Like Scruffy, I've had a long week, and like Scruffy, I better reign it in a bit today.

Always required reading. Good to see a link in time for me to post it.

The podcast returns tomorrow. From here on, it's all off the cuff and all whatever Seahawks stuff I want to talk about. Like Seattle, my goal is to get better before next season. One thing I'll be spending a lot of time on is college football. Seattle falling so quickly from contention allows fans to get a jump on prospect hunting. That's kind of cool. Kind of.

Advanced NFL Stats gives Washington an 83% of beating Seattle. Part of that huge margin is home field matters less when one team completely dominates the other. It's that kind of season. With Seattle so bad, does the Zorn angle lose significance? I'm sure it's all we'll here about, I even anticipate a commentator saying Hasselbeck is play poorly because he's lost his quarterback's coach (maybe he is)

Seattle is no longer the worst team in football at forcing turnovers. It's a distant memory now, but last season Seattle had the best defense in football per drive. Adding a running game was supposed to allow it to protect leads and reduce the total number of drives. Perhaps even force more desperation plays by the opposing offense. Instead, the defense has crumbled and the running game faded. That stampede over San Francisco's "Big Sub" seems like a distant memory now. Is this rushing attack any good or did it feast on Saint Louis and a San Francisco nickel?

From here on out, Matt Hasselbeck is a huge story. Against Arizona, Hasselbeck attempted to throw into a somewhat small window four times, and all four the defender caught the pass. His pass attempt on the two point conversion was especially worrisome. The pass wan't into coverage, it wasn't terribly errant, but Ralph Brown overtook the route and grabbed the pick. It's not an official pick, but that's semantics. The defender caught the pass. Seattle needs Hasselbeck to play like a quality quarterback. Not Pro Bowl caliber. Not 2007. Seattle needs Hasselbeck to have some career left.

Josh Wilson, who is not hurt (further evidence why I don't read practice reports), is another interesting story. It's true that Wilson's contributions Sunday were tied to big plays and that he allowed a lot of yards in between. His big plays more than made up for his yardage allowed, but one game of big plays does not a DB make. See Michael Boulware. We've been here before fans. Boulware's picks were total, run under the bad pass luck. Wilson's picks have been in tight coverage. It's still possible the picks dry up. It's also possible Wilson continues to pick passes until opposing quarterbacks simply avoid targetting him. Look to see if Seattle's sacks spike. That could be the hidden contribution of a team with two good corners.

We'll run a Michael Crabtree open thread tomorrow night. I have some Vertical Epic and 90 Minute IPA around, so I might be a little festive or celebratory. Crabtree is fun to watch. I don't think Seattle drafts him. Tim Ruskell seems opposed to taking a wide receiver early in the draft and spending a top ten pick on Crabtree would be a huge departure from form.