Seahawks 2009 offensive MVP: TE John Carlson

With my friend Scotty Kimberly wanting peoples opinion on the 2009 Seattle Seahawks offensive MVP I decided to give my take. I had a short list consisting of TJ Houshmandzadeh, Nate Burleson, Justin Forsett, Matt Hasselbeck and John Carlson.

In the end it came down to Forsett and Carlson with John Carlson receiving my vote as the 2009 Seattle Seahawks offensive MVP.

Now some people might question right off the bat, why John Carlson? He was irrelevant for the first eight games of the season. Well there is a reason why his stats were down for the first eight games,outside of week one and that was because due to the inconsistency of the offensive line Carlson had to stay home and be an additional blocker instead of a route running tight end like he’s built for.

Now overall when the offensive line situation was resolved with Mike Gibson at right guard and Max Unger at center Carlson was able to get back to his normal form as a pass catching tight end.

In 2009 Carlson played all 16 games while recording 51 receptions for 571 yards and seven touchdowns, a team high in 2009. Carlson average yards per catch was 11.3 with 271 yards after catch. Carlson was only targeted 83 times this season.

When you compare Carlson’s 2009 numbers to those of TJ Houshmandzadeh, Nate Burleson and even Deion Branch he stands out as being the best overall receiving option for Hasselbeck.

Here’s a breakdown of Carlson’s 2009 stats vs TJ, Nate and Deion

TJ Houshmandzadeh: 79 receptions, 911 yards, three touchdowns, 11.5 average, 237 yards after catch and 135 targets.TJ’s difference for targets and receptions is 56.

Nate Burleson 63 receptions, 812 yards, three touchdowns, 12.9 average, 290 yards after catch and 103 targets.Nate’s difference for targets and receptions is 40.

Deion Branch: 45 receptions, 437 yards, two touchdowns, 9.7 average, 150 yards after catch and 79 targets. Deion’s difference for targets and receptions is 34.

Now compare that to John Carlson’s numbers overall and it’s clear that Carlson is the best. Carlson’s difference between targets and receptions is 32, even lower than Deion Branch.

So with that being said my vote for the 2009 Seattle Seahawks offensive MVP goes to tight end John Carlson.

Sound off.

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Seahawks player review: WR TJ Houshmandzadeh

This is the first in a long series of articles reviewing the Seahawks players of 2009. Did they under perform, over perform or just be average? We kick off the series with the Seahawks biggest free agent acquisition from last off season, wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh.

The Seahawks rewarded the NFL's most consistent wide receiver with a five year $40 million dollar contract with $15 million guaranteed.

With the Seahawks finishing 5-11 in TJ's first season with the team, needless to say it wasn't happy times in Houshmandzadeh-ville. Houshmnadzadeh looked to some fans and reporters like a smaller in scale version of T.O. Running in with offensive coordinator Greg Knapp and questionable actions on the sideline with former head coach Jim Mora Jr.

However from a statsical stand point Houshmandzadeh did about avgerage for what he's done in his career. He didn't have a good quarterback or a great offense in general for many reasons, some of which have been fixed. The firing of offensive coordinator Greg Knapp will help fix those problems. In at offensive coordinator is Jeremy Bates who was in Denver with Jay Cutler when he lit up the NFL through the air.

TJ couldn't be more happy to have Bates as the offensive coordinator. Now for Houshmandzadeh's stats from 2009.

TJ fininshed 2009 playing in all 16 games and recording 79 receptions (team high), 911 yards receiving (team high) and three receiving touchdowns. Houshmandzadeh also had 11.5 YPC (yards per catch).

Houshmandzadeh never was really apart of the Seahawks offense, which was almost nonexistent this season. Housh, along with Nate Burleson, Deion Branch and tight end John Carlson all never became apart of what was suppose to be an explosive offense for the Seahawks.

