[AvengerRam]

The Seahawks’ offense isn’t going to scare anyone in 2007.

There, I said it.

The numbers don’t lie. When they won the NFC Championship in 2005, the Seahawks had a highly productive and efficient offense. In the running game, they averaged 4.7 yards per carry. In the passing game, the team completed nearly 65% of its passes, while giving up only 27 sacks all year.

In 2006, the rushing average (despite playing in a Division with very poor rushing defenses) dropped to 4.0 yards per carry. At the same time, the completion percentage dropped to 57%, while the team gave up 49 sacks.

“Wait a second”, Hawks fans will surely exclaim, “the team was without Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander for much of the season.” True enough, as they missed 4 and 6 games, respectively. But, the truth is, when they did play, their production was poor in comparison to the 2005 campaign.

The real difference, of course, was the offensive line. While the loss of OG Steve Hutchinson is most often cited as the cause of the demise, the aging of veterans like Robbie Tobeck (now retired) and Chris Gray had a lot to do with it as well.

So, what have the Seahawks done to rectify this problem? Not much. They failed to acquire any significant OL in either FA or the draft. Instead, they are hoping a group of veterans and inexperienced players will come together.

The problems don’t end there, though. The team’s leading WR and TE (Darryl Jackson and Jeremy Stevens) are gone, and the Seahawks will rely on Deion Branch, D.J. Hackett, Nate Burleson and Marcus Pollard to provide Hasselbeck with open targets. Seriously, does that group strike fear in anyone?

On paper at least, the Hawks have the best defense in the NFC West going into the season. For their sakes, that better be true on the field as well because, right now, their offense leaves a lot to be desired.