Louis Bacigalupi posts comments on the site as LouieLouie.  He’s an accountant by trade and worked in a USFL front office.  He can be reached by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Before the regular season began, I hoped the Seahawks could be 4-4 halfway through the season.  They could have very well been 3-5, or 2-6 -- They played five games on the road; their three home games were against Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady; plus they were starting a rookie at quarterback.

I figured they would win in St. Louis and Arizona, and hoped they would win at least one of the three home games.  San Francisco, Detroit, and Carolina all seemed to be tough road opponents, but I hoped the Seahawks coudl beat one of them to get them to four wins.  Instead, they've mostly lost the games I thought they'd win and won the games I figured they'd lose, but somehow they still wound up 4-4.  I consider that to be a successful first half of the season.

So, what have we learned?  Looking ahead, the next eight games look to be more favorable to the Seahawks, with five home games and only three on the road.  They should win at home against the Jets, Rams, and Cardinals, plus at least one of the road games (against either Miami or Buffalo).  If they do that, to finish the season 10-6 they would still need to beat either the 49ers in Seattle or the Bears in Chicago.  A 6-2 second half of the season is not out of the question.  10-6 should be good enough to get them into the playoffs, but 9-7 would most likely not.

Defense

We've also learned that the defense is not perfect.  Third down has been their Achilles' heel this season.  The short passing game on third and long has killed them at times, but the tradeoff is that long completions against this defense have been rare.

The defense was stout against Brady, Rogers, Romo, and Newton.  Brady put up some passing yards, but when doesn't he?  They dominated Romo, and Rodgers didn't have a very good hair day in Seattle.  The D stopped Brady and Rodgers in the 4th quarter when they had to, which helped the Hawks win both games.  In Detroit, Matthew Stafford tore them up and Titus Young had a party in the Seahawks secondary.  San Francisco ran all over the defensive line in the second half of their game.

This may be difficult for Seahawks to admit, but the defense is manned and coached by mere mortals.  It was the defense who lost the game in Detroit -- who would have thought?  But even with that being the case, the Seahawks woudl be 1-7 or worse right now were it not for the high level of play from the defense.

Offense

What else have we learned?  The offense is getting better every week.  Maybe by the end of the season, the offense will significantly narrow the gap between their level of play and that of the defense.  The 24 points scored in Detroit were all produced by the offense, nor did the defense contribute anything toward them.  The offense had no short fields due to turnovers or long kick returns, and the passing game looked solid.

As everyone learned last season, the Seahawks running game is amongst the best in the NFL.  In Detroit, Lynch had trouble running inside most of the game, but his 75 yard TD run made up for that.  He also had some success running wide.  Scatback Marshawn Lynch, who would've thought?

The o-line is improving one step at a time, especially in pass protection.  They did a decent job against one of the best defensive lines in football last Sunday.  That, along with moving the pocket around, allowed Wilson to be effective by giving him time to throw.  When Carpenter gets more games under his belt, the left side of the line will be solid.  The right side can be tweaked, but Moffitt's return should help.

The receiving corps is also improving steadily.  They played well against New England, and they played very well against Detroit.  Rice is looking like a #1 receiver -- the game-winning TD he caught against the Patriots was beatiful.  Miller finally caught a TD pass.  Tate has also improved.  He made a few nice plays in Detroit and has contributed all year.  I hope Baldwin can get healthy soon, because his production in the slot is sorely missed.  Dropped passes most likely cost the team a win in San Francisco, but we already knew the receivers were mere mortals.

Russell Wilson

It's no secret that I believe Russell Wilson is the Seahawks' quarterback of the future, and by the end of the season it should be clear to everyone that he's also their quarterback of the present, too.  He's got a strong, accurate arm, and he is slowly taking command of both the offense and the field of play.

The way he moves around in the pocket makes his size an advantage.  Modern defensive ends are used to sacking tall, lanky quarterbacks, most of whom are taller than 6'3" and run around on extra-long legs.  Wilson is much shorter at 5'11" and ducks under pass rushers with relative ease.  He even seems to befuddle them on occasion.  Carroll and Co. are just beginning to figure out how to use his unique talents.

One person who was at the New England game said to me that Wilson "owned the pocket.  He also had a game-winning drive in the 4th quarter of that game and a potentially game-winning drive in the 4th quarter against Detroit (unfortunately, Stafford had two game-winning drives in that game).  Wilson was effective passing the ball in both of those games, and against San Francisco the only thing more he could have done after throwing a number of dropped passes on the money was run down the field and catch the ball himself.

