controversy among Seahawks fans as this one has, it sure doesn't look like much on paper.  Here's a shot of it prior to the snap (sorry, only broadcast footage was available for this one):

The play starts off with the Bengals stuck deep in their own territory thanks to a great special teams tackle by newly-signed Seattle LB Heath Farwell.  Farwell is an excellent pickup for the team; he's had some injury problems, but when healthy he's one of the best special teamers in the NFL.  He went to the Pro Bowl in 2009 for his special teams play with the Vikings, and judging by his performance in this game it looks like he's back to his old self.

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In what felt an awful lot like a repeat of the Week 4 game against the Falcons, the Seahawks lost but managed to get their offense back on track after a terrible start with Whitehurst under center.  Coverage on special teams is still a concern, and the offensive line struggled all game, but there were plenty of positives, too.  Richard Sherman played much better than anyone could have expected a fifth-round rookie CB to play in his first NFL start, intercepting one pass and batting down another into the waiting arms of Kam Chancellor.  On offense, there is no longer any doubt who the starting QB should be -- Tarvaris Jackson is the unquestioned leader of this offense, and his leadership and command of the no-huddle was impressive.

Still, I'm starting to get tired of writing these "yes we lost, BUT..." comments post-game.  This team needs to start winning, and that begins with getting the offense rolling in the first half, not just the second.  And with that, I'll turn the thread over to you guys.

Today, the Seahawks go up against another stout defensive team, the Bengals.  How good have both defenses been?  Well, take a look:

(* Eight-way tie between Rams, Saints, Texans, Steelers, Patriots, Vikings, Bengals, and Seahawks)

Both offenses are going to have to work for everything they get today, and the wet weather isn't going to be doing them any favors.  Thankfully, Seahawks will also be getting back RB Marshawn Lynch, C Max Unger, and TE Zach Miller.  QB Tarvaris Jackson's return is a bigger question mark, but he looked good in Friday's practice and has a better than average chance to play in this one.  And yes, the Bengals have the better record (4-2, as opposed to Seattle's 2-4), but don't let that fool you.  One of those wins was versus the resurgent Bills, but the opponents in those other three wins were the Colts, Browns, and Jaguars -- not exactly powerhouse teams. 

This game is winnable, as long as:

1) Jackson kickstarts the no-huddle offense.  Before being sidelined with a pectoral injury against the Giants, Jackson was starting to look suspiciously like a competent starting QB, and his command of the no-huddle had a lot to do with it.  He needs to pick up where he left off in week five and put some pressure on the Bengals' defense.

2) The offensive line continues to improve.  The o-line has looked better in every game this season, and LG Robert Gallery's return last week greatly boosted the unit's effectiveness.  Keep it up, guys.

3) The secondary holds up.  After putting CBs Marcus Trufant and Walter Thurmond on injured reserve the last two weeks, the Seahawks will be starting their third new left cornerback this season, rookie Richard Sherman.  Sherman isn't alone back there, though.  CB Brandon Browner has steadily improved since getting torched by the Steelers in week two, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas are swiftly becoming one of the best safety tandems in the league, and S Atari Bigby and CB Roy Lewis (newly activated off the PUP list) are both effective nickelbacks.  How they fare against the Bengals' young receivers AJ Green (15.6 yds/catch) and Jerome Simpson (16 yds/catch) will have a huge impact on the outcome of the game.

Kickoff just can't come soon enough.

SEA! HAWKS!

In sports, stats are at their best when they can be averaged over a wide number of games.  That's easy enough to do in baseball, where the pros get a whopping 162 games a year.   NBA and NHL players get the benefit of 82 games a year to show their stuff.  Even Major League Soccer players can count on 34 regular season appearances to average out their stats. 

Compared to those figures, the NFL's 16 game season is downright unforgiving.  With so few opportunities to work with, the relative importance of each and every performance is greatly magnified.  If one of the hitters on your MLB team goes into a mid-season slump for ten or twenty games, who cares?  He'll snap out of it eventually, and besides, there's plenty more games where those came from.  Let your players get away with a slump like that in the NFL and you'll be out of a job faster than you can say Scooter McLean.

Which brings us to Charlie Whitehurst and how we should view his performance against the Browns.  One way to do it would be to take the long view (like Mike Sando did) and say yes, he was pretty awful in that game, but it's also just one game.  Everyone has bad days, especially when they're quarterbacks with just a handful of starts under their belt. 

Conversely, you could take into account the exaggerated importance of each and every game on the schedule (like most every football fan in the Pacific Northwest did in their living rooms last Sunday) and say the regular season is way too short to gamble on this being a one-time screwup on Whitehurst's part.  Far better to play it safe and keep him in his natural position: holding a clipboard on the sideline, far away from the ball.

Personally, I like to combine these two approaches by cursing the day Whitehurst was born, then looking at the game in perspective once I've gotten all the obscenities out of my system.  It's the best of both worlds, really.

