The Seahawk Baptism of Charlie Frye

by: Michael Steffes

It continues to look as if the reigns of Mike Holmgren's offense will be handed to Charlie Frye on Sunday.

Is it a good thing that Matt Hasselbeck isn't going to play? Absolutely not. He is the starter for a reason. He is the general, the leading role, the frontman for this team. For him to miss this almost must-win game against his former team, he must really be hurting. Matt will usually gut it out with the best of them.

So, in slides Charlie Frye. What should we make of this change? Frye has proven in his time in the NFL, along with this preseason, that his biggest weakness is his inconsistency. Sometimes Frye looks capable of being the next Seahawks QB. Other times, he is just another 3rd string guy. The big question is who will we see on Sunday?

There are things to like about Frye's matchup. First, the Green Bay secondary is banged up. However, safety Aaron Rouse is returning. Charlie Frye is prone to throwing interceptions. This is fact. In 21 career games, he has had one or more interceptions in 16 of them (23 total). Therefore, his first priority in this game has to be to protect the football. So far, Matt Hasselbeck has gone interception-free in one game, the lone Seattle victory this season.

If Frye protects the football, the Seahawks should have an advantage with their running game. Green Bay is a tasty 27th in the league in run defense, allowing 161 rushing yards per game. With the success the Hawks have had at home so far this year with running the ball, I expect they can keep the chains moving. The big danger here is that if the Seahawks fall behind early, as they have done in both their road losses, it will be hard for them to stick to the ground game.

That brings us to Charlie Frye's best friend, the defense. THE DEFENSE HAS TO PLAY GREAT. There is nothing more to it. Green Bay can chuck it. If the defense can limit the GB passing attack, Charlie Frye can win this game. However . . .

Ask Charlie Frye to win a shootout, and the ball is likely going to end up in the other team's hands too often for the Seahawks to win. It's now or never. I know there are a lot of people out there who for some reason or another are happy the Seahawks are FINALLY struggling. Hopefully this team feels like we do, and they aren't ready to give those people the satisfaction just yet. Hang on, Hawks. Hang on.

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