by: Michael Steffes
Fearless leader and master architecht of the Seahawks Tim Ruskell has a great blog post that I classify as a must read. It reaffirms all of the optimism/homerism that this blog was being rightfully accused of. Ruskell talks about the teams goals...
Going into the season is no different than it has ever been. What we expect out of this team is to always compete for a championship. That’s our mindset. That’s our culture, and we never want that to change. We didn’t get distracted from what we think we are, and that to me was one of the important things of this whole camp. We feel good about ourselves, so this is good.I love it when he talks like that. As a fan, could you ask for anything more. And it isn't lip service, this team is committed to that goal. Ruskell also talks about the ONE young guy that really exceeded expectations...
We did not expect everything we got out of a free agent rookie like (linebacker) David Hawthorne. We knew he had ability, but to say he was going to come in here, make the team and never look back, we couldn’t possibly have been able to predict that. So he turned out to be a pleasant surprise. He’s one of the guys who actually exceeded expectations, so that’s a real bonus all the way around for us.He also talks about what seems to be his biggest concern, the running game...
Our sense is so far so good in what we’ve seen out of the running game. It’s been in steps and then in stages as far as improvement. Now here’s the big test. We’ve got to see it in the regular season on a consistent basis. Even over the last two years when we struggled, we had good games and good moments, and good streaks.Ruskell is right. We need to run it, and run it well all season. One good game does not make a consistent running game. The beauty of how the season is setting up for the Hawks is this: They are going to have to run the ball a lot in the early part of the year. If they do it well, right around the time teams start respecting the Seahawks ground game will be when the Hawks have enough talent/savvy on the outsides to make them pay.
As for being consistent all year long, well that is one of the reasons for the depth. One injury won't deter the Hawks from running. One player not living up to expectations can force them to a pass first approach. This is truly an organizational commitment, and it has prepared to the Hawks to be in a position to accomplish the organizational goals. Now all they have to do is execute. ~END~
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