TJ, Nate and Deion caught national headlines when Nate and Deion hosted their weakly talk radio show in Seattle on 950 KJR Seattle. The Branch and Burleson Show went from being a fun an interactive talk session with the passionate 12th man to a show that had the trio of receivers (TJ, Deion and Nate) calling out Matt Hasselbeck, Jim Mora Jr, offensive coordinator Greg Knapp as well as local TV analyst Hugh Millen, who TJ took personal exception to.

However TJ's first season in Seattle can not be taken as a bust or a desaster because he let the team in receptions and receiving yards. The letdown came on the offensive line and at quarterback and running back with the exception of Justin Forsett.

So we will list TJ Houshmanzadeh's first season in Seattle as average.

Hopefully with a new head coach in Pete Carroll and a new offensive coordinator in Jeremy Bates the Seattle Seahawks offense, including TJ Houshmanzadeh will be alive and firing on all cylinders in 2010.

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Seahawks Draft Prospects: OT Russell Okung

As today dons a new year and more importantly a new decade in Seahawks history. However they still have one little bit of 2009 left attached to them, that being their final regular season game this Sunday at home against the Tennessee Titans and C2k Chris Johnson.

After the Tennessee game this Sunday the Seahawks will go into full on off season mode, starting with the hiring of the teams new president/GM replacing Tim Ruskell who resigned in December.

Once that new GM is in place they will have a lot of work ahead of them to add talented to this depleted roster. The Seahawks new GM will have to attack some of those needs through free agency as well as the 2010 draft where the Seahawks have two first round picks (7th and 19th currently projected).

The Seahawks will be going into the off season needing to address the following needs.

Starting left tackle to replace Walter Jones immediately.

Starting left guard to finally replace Steve Hutchinson and give the Seahawks a real strong left side once again.

A young talented running back to give the Seahawks a true presents in the running department, something they haven't had since Shaun Alexander.

An aggressive, strong defensive end to give the Seahawks a real pass rush, something they have seriously lacked the last two years.

A tall, speedy, physical corner back to match up against some of the tall NFC West WR's like Larry Fitzgerald.

A tall, explosive play maker at wide receiver to complement TJ Houshmandzadeh over the middle, and a real No. 1 target for Matt Hasselbeck.

TALENT, TALENT AND MORE TALENT.

So where do you start? Well over the next next three to four months leading up to the 2010 NFL draft I'll be profiling a lot of possible draft selections for the Seattle Seahawks at the need positions I just listed above.

So with that being said, first on the list is Oklahoma State left guard Russell Okung.

Physical stature and Skills:

6-8, 300 lbs, long arms, quick feet, 34 consecutive starts, great agility, Patient and doesn't over extend

Character/Experience :

Leader on and off the field, hark working, consistency throughout his entire college career and has started all four years at Oklahoma State.

NFL comparison:

Joe Thomas-Great footwork, experienced and hard working along with all the intangibles.

ESPN scouts Inc Todd McShay has Russell Okung as the No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2010 draft and a top seven pick. Okung might have a hard time slipping by the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions who will pick before the Seattle Seahawks, but do have a lot of other needs on their team as well.

On the Seahawks draft board Okung, with out any doubt will be the first player on their board. He could be the second behind Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh who, baring a trade or miracle won't fall to the Seahawks between 5th and 7th overall.

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Should Bill Cowher Be the Next Seahawks Head Coach?

If you live in Seattle Washington you know the sports scene is a work in progress with the Mariners, Sounders and UW Huskies football program all on the rise while at the same time watching the Seahawks organization fall apart right before our eyes.

A team that last year went 4-12 and a team many predicted to have a huge bounce back year because the 2008 season was decimated with injuries to a lot of key players headlined by Matt Hasselbeck and Walter Jones among others.

The Seahawks added a high profile free agent wide receiver in TJ Houshmandzadeh, who signed a five year, $40 million dollar contract and a player who was suppose to headline a talented trio of wide outs that would help the Seahawks offense bounce back.

Well with the Seahawks season one lonely game away from being over the Seahawks stand 5-10, third in the NFC West and in recent weeks have been tagged as the worst franchise in the NFL. Worse than the 1-14 Rams, the 2-13 Detroit Lions, the 3-12 Tampa Bay Bucs (who humiliated the Seahawks 24-7 at home), the 4-11 Washington Redskins and worse than the 3-12 Kansas City Chiefs.