I'm looking forward to the second half of the season.  Let the games begin.

The news this week, aside from "what the hell is going on in the middle of the defense" (more on that tomorrow), is that WR Ben Obomanu has been placed on injured reserve after breaking his wrist in Detroit.  To replace him, WR Jermaine Kearse has been activated off the practice squad. 

Kearse has some intriguing physical ability (he can play a little running back, too), but I doubt he'll be seeing much time on offense.  Obomanu was a special teamer first and a backup wideout second, and that shouldn't change now that Kearse has taken over his job.

With Doug Baldwin (limited participation in practice) and Braylon Edwards (no participation) both still very questionable to play, don't be surprised if the Seahawks add another wide receiver in the near future.  Since we've reached the midway point of the season, I'd expect them to bring in someone who is already familiar with Bevell's offense.  Lavasier Tuinei and Phil Bates are both currently on the practice squad, so they would be possibilities, but there are also plenty of free agents who fit the bill like Deon Butler, Ricardo Lockette, Mike Williams, Terrell Owens, and Bernard Berrian.  And if those aren't enough names to pore over, here's a list of some of the other players who are still on the market.

Marshawn Lynch has rapidly climbed up the walls of sports infamy in the past year, taking his earned moniker of "Beast Mode" to the next level with a career revitalization with the Seahawks since being acquired from the Bills via trade in 2010. 

But last year, without many fans taking notice, he slipped into another arena. He was tapped by local filmmaker Nicholas Gyeney to play a minor role in the independent film "Matt's Chance," featuring Edward Furlong, Margot Kidder, and everyone's favorite nutjob, Gary Busey. 

The movie debuted Oct. 25 at the Egyptian Theater in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, and Beast Mode himself was among the featured guests to walk the red carpet. (Sadly, no Busey. Can you imagine those two having a conversation? I'd have donated season tickets for that.) 

When Marshawn stepped out of the limo, he was greeted by a chorus of chants and howls from a small nucleus of fans that had gathered around the scene. I'm not really sure if they were all there for the movie or not, but word travels fast in this neighborhood. If Marshawn Lynch is going to hanging around on a random weeknight, that's news that can only be kept quiet for so long. 

I was among the guests in the VIP area with a friend (thanks, Sophia) and actually had a chance to talk to Marshawn for a little while before the film started. And let's get one thing straight here - Marshawn is every bit as much of a character as advertised. On the field, we see a lean, swift-moving, tackle-breaking war machine who doesn't care how many defenders stack the box to stop him at the goal line. He'll plow through them, throw stiff-arms with reckless abandon and dare the entire defense to take him out. 

But off the field, he's affable, funny, and personable. His fans aren't just nameless faces who crowd him and constantly annoy him. You can tell the man actually appreciates the attention and praise he gets from his fans. Just the sight of him talking to a little kid, exclaiming "Damn, whatchoo feedin' this one?!" to his parents pretty much told the whole story. 

I walked up to Marshawn and introduced myself. This was the result: 

"Matt's Chance" itself was extremely well-received to a packed house during the screening. It's a dark comedy about Matt, played by Furlong, who discovers the love of his life cheating on him with his sworn enemy, and how far down the trail of revenge Matt will go to mend a broken heart. It's dark, but often hilarious and completely from out of left field. Seattle comedian and actor Edi Zanidache plays Matt's best friend - a preacher with a tendency to party too hard - and the two have some pretty entertaining moments on screen. 

Marshawn plays a part credited simply as "Huge Goon #1," and has a few lines that are genuinely priceless. I won't repeat them here for the sake of good taste. Just catch the movie when it's around again.

The movie will not be viewable again for quite some time, sadly, as Gyeney told the crowd after the showing. He'll be working to get it to SIFF, and hopefully the Sundance Film Festival in Utah if it's reviewed favorably enough. When it does resurface, though, be sure to keep an eye out for it, because it's worth watching. 

The added bonus of Beast Mode running around, sneering and roughing people up is worth the price of admission alone. 

Wilson completed over 70% of his passes to nine different receivers and scored two touchdowns.  Lynch rushed for over 100 yards and a TD.  Calvin Johnson was held to just three receptions.  Had it not been for an incredible performance by  Titus Young (raise your hand if you thought he was capable of 9 catches for 100 yards and two TDs), this would have been a win for the Seahawks.

