Let me first apologize for the delay in sending the update – my spouse was only able to talk me off the ledge just this morning after the Sunday night game.

I took Sunday’s loss very hard.  My brother John called to cheer me up, and I quite frankly told him to “engage in grown up behavior for himself and leave me alone!”  My argument was how, with two weeks to prepare for our most hated division rival on national TV, could we come out and lay such an egg?  And the answer is simple -- our Offense, specifically our Offensive Line, has been getting man-handled the past few weeks.  Ten sacks in two weeks is unacceptable, especially in a West Coast Offense that is designed to get the ball out of the QB’s hand quickly!  Sixteen points in 8 quarters will barely beat the Bengals in regulation!  Both the Steelers and Sunday night’s opponent (I can’t say that name) employ a 3-4 defense, so we must find a way to exploit that scheme.  But what is most discouraging to me is how the opponent’s 30 yard line has become to our beloved Skins what kryptonite is to Superman.  We move the ball between the 30 yard lines like the ’72 Dolphins, and then stall out and either settle for a long FG or take a sack and are forced to punt.  Zorn has talked about “not being in rhythm,” but I disagree.  We are in a great rhythm until we get into our opponent’s territory -- then we seem to get away from what has been working.  His play calling is sometimes very frustrating, but we must remember that he is a first-year coach.

But as John correctly pointed out, we still have six weeks to go and, record-wise, are ahead of where we were last season, so we CAN get this thing turned around, and there is an excellent chance to do that this week vs. Seattle.

Things have changed drastically in Seattle since our last visit (a moment of silence please . . . ) in January.  Matt Hasselbeck’s security blanket is now our Head Coach.  Injuries at several key positions, especially QB and WR, have hit Seattle hard, and the usual NFC West powerhouse is a disappointing 2-8 this season.  Matt Hasselbeck was pummeled last week during a loss to Arizona and won’t be practicing until Thursday or Friday, so his timing with his receivers should be off.  However, even under the best of circumstances, our DBs should handle their WRs, so we should be able to negate their passing attack.  Their featured back is Julius Jones, who didn’t have much success against the Redskins while in Dallas, and there is no reason to believe that trend won’t continue. The Seattle Offense is ranked in the bottom five of all major categories, so our Defense should be able to keep them out of the end zone.

The Seahawk Defense is allowing an average of 26 points per game and over 120 yards per game on the ground.  So unless Zorn gets sentimental and allows Shaun (runs-like-he-tied-his-shoelaces-together) Alexander to attempt to return to the site of his glory years, we should be able to ride Clinton and the Offense to a victory and stop this two-game losing streak.

We are moving into a very favorable portion of our schedule, and can easily go 5-1 or 4-2 over the next six games.  But in order to do that, and be considered one the NFC’s elite teams, we MUST start beating the teams we’re supposed to, and beat them handily!  I think that trend begins this weekend in Seattle.