The Seahawks have been humiliated the last three weeks, being outscored 106-24. The highest amount of points they have put up the last three games was 10, against the Green Bay Packers last week and they didn’t score a touchdown until the end of the fourth quarter when the score was 48-3.

Now you might think looking at those two stats I just put up and think oh my god the defense is just horrendous. Well in fairness to the lackluster, zero heart or effortless defense the Seahawks offense has accounted for 10 turnovers and only three touchdowns.

Breaking down those 10 turnovers all ten have been at the hands of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck who has racked up nine interceptions and one fumble while only putting up three touchdowns in three games. Some in fairness some were because the receiver fell down on the route but for the most part Matt has nor been clicking on ANY cylinders this season.

So where does this lead in terms of relevance to the title of the article?

Well the Seahawks kicked off the month of December by announcing that GM Tim Ruskell was resigning as GM of the Seattle Seahawks leaving three months left on his original five year contract that was up this off season.

The move showed to the NFL that the Seattle Seahawks were officially rebuilding and would begin searching for their next general manager.

The Seahawks took a hit in their PR department when they announced that Mike Holmgren, the former Seahawks coach who many thought would return to Seattle in a GM or front office position, turned down the Seahawks offer of a “senior leadership position” and two days later signed a contract with the Cleavland Browns to become their club president.

Right after it was announced that Holmgren turned down the Seahawks everyone in the city knew it was just a PR move by the Seahawks to show the fans that “hey we offered him the job be he turned us down, we didn’t turn him down, he turned us down”. This really started the whole fire that boiled over on 950 KJR-AM Seattle with the Branch and Burleson Show with a special guest host, WR TJ Houshmandzadeh.

Branch, Burleson and TJ all spoke their minds in what was a very explosive and firey show in which the trio of wide outs called out local TV and Radio analyst and former NFL quarterback Hugh Millen on air as well as calling out the Seahawks offensive coordinator Greg Knapp for horrendous play calling, and even the Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck got thrown under the bus.

As Branch and TJ put it “either you’re with us or you’re against us”.

So it really shows just how bad the waters have gotten in Seattle when it comes to Seahawks football. A hot topic in Seattle has been the teams recent effort after Seahawks head coach Jim Mora Jr. called his team out during his weekly press conference three weeks ago.

Mora said during that press conference that he wants more “nasty, dirt bags” on this football team. Well Jim Branch and Burleson just gave you your dirt bags you wanted.

Mora is in his first full season as Seahawks head coach and some people have questioned the effort that the players have had over the last few weeks and some suggest it’s a sign to management that the players want Mora out as head coach.

When you have your big money wide receiver in TJ Houshmandzadeh saying this team sucks you know its time for a real change on the coaching staff. And TJ blames himself as well saying he’s going to work his butt off this off season to get in shape for next year.

So with all the mess that is unfolding in Seattle with the Seahawks organization and a new GM coming in this off season, no one knows who it is but for sure it’s not someone currently with the Seahawks there is sure to be a major face lift on this franchise from the front office down to the coaching staff and players.

So all signs point to Jim Mora Jr. not sticking around as the Seahawks head coach, as well as offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and the rest of the Seahawks coaching staff most likely won’t be around with a new GM coming in.

Rarely do you see a current head coach stick around with a new Gm coming in (Todd Haley in KC, Eric Mangini in Cleavland and etc).

So who would replace Mora next season as the Seahawks head coach?

Well with not a lot of new head coaching options coming open except for all but three possible teams the Seahawks could use this opportunity to cash in big time on a great head coach like Mike Shanahan or Bill Cowher who has said he wants to return to coaching in 2010.

The Seahawks would be an excellent fit for Cowher, all depending on who is hired as the GM but no matter who that is Cowher will for sure be on that short list of head coaches for the Seahawks.

