The thing this year was that they had a first place schedule and did better than average against those teams, beatingthe Giants and Ravens and taking ATL and then SF to the wire both times. The problem was losses to CLE and WSH and CIN to a lesser extent.
The defense and ST were good, so in theory, with a 3rd place sked, they should do better based on that, and winning some of those tight games they lost before Jackson started looking comfy.
But the offense is the question mark that has to improve. Lynch and his contract and getting dependable receivers are important, but the QB issue is going to shape this team. No way are they going with Jackson going into his second and final year of his contract. They either commit longer term to him or make a move in another direction, again, longer term. Carroll has done a good job in his two years, but to take that next step, the offense has to be in sync for 16 games, not 8 or 9.
That said, I dismissed the early Manning talk but Sea has plenty of cap room to take that gamble and Jackson as a capable fallback. Not likely to happen but not out of the realm if you have a chance to get him on a lower risk contract, or even a higher one. Players like that don't come along that often, and with the QB situation in flux as mentioned, Seattle has that going for it which other teams don't.
I am sure that soon after the draft the Manning situation and, no matter how that goes, the QB situation will be clearer for Seattle, and that will be the pint predictions can be started.
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