I'd much rather this one had ended differently (man, if only Wilson and Rice could have connected on that long pass behind the safeties) but overall this was an improvement from last week's loss to the 49ers.  Do your worst in the comments below.

The Seahawks will be playing their fifth road game of the season today against the Lions.  Will Richard Sherman and the rest of the secondary be able to contain Calvin Johnson and Brandon Pettigrew? Can Wilson and his receivers put up some points against a suspect Lions secondary?  Does Detroit have enough healthy defenders left on the roster to put eleven guys on the field?

SEA! HAWKS!

The injury report this week paints one hell of a picture, one that’s somewhat bad for the Seahawks but potentially disastrous one for the Lions.  (In the interest of saving the best for last, I've put the worst of the news first.)

Doug Baldwin suffered a high ankle sprain in the first half of last week’s game, so he’ll be out for the next few weeks.  Yes, there are plenty of other receivers on the roster and Baldwin has had some drop problems this season, but no one else on the roster has his feel for the middle of the field.  Unlike flanker or split end, where speed, moves, and size tend to separate the great receivers from the average ones, good slot receivers don’t have to be outstanding physical specimens (a little extra toughness doesn’t hurt though, since they tend to take a lot of hits from linebackers).  The best guys in the slot have almost a sixth sense for soft spots in coverages and know where to settle in and make themselves a target without giving defenders an opportunity to jump in for an interception.

Finding talented slot receivers is harder than you’d think, and the Seahawks have had a few fail to produce over the last few seasons..  Remember Deon Butler, the speedy little Penn State wideout who was supposed to be the next Bobby Engram for Seattle?  He lacked that innate feel for the position, which is why he’s currently a street free agent.  Golden Tate also took a shot at the position, and his struggles throughout his first two seasons were due in large part to his inability to find holes in the middle of the field.

Baldwin may not be a starter, and he definitely isn’t the biggest, fastest, or trickiest guy on the field, but he has the same natural feel for the slot that made Engram Hasselbeck’s go-to security blanket in the middle of the field for so many years.  The only other receiver currently on the roster who’s shown a hint of being able to handle the job is Charly Martin, and he’s been inactive for several games this year.  Let’s hope he’s up for the job.

Thankfully, the Lions’ receiving corps is in even worse shape.  Star receiver and all-around athletic freak of nature Calvin Johnson was limited yesterday by knee injury after being unable to practice at all on Wednesday, and anything that slows him down a little is a good thing for Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner.  Detroit also lost its #2 wideout Nate Burleson, and the next guy up appears to be Titus Young, who’s faster than Burleson but a far less dangerous receiver.  Tight end Brandon Pettigrew, who is second on the team in receptions behind Johnson, is listed as questionable after being a limited participant this week with a knee injury, which makes Burleson’s absence hurt even more.

The rest of the injury report for this week is much less troubling.  Byron Maxwell’s hamstring injury continues to keep him from participating in practices, but that’s been a problem most of the season.  Marshawn Lynch’s is listed for back problems, but he’s pretty much always shows up on the report for back problems and he’s been a full participant all week.  John Moffitt has been a limited participant while he nurses a knee injury, so I’d expect Paul McQuistan to continue starting at right guard for the time being.

Jason Jones also hasn’t participated this week due to an ankle injury.  Losing his pressure up the middle on passing downs hurts a little, but so far this season he’s tallied just 2.5 sacks and 3 quarterback hits, and most of those stats he earned just last week against the 49ers.  Seattle’s pass rush still succeeds or fails from the defensive end position, as Bruce Irvin and Chris Clemons account for well over half of the team’s sacks and QB hits.  If the team can at least constrict the pocket enough with some combination of Clinton McDonald, Jaye Howard, Alan Branch, and Brandon Mebane to make things uncomfortable for Matthew Stafford, the DEs should take care of the rest.

But compared to the Lions’ injury problems on defense, the possible loss of a situational pass rusher isn’t much to worry about.  For starters, their top pass rusher, starting defensive end Cliff Avril, has been unable to practice all week and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.  Joining him on the injury list are starting linebackers Stephen Tulloch (limited, knee) and DeAndre Levy (no participation, hamstring), starting defensive tackle Corey Williams (limited, knee), and starting cornerbacks Jacob Lacey (no participation, concussion) and Bill Bentley (limited, shoulder).  That’s six defensive starters, and all of them are currently listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.  Russell Wilson may be in for a bounce-back win on the road.