Now some might ask the question, why does Bill Cowher make sense as a top candidate for the Seahawks possible head coaching opening (I say possible because Mora is still the head coach).

Here are three reasons why Bill Cowher makes complete sense as candidate for the Seahawks possible head coaching job.

1) Cowher is a winner and knows what it means to be a winning NFL head coach. In his 12 years in the Steelers organization he compiled a regular season record of 149-90-1 and a post season record of 12-9 with two AFC titles and one Super Bowl title in 2005. His winning percentage as a head coach is .623 while Jim Mora in his fourth season as a head coach, first in Seattle has a regular season record of 31-32 and below a .500 winning percentage. The Seahawks need a head coach that has been to the top before and knows how to win. Cowher has done both, like former Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren.

2) Cowher knows how to use talent to the fullest and especially knows how to build a great defense, like he had done in Pittsburgh for 12 years. The Seahawks current roster has some talent on it but the current coaching staff seems to not know how to use the talent the right way. Cowher knows talent and how to put the right players in the right position to make an all around successful team.

3) Cowher, coming into the Seahawks organization would be able to work with the new GM on how he wants the team run and which players he wants to keep, let go and bring in knowing that he will know what to do with those players to build a successful all around team.

Also Cowher is a winner and all the Seahawks players can trust that, something I don’t think they can buy into with Mora.

Now I would like to point out that that Jim Mora Jr. is still the head coach for the Seahawks but once the season is over at four PM Sunday PST then the doors open wide for this circus to really open up this off season.

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Seahawks Decade In Rewind: Full of Highs and Lows

What a decade it has been for the Seattle Seahawks organization and the city of Seattle in general. The Seahawks, one of two original expansion teams along with the Tampa Bay Bucs have been to their highest high and their lowest low (still currently going lower) in franchise history, which is arguably the most successful decade in franchise history.

The Seahawks started out in 2000 still in the AFC West with John Kitna as their starting quarterback so when you take a look at the current Seahawks roster the organization has been through a lot of changes, both good and bad this decade.

If you want to compare the start of the decade to the conclusion of it, don’t, it won’t even be close. For example Anthony Simmons was the Seahawks leading tackler at the end of the 2000 season with 119. Ricky Watters ran for 1,242 yards and recorded seven touchdowns while crossing over the 30 year old mark.

Now the Seahawks leading tackler is still a middle linebacker, but in the form of David Hawthorne who has done an exceptional job of filling in for the injured Pro Bowl middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu. Hawthorne has recorded 103 tackles heading into week 16. For the Seahawks running game, they don’t have anything close to Watters or the young Shaun Alexander. They have “never was” running back in Julius Jones who’s rushed for 563 yards and two touchdowns in 149 attempts. Justin Forsett, the better of the two running backs has rushed for 475 yards and four touchdowns in only 90 attempts and at least four less total games.
Clearly a substantial difference in the overall team.

However the 2000 Seattle Seahawks finished 6-10, which the Seahawks still can top but by only one game. So the same start has the same ending to the best decade in Seahawks history.

From 2000-2010 the Seahawks have produced countless Pro Bowlers and a few HOF’s with the likes of left tackle Walter Jones, running back Shaun Alexander (basically retired), Bobby Engram (best slot receiver in Seahawks history), fullback Mack Strong (retired, best fullback in Seahawks history), middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu (3 straight Pro Bowls), and by far the most influential man in this decade, head coach and GM Mike Holmgren all will make this decade one to remember for a long time.

Mike Holmgren, now with the Cleveland Browns as their team president, led the Seahawks to their only Super Bowl appearance in team history and going 13-3 in their miraculous season winning 11 straight games.

Holmgren also brought in quite possibly the best starting quarterback in franchise history in Matt Hasselbeck. Over the last few years Hasselbeck has not been given a fair shot to take this team back to the Super Bowl with a makeshift offensive line, horrendous coaching (Greg Knapp and Jim Mora Jr.) and other injury problems across the board.

