Pale Musings

On Saturday the Hawks will be facing the Cowboys.  That means Terrell Owens, one of the top receives (and mouths) in the game today.  Guarding T.O. with your normal starters can create headaches for any defensive staff.  Throw in some key corner back injuries and your headaches have turned into a migraine!

Mike Sando has noted on the Seahawks Insider some of the potential names that may be guarding Owens on Saturday.  I don’t know about you, but I think these guys are in for a heck of an introduction to the NFL.  I hope they have stellar debuts despite the intestinal butterflies.

Ok, I have refrained from writing about the Hawks all year.  Well, now we are in to the playoffs and it is time to get some concerns and ideas out there.

It has been a very torturous year for Seahawks fans.  In my opinion the team has simply not played up to its potential on both sides of the ball.  Defense has been Achilles Heel however, especially the “big play.”  In almost every game there were several big plays (plays over 20 yards) that seemed avoidable.

All of that aside, the Hawks have made it.  Some will say they “backed in” to the playoffs via San Fransisco losing one of their last 2 games.  While technically true, they were guaranteed a playoff spot in week 16, they did win their last game which would have sealed it even if SF had managed to win out, so that is a positive.

Now we look forward to the playoffs and start worrying anew.  Injuries have plagued the Seahawks this season, and true to form, we have several going into the wildcard game.   They have made some roster moves in an attempt to increase depth in some key areas.  We will see.

I will say that the offense has looked better the final 2 weeks of the season, a top goal for coach Mike Holmgren.  While a good offense can help to make up a mediocre defense, it probably cannot fully support a bad one.  I am not saying that the Hawks’ defense is bad, but statistics have the D ranked middle to lower half in most categories.

Well, there is nothing like over-analysing a situation.  Having done that I think that the Hawks, my team since I was old enough to understand football, will triumph over the Cowboys this week.  I do not think it will be easy, but I have faith that the 12th man will do their best to make it hard on Tony Romo and “America’s Team,” if they can still be called that with T.O. on the roster. 

Good Luck Seattle, let’s get to the next round!