UPDATE (3:40): The final injury reports for both teams are now available.  For Seattle, CB Maxwell has been ruled out, DT Jones is doubtful, RG Moffitt is questionable, and RB Lynch is probable.  For Detroit, CB Lacey is out, LB Levy is doubtful, DE Avril, CB Bentley, and WR Young (i.e. Burleson's probable replacement) are questionable, and WR Johnson, TE Pettigrew, LB Tulloch, and DT Williams are probable.

Last Thursday’s road game against the 49ers was supremely frustrating to watch.  The Seahawks looked awful, and that’s led to a lot of fans voicing opinions of the “fire coach X and/or bench player Y” variety.  That’s understandable, but I think it’s premature to be calling for changes that drastic.  Right now, the Seahawks are 3-0 at home and 1-3 on the road, with one more road game in Detroit coming up on Sunday to finish out the first half of the season.  If they can sweep at home and win just one of their remaining four road games, that’ll give them a 10-6 record – not enough to win the division, probably, but good enough to put them in contention for a wild card berth. 

Granted, sweeping at home is going to be tough considering one of those games is going to be a rematch with the 49ers, but losing that one home game would still leave Seattle with a 9-7 record, which wouldn't be enough wins to make the playoffs but would give the team its first winning season since 2007.  Be honest with yourselves now, how many of you would have given your eyeteeth for the Seahawks to finish 9-7 over the last four seasons?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we can’t or shouldn’t criticize the Seahawks’ performance, because we can and we should.  I’d just like to see everyone maintain some perspective here.

Does the team still have problems that need fixing?  Yep.  Have they lost some games they should have won this year?  Definitely. But matter how aggravating those lingering issues may be, they don't cancel out how much better the 2012 Seahawks are than their 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 iterations.  They're improving every year, and on the whole they’re still headed in the right direction.

I’ll go back to doing a regular stats article next week, but I figured this time around it’d be more beneficial to examine a few stats from just the 49ers game.

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Damn it.

The Seahawks' defense rattled Smith, which is good, but Wilson completed just 36.36% of his passes for barely over 100 yards.  His receivers have a big share in the blame for that (they allowed multiple passes to bounce off their hands), but the rookie QB still has a habit of putting his o-linemen in impossible situations with his scrambling.  I also have a problem with Bevell not taking advantage of the 49ers' tired run defenders and ramming the ball down their throats with Lynch and Turbin.  Come-from-behind victories are exciting and all, but you can't count on them happening every single week.

Also, the 49ers have a hell of a pair of guards on their offensive line.  Gore and Hunter owe at least half their yardage tonight to those two bruisers.

Feel free to get the swearing out of your system in the comments below.

Last week, the Giants showed everyone that the only thing you need to beat the 49ers' physical, intimidating, opportunistic team is to have a physical, intimidating, opportunistic team of your own with a better quarterback.  Here's some specifics on what the Seahawks can learn from New York's road victory so that they can pull off the same feat tonight:

1) Pressure Alex Smith.

Through most of his career Smith has been best known for his almost preternatural ability to throw back-breaking interceptions at the drop of a hat.  Under the tutelage of Harbaugh the Angrier, Smith has become a reasonably competent game manager who is mainly asked to throw the ball in order to give San Francisco's running backs a rest between carries, but his effectiveness is directly proportional to how comfortable he feels in the pocket.  Keep him clean and upright, and he'll happily feed the ball to Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree all day long, but squeeze his protection and knock him around a bit and out will pop the Smith of old.

All told, the Giants either hit or sacked Smith on 34.89% of his dropbacks, and he rewarded them with three gift-wrapped interceptions.  In each case, Smith panicked and threw toward the first red jersey he could see because New York's pass rush was breathing down his neck.  The 49ers have a strong offensive line, but if Bradley and Carroll can put together some blitzes and stunts to give Chris Clemons, Bruce Irvin, and Jason Jones a clear shot (starting LT Joe Staley is questionable for the game), this could turn into a fun night out for the secondary.

2) San Francisco's pass coverage is vulnerable.

