32 teams in 32 days: Seattle

Well, Seattle, we know the uniforms, the division and the 12th man thing you stole from Texas A&M are all embarrassing. But maybe this classic Seahawks video will offer a taste of good ol' fashioned Seattle class. It even features a young, classy Mike Tice.

show video here

2007 record: 10-6 (393-291)

Record vs. Quality Opponents: 1-2

Expected W-L (based on PF/PA): 10.7-5.3

All-time franchise record: 246-254-0 (.492)

Playoff record: 7-10 (.412)

Last five seasons: 51-29 (.638)

Best Quality Stat in 2007: Bendability Index (2nd), Defensive Passer Rating (2nd)

Worst Quality Stat in 2007: Offensive Hog Index (t23rd)

Best game of 2007: 20-6 home win over Tampa Bay (Week 1). The Seahawks have been one of the winningest teams in football over the past several years. But they've built that record of success simply by being the least inept team in the pathetic NFC West and during what's been a down period for the NFC in general. The 2007 season was a perfect example: little did we know after Week 1 that Seattle's victory over Tampa would be its only win all year against a Quality Team. The Seahawks faced just two other Quality Teams last season and lost both games, including a 21-0 drubbing by Pittsburgh. Yup, Week 1 was as good as it got for Seattle. The defense played solidly, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was at his efficient best (17 of 24, 70.8%, 222 yards, 9.3 YPA, 1 TD, 0 INT, 113.5 rating) and, for one week at least, Shaun Alexander looked like his old self with 27 carries for 105 yards, 3.9 YPA and 1 TD. It would prove to be his most productive game of the entire season.

Silly-season activity: The Seahawks have devoted time and resources re-signing many of their marquee players, including Pro Bowlers LB Lofa Tatupu and CB Marcus Trufant, while making plans for life post-Alexander: they signed Julius Jones, most recently with Dallas, and T.J. Duckett, most recently with Detroit, to shore up the offensive backfield. The other big move was signing veteran Pro Bowl guard Mike Wahle, who was a salary-cap victim in Carolina.

Strength: Pass defense. The Seahawks were one of the toughest teams to pass against last year, as evidenced by their No. 2 ranking in Defensive Passer Rating (73.0) and league-low 15 passing TDs allowed. Seattle also forced opponents into Negative Pass Plays on 10.6 percent of drop-backs, good enough for fourth in the NFL. Like many Seattle strengths, however, its pass-defense proficiency needs to be considered within the context of the schedule: Seattle rarely faced a top-tier passing offense in 2007.

Weakness: Offensive line. Seattle's Offensive Hogs stuck out like a statistical sore thumb last year. The team ranked in the top half of the league in every single one of our Quality Stats, except for Offensive Hog Index, where they stood at a mere 23rd. Sure, Shaun Alexander's injuries have contributed to the decline of the ground game since 2005. But the loss of former stud left guard Steve Hutchinson cannot be underestimated. Minnesota's ground game has flourished with Hutchinson in the line-up. The Seahawks, meanwhile, have fielded a rotating cast of characters in his place, with free-agent Wahle perhaps their best chance yet to shore up the position in particular and the offensive line in general.

Most underrated player: RB Maurice Morris. He's played his entire career in the shadow of Shaun Alexander. But he proved capable of picking up the load last season, when he rushed 140 times for 628 yards, a very healthy 4.5 YPA average, while catching 23 passes out of the backfield for 213 yards. That's an average of 5.2 yards every time he touched the ball. A lot of teams would take that kind of production – teams like the Saints, for example, whose superstar Reggie Bush averaged just 4.3 yards-per-touch last year. Morris was also third on the team with 5 TDs, behind only receivers Nate Burleson (9) and Bobby Engram (6).

Unit on the rise: Running backs. Shaun Alexander stands as exhibit A of just how fragile life is in the Not For Long League. In 2005, Alexander was the league MVP and in the prime of his career with 1,880 rushing yards, 5.1 YPA and a record 27 rushing TDs. He's barely scraped out 1,600 yards (1,612) and 11 rushing TDs in the two seasons since, and his 3.5 average per attempt since 2005 is far below the level of acceptability – especially for a player in Alexander's pay grade. But, with the addition of Jones and Duckett, it seems apparent that the organization has already psychologically divorced itself from its former franchise player. Those two, along with the productive Morris and newcomer Wahle at guard, should give the Seahawks a more productive ground attack than they've had over the past two seasons.

2007 Draft grade: D. With the exception of third-round DT Brandon Mebane (Seattle's second pick), who started the last 10 games of the season, the Seahawks got virtually no production out of their 2007 draft class.

2008 Draft power: 1st (25), 2nd (55), 3rd (86), 4th (121), 6th (189), 7th (233)

General Draft strategy: The Seahawks boasted some stellar drafts early in the decade, but seem to have fallen on hard times over the past two years with some nice players – Darryl Tapp, Rob Sims – but no blue-chippers. Seattle had picked up a slew of studs over the previous five drafts, including Steve Hutchinson, Ken Lucas, Rocky Bernard, Ken Hamlin, Marcus Trufant, Josh Brown and Lofa Tatupu. They need to reach back into the bag of magic draft-day tricks and picks to return to the status of elite NFC team they enjoyed briefly a couple of years ago – not so coincidentally on the heels of those great draft classes.

Youth/experience: The Seahawks enjoy a healthy mix of young studs and proven warhorses. Defensive stalwarts Tatupu and Trufant seem like they've been around a long time, but both are still well short of 30. Tatupu, in fact, will turn only 26 this season and is just entering the prime of what's already been a highly productive three-year career. The main concern? Franchise QB Matt Hasselbeck is still in the typical sweet spot of a quarterback's career as he enters his 10th NFL season. But he's an old 10-year veteran: Hasselbeck turns 33 in September and probably has only one or two of those "sweet spot" seasons left to his career.

Coaching: Mike Holmgren has carried the Seahawks to the grandest years in franchise history, marked most notably by the four straight division titles and the team's first and only Super Bowl appearance. But he's ready to call it quits, which would normally throw a franchise into chaos. However, in a rare move, the Seahawks already announced his successor. Jim Mora Jr., the team's assistant head coach, will replace Holmgren starting with the 2009 season. In fact, Mora already has a four-year deal in place. In a league where stability at the top is all-important, the pre-emptive hiring should only bode well for the organization. It doesn't hurt, either, that Seattle will hand over the reins to a guy who's proven he can get it done. Hell, Mora led the Falcons to an 11-5 record and appearance in the conference title game with Michael Vick has his quarterback. That's almost a miracle.

Overview: Seattle should continue to be a contender for the foreseeable future – or for at least as long as the NFC West remains the red-headed stepchild of NFL divisions. St. Louis is a disaster. San Francisco is ready to collapse into the pigskin Pacific. And Arizona is still Arizona (in other words, the worst franchise in the history of sports). However, to take the next step and earn some league-wide respect, the Seahawks must prove capable of consistently beating serious contenders. They've made no such indication, even here in the franchise's glory years.

Seattle rarely even faces Quality Opponents. And when they do it's usually not pretty (note the 21-0 loss to Pittsburgh last season). The Seahawks have faced just 16 Quality Teams since we began tracking Quality Standings in 2004, and they have a mere 6-10 record in those 16 games. Three of those six wins came in the Super Bowl season of 2005. To put that 6-10 mark vs. Quality Teams in perspective, elite Indy is 17-9, and elite New England is 19-10, over the same period. The Seahawks are good. But still well shy of elite until further notice.