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That was an ugly, ugly game.  The botched call that negated a return TD by Leon Washington ended up deciding the game, but Charlie Whitehurst's poor accuracy did far more damage to Seattle than the refs could ever hope to do.  He had no feel for the pocket, threw pass after pass into double and triple coverage, and locked on to his primary receivers all game long.  Here's hoping Tarvaris Jackson returns to the lineup soon.

On the plus side, we now know Washington's still got it, and the defense played well despite being left on the field for 40+ minutes.  Red Bryant was a juggernaut on special teams with two blocked field goals to help keep the game close, and Richard Sherman played well at cornerback after Walter Thurmond left the game with an injury.

UPDATE: Danny O'Neil of the Seattle Times is reporting that the injury that took Walter Thurmond out of the game has been diagnosed as a broken fibula, so he is likely gone for the rest of the year.  Roy Lewis will likely be activated from the PUP list to take his place on the roster, and either Lewis or rookie Richard Sherman will take over as the team's starting left cornerback.

Not all the injury updates for the Seahawks are bad, though.  According to Eric Williams of the Tacoma News-Tribune, Tarvaris Jackson should be back by next week.  No word on Max Unger yet, unfortunately, but Jackson's return greatly increases the offense's chances of being something other than deeply embarrassing.

The Seahawks will be playing a game on the road today without their starting left cornerback, starting quarterback, and possibly their starting center as well.  Thankfully, their opponent is the Cleveland Browns, who have a great return man in Josh Cribbs, a decent pass defense, and not much else.

Besides, today is my birthday, and I can't think of a better present than watching the Hawks win their second road game in a row, can you?

SEA! HAWKS!

According to the team's injury report, TE Zach Miller has been ruled out after missing practice all week with a "Neck/Head" injury.  It's hard to know exactly what the problem is, given the vagueness of the description in the report, but Miller's had two weeks to heal up and he still isn't right.  That's not good.

Miller being sidelined also means that the only tight end currently on the active roster is Anthony McCoy, who is a much better blocker than he is a receiver.  If the Seahawks decide to add another TE to pair with McCoy, they do have some options close at hand.  Since we're past the week six mark, Cameron Morrah is eligible for activation off the PUP list, or if he's not fully healthy then practice squadder John Nalbone could be promoted to the active roster instead.  Another possibility could be receiving TE Dominique Byrd, who remains a free agent after being cut by the Seahawks back in week two.

To make matters worse, C Max Unger is listed as doubtful.  Unger's solid performance has played a big part in the success of Seattle's no-huddle offense the last few games, and if he ends up sidelined then backup C/G Lemuel Jeanpierre will likely start in his place.  Jeanpierre is a second-year man with just a handful of snaps to his name this season, so there's no telling how comfortable he's going to be making calls for the o-line.

Tarvaris Jackson is listed as doubtful, which is unfortunate given his command of the offense the last few games, but Charlie Whitehurst proved the Seahawks could win with him under center when he replaced Jackson toward the end of the game against the Giants.  Far better to let Whitehurst play than rush Jackson's return and risk worsening his injured pectoral.

On the bright side, Robert Gallery appears to have recovered from his groin surgery and is listed as probable to play this week.  That's great news -- I don't know about the rest of you, but I've seen all I want of Paul McQuistan and his questionable strength.  Also probable this week are Mike Williams, Malcolm Smith, and Marshawn Lynch.

This week, Dan Parker of Cleveland sports blog Waiting for Next Year was kind enough to asnwer some questions to get us ready for the upcoming game against the Browns.  In return, I provided a response from the Seahawks' perspective for the upcoming next installment of his excellent  "The Browns Will Win If..." article series, which should be available on their blog in the next day or two.

Thanks again Dan, and may the best team from the Pacific Northwest win!

1)  The Browns, much like the Seahawks, appear to have committed themselves to rebuilding, as evidenced by the new coaching staff and very young roster (the average age of the players on both teams hovers just below 26 years old).  What's your opinion of the rebuild effort so far?  Are the Browns contenders now, or do they need another season or two to get their ducks in a row?

Well, I think the biggest problem is one of perception: it's hard to sell a full-on rebuild for a team that was technically never really "built" in the first place. The Browns have played--and lost--exactly one playoff game since returning in 1999. The nuts and bolts is that Holmgren came in as Czar, took a year to review the roster, and then cleaned house. If I'm honest, I'd say that a lot of fans knew it was needed, that the Browns weren't so much a ship in need of a captain as they were a cruise line in need of an entirely new boat. Early returns on Tom Heckert's two drafts have been positive, and it's clear the Browns elected to build up the defense first. So far, there are four legit players that have come from the top two rounds of the past two drafts: CB Joe Haden, SS TJ Ward, DT Phil Taylor, and DE Jabaal Sheard. Of those four, Sheard is the least polished right now, but all have made an impact early on in their careers. So, on one side of the ball, it looks like it's going well. On offense, well, that's another story. No WRs, a RB whom the new coach refuses to use, and a QB that looks to have regressed. Ooof.

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