The 49ers' first six opponents this season have had a great deal of success on passes thrown to the left side of the field.  Those teams have completed 54.55% of their passes thrown to the deep left, which is pretty significant when you compare it to the completion percentages for the deep middle (16.67%) and deep right (33.33%).  You know what that means -- more opportunities for long bombs to Sidney Rice and Golden Tate.

Things get even better in the short left, where the 49ers have allowed a 69.84% completion rate.  Even Mark Sanchez, who connected on an abysmal 6-of-22 (27.27%) on passes everywhere else on the field in the Jets' week 4 loss to the 49ers, managed to complete 7-of-10 (70%) to the short left.  Granted, the 49ers aren't exactly rock solid in the short middle (63.64%) or short right (57.14%) either, but the short left is the softest spot in their coverage.

3) The offense needs to produce, but shouldn't have to score a ton of points.

What the lopsided final score of the Giants-49ers game doesn't tell you is that 13 of those points were scored after the defense's interceptions set up Eli Manning with great field position.  Without those three short drives, the Giants would have only scored one touchdown and two field goals, but that still would've been enough to beat San Francisco even if David Akers hadn't missed two field goals.

Of the 49ers' 12 drives in the game, the Giants' defense stopped them nine times -- four punts (two on three & outs), three interceptions, and two failed fourth down conversions in the second half -- and limited them to field goal attempts on the remaining three possessions.  That level of performance on defense gives your offense the luxury of being able to move down the field without being forced to take unnecessary risks with the ball while they try to mount a desperate late-game comeback.  Of course, Russell Wilson seems to have a knack for fourth quarter heroics, but it'd be far easier on everyone's nerves if the Seahawks didn't put themselves in that position in the first place.

There were no surprises in the game versus New England.  The Patriots are the top-ranked offense in the NFL, and they were able to move the chains against the Seahawks’ defense.  But despite all the yardage they gained, they had difficulty finishing off drives with touchdowns.  Through their first five games, New England averaged 33 points a game.  Seattle held them to 23 – that is a major accomplishment.

The Patriots also have one of the best run defenses in the league, and they did an outstanding job of containing Marshawn Lynch.  The team’s Achilles heel is its weak secondary, but rookie defensive end Chandler Jones helps make up for that by getting consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. 

In short, this matchup put tremendous pressure on Russell Wilson to win this game through the air, something most other run-heavy offenses like the Ravens, Jets, and Chiefs have traditionally been unable to pull off when their rushing attack falters.  Thankfully, Wilson was able to succeed where game managers like Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez, and Matt Cassel have failed so very often over the last few seasons. 

In earlier games, Wilson had a habit of trusting in his legs over his arm and would take off on scrambles for little to no gain on too many occasions.  When he was flushed from the pocket this time around, however, he kept his eyes downfield and was able to make some phenomenally accurate deep throws.  Even more impressively, he pulled off those long bombs with little to no time to set up or step in to his throws.  The kid’s got a hell of an arm.

Still, the rookie QB wouldn’t have been able to do much of anything had his receivers not been as solid as they were in the game.  Doug Baldwin rebounded from an off performance versus Carolina to pull in two key passes for 74 yards and a TD.  Sidney Rice and Golden Tate, who both consistently got separation from defenders all night long, played like the talented game-changers we all hoped they could be for Seattle’s offense.  Zach Miller, Braylon Edwards, and Robert Turbin also made big contributions in the passing game.  When you spread the ball around to that many receivers for significant gains (all six averaged more than 10 yards per reception), a defense can’t focus in on any one player to shut down your passing attack.

For that matter, who knew Rice could sling the ball like that?

Anyway, on to the stats: 

*        *        *

(Note: For explanations of some of the stats included in this piece, please see the first article in the series.)

Rushing Averages

This was one of those games where the workhorse running backs struggle while the change-of-pace guys flourish.  For Seattle, Lynch only averaged 2.7 yds/att on his 15 carries and converted just two first downs (not that he was necessarily at fault with that last stat, since 11 of his carries were on 1st and 2nd downs with 5+ yards to go), while Robert Turbin picked up 5.4 yds/att on five carries and Wilson managed to gain 3.4 yds/att on five scrambles.  New England’s Stevan Ridley was held to 2.1 yds/att by the Seahawks’ defense, but Brandon Bolden and Danny Woodhead were able to gain 4.7 yds/att on 6 carries and 6.25 yds/att on 4 carries, respectively.

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