| 12 September 2009
Most of you guys probably know what a black hole is. It's a collapsed star where the gravity is so strong that nothing can escape not even light. At the start of this season, the Seahawks are like a black hole to the rest of the league. They played the pre-season using a watered down vanilla playbook that didn't give away much of anything as far as what to expect from them when the season starts and the games are for real. They practice in a brand new training facility where they can go indoors and work on surprises where even the biggest telephoto lens can't reach.
The Seahawks have a new head coach, new offensive and defensive coordinators, 10 new starters, and have developed a completely new defensive scheme dubbed the "West Coast Defense" which was tailored to the current player's abilities and therefore is a complete unknown. Knapp is known for his running game but this season, he has the best pure passing quarterback that he's ever had so there's a big question mark whether you'll see a vintage Knapp offense when the Seahawk's take the field or a newly developed hybrid reminiscent of Holmgren's old passing offense coupled with Knapp's highly successful running game. In short, the Seahawks are a scary proposition to game plan for if you're one of the first few teams to face them because there's really not much documented media to go on. To continue reading this article, press Read more... below.This is a huge advantage for the Seahawks and if Mora is as smart as I think he is, he's going to only unveil what he needs to in order to win against the Rams and 49'ers saving some surprises for the Bears and then the Colts. I think it will really be mid-season until the Seahawks's tendency to run this play or that play in a given situation will be able to be figured out accurately from game tape. Starting with Sunday's game against the Rams, that big black hole gives them a great advantage to start the 2009 season with. Of course, eventually the rest of the league will have enough tape on them and the Seahawks will have been put in enough situations for everyone to have a good idea how they like to handle different formations and schemes but until then, it should be a lot of fun watching the Seahawks operate in an environment of uncertainty as far as their opponents are concerned.
Tomorrow, I expect the Seahawks to not unveil too much because the Rams should be a relatively easy game (don't tell the players that). With Bulger trying to come back from his broken pinky finger on his throwing hand and major injuries to go along with a decimated receiving corps (sound familiar), they will be relying heavily on Stephen Jackson to carry the team. It's usually pretty easy to stop a one dimensional team even when that dimension is pretty good. They are the only team we really walloped last season and they really haven't improved much if at all this season while the Seahawks should be much improved. Mora has impressed upon the team that they shouldn't be thinking about their record, other division games, making the playoffs, winning the division, or any other subject except winning that one game against the Rams on Sunday. Even as the game goes on, Mora wants the Seahawks to be only focused on the current play not even thinking about the next play or next quarter or the final score in that game. Great stuff. I really think the Rams will be wondering what hit them after the game is over. Here's a hint: That would be the Seahawks!
I thought since Chris Sullivan brought his season predictions to you Addicts, I would give you my scenario of what I think will happen with this black hole advantage working on the first 6 games of the season until the bye week when I believe they will have pretty much shown us fans and the rest of the league what they have on tap for 2009 and how much of a contender they really are.
Next week in San Francisco, I expect the Seahawks to need to unveil a little more of the playbook as it will be a tougher game being on the road and against a better team. They will most likely need more options available to beat the 49'ers on the road. I expect to see Mora start the game with the same play set that they showed against the Rams and bring in more of the playbook as the game dictates. I don't expect him to have to pull out all the stops to beat the 49er's and I think he'll still save some important parts of the playbook to keep the Bears and Colts guessing what they will see when they play Seattle in the following two weeks.
Against the Bears, even more should be added to the arsenal but still hopefully not everything since Chicago is a home game and we can use that great home field advantage and the 12th man to help us win that one. After all, the Seahawks are one of the best home field teams of the decade and if we can use the crowd noise to help with the win and not have to throw the whole playbook at them, it sets us up to have a good chance in the Colts game and our first big test of where we're really at in 2009. I see a potential to lose this game since the Bears do figure to be one of the better teams in the NFC but I'm counting on home field advantage to help the Seahawks prevail.