With the Seahawks moving into a rebuilding mode, this could be a good sign for Hasselbeck and he may finally get the offensive pieces he needs to take this team back to the Super Bowl starting with a talented offensive line and a real NFL running back.

With all that being said lets travel back in time and go through the highlights, both good and back of each year this decade from 2000 to 2009/2010.

2000 highlights/stats:

• 6-10 in AFC West, 4th in the division
• 320 points scored (20 p/g, 19th in the NFL)
• 405 points allowed (23 p/g, 25th in the NFL)
• -9 in takeaways (23rd in NFL)
• John Kitna starting quarterback: 18 TD’s, 19 Int’s and 2,658 yards passing
• Ricky Watters 1,242 rushing yards, 7 TD’s in 278 attempts. 31 years old
• RB Shaun Alexander first round pick (19th overall), OT Chris McIntosh (22nd overall)

2001 highlights/stats:

• 9-7 in AFC West, 2nd in the division
• 301 points scored (18 p/g, 19th in the NFL)
• 324 points allowed (20 p/g, 18th in the NFL)
• +6 in takeaway/giveaway (11th in the NFL)
• Matt Hasselbeck starting quarterback: 7 TD’s, 8 Int’s and 2,023 yards in 12 games starting
• Shaun Alexander 1,318 rushing yards, 14 TD’s in 309 attempts.
• WR Koren Robinson first round pick (9th overall), LG Steve Hutchinson (17th overall, best LG in Seahawks history) and CB Ken Lucas (2nd round pick)

2002 highlights/stats:

• 7-9 in NFC West, 2nd in the division

• 355 points scored (22 p/g, 16th in the NFL)

• 369 points allowed (23 p/g, 23rd in the NFL)
• +2 in takeaway/giveaway (14th in NFL)
• Matt Hasselbeck starting quarterback: 15 TD’s, 10 Int’s and 3,075 yards in 10 games started.
• Shaun Alexander 1,175 rushing yards, 16 TD’s in 295 attempts.
• TE Jeremy Stevens first round pick (28th overall)

2003 highlights/stats:

• 10-6 in NFC West, 2nd in the division
• 404 points scored (25 p/g, 7th in the NFL)
• 327 points allowed (20 p/g, 15th in the NFL)
• -1 in takeaway/giveaway (18th in NFL)
• Matt Hasselbeck starting quarterback: 26 TD’s, 15 Int’s and 3,841 passing yards
• Shaun Alexander 1,435 rushing yards, 14 TD’s in 326 attempts
• CB Marcus Trufant first round pick (11th overall) and S Ken Hamlin (2nd round pick)
• Mike Holmgren no longer GM, remains head coach

2004 highlights/stats:

• 9-7 in NFC West, 1st in the division
• 371 points scored (23 p/g, 12th in the NFL)
• 373 points allowed (23 p/g, 22nd in the NFL)
• +8 in takeaway/giveaway (9th in NFL)
• Matt Hasselbeck starting quarterback: 22 TD’s, 15 Int’s and 3,382 passing yards
• Shaun Alexander 1,696 rushing yards, 16 TD’s in 353 attempts
• DT Marcus Tubbs first round pick (23rd overall)

2005 highlights/stats:

• 13-3 in NFC West, 1st in division- Super Bowl runner up
• 452 points scored (28 p/g, 1st in the NFL)
• 271 points allowed (16 p/g, 7th in the NFL)
• +10 in takeaway/giveaway (7th in NFL)
• Matt Hasselbeck starting quarterback: 24 TD’s, 9 Int’s and 3,459 passing yards
• Shaun Alexander 1,880 rushing yards, 27 TD’s (NFL record, then broken by LT) in 370 attempts
• C Chris Spencer (1st round pick 26th overall), MLB Lofa Tatupu (2nd round) and OLB Leroy Hill (3rd round pick)
• Shaun Alexander named NFL MVP

2006 highlights/stats:

• 9-7 in NFC West, 1st in division
• 335 points scored(20 p/g, 14th in the NFL)
• 341 points allowed (21 p/g, 19th in the NFL)
• -8 in takeaway/giveaway (27th in the NFL)
• Matt Hasselbeck starting quarterback: 18 TD’s, 15 Int’s and 2,442 yards passing
• Shaun Alexander 896 yards, 7 TD’s in 252 attempts
• CB Kelly Jennings first round pick (31st overall)
• Shaun Alexander missed six games involving the “madden curse”

2007 highlights/stats:

• 10-6 in NFC West, 1st in division
• 393 points scored (24 p/g, 9th in the NFL)
• 291 points allowed (18 p/g, 6th in the NFL)
• +10 in takeaway/giveaway (5th in NFL)
• Matt Hasselbeck starting quarterback: 28 TD’s, 12 Int’s and 3,966 passing yards
• Shaun Alexander 716 yards, 4 TD’s in 207 attempts (10 games)
• CB Josh Wilson second round pick (teams first pick in the draft)
• Seahawks, and Mike Holmgren went to a pass heavy and pass only offense which shot them into the playoffs
• Seahawks traded 1st round pick to New England Patriots for WR Deion Branch

2008 highlights/stats:

• 4-12 in the NFC West, 3rd in the division
• 294 points scored (18 p/g, 25th in the NFL)
• 392 points allowed (24 p/g, 25th in the NFL)
• -7 in takeaway/giveaways (25th in NFL)
• Seneca Wallace starting quarterback: 11 TD’s, 3 Int’s and 1,532 yards passing (8 games started, most by a single Seahawks QB in 08, Hasselbeck had seven and Charlie Frye had one)
• Julius Jones 698 yards, 2 TD’s in 158 attempts (10 games)
• Matt Hasselbeck, WR’s, DB’s where all injured for the majority of the 2008 season.
• DE Lawrence Jackson first round pick (28th overall) and TE John Carlson (2nd round pick, best pick in a long time for the Seahawks)
• Mike Holmgren retires as HC, leaves Seahawks organization

2009 highlights/stats:

• Currently 5-9 in NFC West, 3rd in division (Green Bay and Tennessee coming up)
• 257 points scored so far (18 p/g, 22nd in the NFL)
• 325 points allowed so far (23 p/g, 23rd in the NFL)
• -5 in takeaway/giveaways (22nd in NFL)
• Matt Hasselbeck starting quarterback: 15 TD’s, 12 Int’s and 2,656 yards passing
• Julius Jones 563 yards, 2 TD’s in 149 attempts (12 games)
• LB Aaron Curry first round pick (4th overall), C Max Unger (2nd round pick) and WR Deon Butler (3rd round pick)
• Hasselbeck has missed 2 games. A horrendous offensive line to start the first 10 games. Not much talent on the OL currently.
• Horrendous play calling from offensive coordinator Greg Knapp.
• TJ Houshmandzadeh signed five year, $40 million dollar contract with the Seahawks
• Jim Mora Jr. new head coach
• Tim Ruskell resigns as GM

So as you take a look at each year by year you see how the Seahawks can have consistent success in the future if they learn from the past.

Age has been a problem the last two years with the Seahawks with Walter Jones at 35 and Matt Hasselbeck at 34 both have been great in this decade for the Seahawks but as the Seahawks go into a rebuilding mode Jones will most likely retire and Hasselbeck could as well or finish out his contract and then retire next year.

Either way you chose to look at it, the Seahawks have been a winning franchise this decade until the tail end of the decade which will being to change as the Seahawks look for a new GM.

As a Seahawks writer and fan I will never forget the following great Seahawks this decade. LT Walter Jones, LG Steve Hutchinson, C Robbie Tobeck, RG Chris Grey, QB Matt Hasselbeck, RB Shaun Alexander, WR Darryl Jackson, Mike Holmgren and a few others.

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Seahawks lose 24-7 To Bucs: The Matt Hasselbeck Show

The title fits perfectly with the play of the Seattle Seahawks today. Seahawks lose 24/7 all day long, and it's headlined by the "Matt Hasselbeck Show".

