Why Plackemeier Had to Go

by: Michael Steffes

The reports are all over the place now, the Seahawks have moved on from Ryan Plackemeier, affectionately known around here as Fudge. Here is why...

In his rookie year, Plackemeier was a pretty good punter, and last year it could be argued that there were extenuating circumstances to part of his performance. After all, he was really good at pinning teams deep. One game is a pretty quick hook, but here is the problem.

This team is now a defensive-minded team. We could all see this. But beyond that, the offense is going take a while to get healthy and get back to speed. Expect some boring football to be played the next two weeks. One thing a defensive football team cannot afford is to give up yardage via shanked punts. Plus, all the guy does is punt. It's not too much to expect two shanks all season, but two shanks per week is unacceptable.

If the offense cannot move the football 80 yards consistently, which the Hawks don't appear to have the weapons to do right now, then they will need to play the field position game. This is done by playing defense and punting well. The offense is then expected to capitalize when handed a better-than-average starting position.

Unfortunately for Plack, the team doesn't have time for him to get up to speed. Another poor game like last week and the Hawks could be staring into the abyss. Easier to just get a guy they can count on. ~END~