I expect the whole enchilada to be in the mix when we go play the Colts at their palace in week 4 though. Most fans have that one down as a loss on the predicted won/loss sheet. If the Seahawks are 3 - 0 at that point (and I believe they will be as does Chris) and they've handled their first three opponents fairly well, I think with the full playbook finally at their disposal, one road win under their belt already, and with all the momentum that comes from being undefeated, they could defeat the Colts and truly serve notice that they are what "WE" thought they are. There are a lot of ifs there though and so if I had to predict that game with my life on the line, I guess I'd have to go with the Colts but I don't think you'd call that one a gimme unless the Seahawks have fallen flat at San Francisco and/or against the Bears. So I put the team at 3 - 1 at this point.
I think the black hole will still have some effect on the Jags and Cards as they may have seen most of Seattle's individual plays by then but still won't have enough film to accurately predict under what conditions Seattle will use certain plays and and what tendicies to game plan for. It will still be a couple more games before the league gets a pretty good handle on Knapp's game plans and how he manages the game as well as what Mora's defense will throw at them in any given situation. We should defeat the Jaguars and Cardinals in our only back to back home stand of the season once again using the 12th man to full advantage.
Speaking of the 12th man, I'll be coming down from Alaska for both of those two games before the bye and adding my furor to the Quest roar and I'm up for any suggestions of getting together with any of you Addicts that I've been jawing with over the last couple of years. You can e-mail me from my Seahawk Addicts e-mail address displayed somewhere on the site if interested. I'd be glad to meet with any of you guys and gals even those who always get on my case. I've found that people are rarely like you have them pictured in your mind when you communicate through the Internet and have found more than once that a person I thought I'd just hate became a friend after a personal meeting.
I expect that the black hole effect will pretty much have run it's course by the bye week and the rest of the league will have seen most of the Seattle playbook with maybe only their tendencies still being a little uncertain to opponents. Being in a black hole can really help the team get off to a good start this season and I hope the Seahawks will play it to the hilt. My prediction is that they will be 5 - 1 at the bye losing to either the Bears or Colts but not both. If Walt and Spencer are playing by then and Trufant comes back after the bye, with that kind of record, we should be in a position to be thinking about being in the hunt for home field advantage although I'd be the first to point out that there's still a lot of football left to be played at that point.
If the Seahawks are healthy and don't have any more major injuries coming out of the bye, they will be primed to become an elite team in the NFC and a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the Season. No one will be taking them lightly anymore and the rest of the season will be tougher since the black hole will have dissipated although I have faith in Mora and company to come up with new plays and formations as the season progresses custom tailored to use against upcoming opponents. Other teams have that going for them too though so we don't necessarily hold any real advantage there except for how creative our coaches are compared to their coaches.
I'll leave you with this thought. If we do manage to come out of the first 6 games as both Chris and I believe we can at 5 - 1, playing .500 ball the rest of the season gives us a 10 - 6 record and most certainly the division title. If we manage to win one game that we have chalked up as a probable loss, we're 11 - 5 and probably in the hunt for the second seed in the NFC in post season play. If we win two of those, we're 12 - 4 matching our second best record ever and in the hunt for home field advantage throughout the playoffs and we all know where that can lead for a team with the home field record the Seahawks have.
It all starts with getting that great start before the bye week and being in a black hole can do nothing but help that effort along. This is the only year we will have that advantage going for us until we change coaches, schemes, and players again. Even then, we have special circumstances like a defensive coordinator who is new to the position therefore has no track record this season. This is a special year in which we have the element of surprise working for us initially and the Seahawks should milk it for all it's worth.
OK Addicts, am I just full of beans or could we be that good with teams not being able to prepare against us due to lack of game tape? Will the black hole effect help the team to be a real unknown to our opponents for the first few games or will they catch on more quickly? Will we face better prepared teams in the second half of the season as the league see's more of Mora's defense and Knapp's offense? Your great wisdom and astute comments are solicited.
I'll be back with a game wrap-up sometime after the game. Will I be crowing or just eating crow?
Hasta,
BillT
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