Over the last few weeks, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has looked worse than any quarterback in Seahawks history with his inaccuracy, inconsistency and just downright horrendous play.

In the last three weeks including today's game against the Tampa Bay Bucs Hasselbeck is 101/115 for 701 yards, 4 TD's and 5 Int's (four today).

Now overall, other than the five interceptions you might think those stats look pretty good. Think again, with Hasselbeck overthrowing wide open receivers, not making smart decisions with the football and being very unstable throughout this entire season.

Today Hasselbeck accounted for all five of the Seattle Seahawks turnovers, that's completely unacceptable for any veteran quarterback, which includes Hasselbeck.

Hasselbeck threw four interceptions and lose one fumble.

However the offensive line does not get the blame for the lose. It's all on
Hasselbeck. The offensive line did not allow hurry, sack or hit until midway through the third quarter. Hasselbeck had at least five seconds on each throw he made and still airmailed the ball at least 10+ times.

For a "franchise quarterback" that's just unacceptable.

The Seahawks are in an obvious rebuilding process that is looking to take longer and longer with each passing week.

Let's take a look and see how the Seahawks lose to a 1-12 Tampa Bay Bucs team.

First quarter:

Second quarter:

SEA- 29 yard touchdown pass from Hasselbeck to Carlson (8 plays, 85 yards and 4:09 TOP)

TB- Barth 25 yard FG (5 plays, 15 yards and: 37 TOP)

Third quarter:

TB-Barth 45 yard FG (10 plays, 50 yards and 6:16 TOP)

TB- 22 yard touchdown pass from Freeman to Williams (1 play, 22 yards)

TB- 6 yard touchdown pass from Freeman to Ward (9 plays, 37 yards and 4:30 TOP)
Fourth quarter:

TB-Barth 39 yard FG

Final Score: Tampa Bay 24 Seahawks 7

Final Stats for both teams:

SEA- Matt Hasselbeck: 27/46 for 256 yards, 1 TD and 4 Int's

TB- Josh Freeman: 16/26 for 205 yards, 2 TD's and 1 Int.

SEA- Julius Jones+Justin Forsett: 21 carries for 125 yards

TB- Derrick Ward+Cadillac Williams: 31 carries for 133 yards

SEA- John Carlson: 7 receptions for 86 yards and a TD reception

SEA- TJ Houshmandzadeh: 7 receptions for 73 yards

TB- Kellen Winslow: 6 receptions for 93 yards

TB- Sammie Stroughter: 4 receptions for 46 yards

SEA- David Hawthorne: 10 tackles

TB- Barrett Ruud: 8 tackles

The Seattle Seahawks will be at Green Bay next week in what is sure to be another blow out. A major note for the Seahawks is their head coach calling out the entire team this past week and the entire team toned him out which is not a good sign for the man who has a choke hold on this franchise, CEO Tod Leiwke.

Mora will make more changes this week for sure. Hopefully benching Matt Hasselbeck for rookie Mike Teel will be one of those moves. Teel can open up the offense and really spread it around.

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Seahawks Mock Draft: Offense Dominates Early

With the Seahawks now officially eliminated from the playoff picture it's time to join Mora, Leiweke and look toward the future as the Seahawks officially move into their long awaited rebuilding process that is expected to take two or three years.

Now yes the NFL Draft is four months away but it's never t00 early to start thinking about who the Seahawks should target to help kickoff their rebuild.

This team has some talent but as Jim Mora Jr. put it in his press conference, "we need more nasty players". Now Mora wanted to clear the questions and explain what he meant by nasty as well as "dirt bags". He wants to see Sean Locklear shove a defensive end on his arse when there's a run play. He wants to see the offensive line be nasty upfront and not allow a sack all game, and have consistency over the season with it.

Now looking at the current players that project to be a part of the 2010 class there is a great opportunity to build a great young core for the future of this team.

The Seahawks lost All World LT Walter Jones, who didn't play a down this season due to the fact he could never recover from off season knee surgery. So there are major questions at Left Tackle long term. Also Sean Locklear, who was supposed to be the heir apparent to Jones, has failed to live up to those standards this season.

Then the Seahawks have questions about Matt Hasselbeck, how much longer can the great number eight play? He's only got one year left on his contract so most likely he will do exactly what Mike Holmgren did. Play out his contract and retire.

It still gives the Seahawks the chance to take their future starting quarterback, so that whoever that is can learn behind him for one full season and then take over.

Other positions that will be looking to upgrade would be LG/RG, DE, CB and FS as well as running back but Justin Forsett might be the long term answer.

With that being said here is my first mock draft of the "off season" for the Seattle Seahawks.

1st Round Pick (10th overall-projected): Bruce Campbell, OT, Maryland- This is a very smart and easy pick for the Seahawks at 10th overall. No one knows if Walter Jones will even play in the NFL next year with his unstable knee problems and even if he does make it back, he's 35 years old and would be entering his 14th season in the NFL.

Either way he's on his way out and Campbell is an excellent left tackle who would fit great on the Seahawks offensive line. They need to get the LT before the QB.

1st round pick (24th overall-projected): Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame- I think people who have Clausen in the top 15 or higher on their draft boards are just asking for it. Clausen doesn't have the top 15 or even top five talent as a complete quarterback.

Clausen has an average arm down the field and has a few other things to work on but will most likely fall to 24th overall to the Seattle Seahawks, also like ESPN's Todd McShay projects.

Clausen fits great with the Seahawks offense as well as the Seahawks wide receivers. They like to go under a lot and with the addition of Clausen would open things up more for TJ Houshmandzadeh who loves to go across the middle.

Now that the Seahawks got their LT in Bruce Campbell can now draft their long term QB in Jimmy Clausen.

2nd round pick(41st overall-projected): Mike Johnson, LG, Alabama- The title says it all. Offense dominates early for the Seahawks and that's exactly what needs to happen in order for this offense to start clicking again.

Johnson is a enormous talent at 6-5, 305 lbs and just what the Seahawks are missing on their offensive line. A dominant Left Guard to finally fill the void of Steve Hutchinson.

With the Seahawks having everything on offense except a stellar offensive line this is just what the Seahawks need. They already have their LT in Campbell, their QB in Jimmy Clausen and now their LG in Mike Johnson.

The Seahawks have officially moved Max Unger to Center, and Mike Gibson, who the Seahawks claimed off waivers, is starting at RG now. So the Seahawks could possibly have a very talented and young offensive line to build around as they rebuild.

4th round pick (105th overall-projected): Jammie Kirlew, DE, Indiana- Well the Seahawks had other needs at more important positions so this is where they will pick their defensive end.

Kirlew has averaged 70+ tackles the last two seasons at Indiana and that's something the Seahawks lack on the defensive line, a great tackle machine. The highest tackle total is Darryl Tapp with 35.

So he might be a project to build up but with this rebuild it's talent that matters and Kirlew has a lot of talent at defensive end.

Since I want this mock draft to be realistic I'm not going beyond the fourth round because of the current timetable. As the draft gets closer it will become more relevant.

So to recap the projected Seahawks 2010 Draft here is what the Seahawks got.

LT Bruce Campbell: 6-6, 312 lbs and ranked 4th on ESPN's rankings at offensive tackle.

QB Jimmy Clausen: 6-2, 217 lbs and ranked 3rd on ESPN's rankings at quarterback.

LG Mike Johnson: 6-6, 305 lbs and ranked 4th on ESPN's rankings at offensive guard.

DE Jammie Kirlew: 6-1, 254 lbs and ranked 19th on ESPN's rankings at defensive end.

In all sense the Seahawks need to start their rebuild on offense with a young, talented quarterback in Jimmy Clausen and get him into the fold right away so he can learn. Then adding two offensive linemen in Bruce Campbell and Mike Johnson will help out the entire offense including Clausen and Forsett.

The Seahawks haven’t had a dominant offensive line since 2005 and that seems to be the one key reason why this offense has dropped the ball the past two years. Also Clausen will help things a lot.

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