cause all you said was that their line will make or break this season for them.

The sports media always dramatically overestimates the importance of the very recent past. The reality is that no one really knows exactly how good Romo is. He really only started playing in the NFL at the end of week 6 (5th game due to bye) in 2006. So he has played a little over 1.5 seasons thus far. His regular season numbers have been excellent during that time IN AGGREGATE. However, he has put up some awful performances during that time, notably a 5 pick performance last year against the Bills. His two playoff performances (although obviously a small sample size) have been atrocious.

Watching him play corroborates what the numbers suggest- a high risk, high reward style of play. Romo will scramble to make the play, improving his overall production but also leading to more miscues. He is getting a relatively shabby 3.4 YPC (not the best stat but somewhat meaningful) on his runs which indicates some at times questionable decision making. Remember: when Romo takes off for the run he is neglecting the opportunity to make a pass for a bigger gain and risking getting hit and injured (even if it would be penalized).

I am not suggesting that Romo is a terrible player in anyway. I just think we don’t know exactly how good is he at this point. We won’t really know until he has played another couple years. I am just hoping that he ends up being not quite as good as people think. His reliance on elite athleticism to make plays will definitely affect his shelf life adversely.

Hasslebeck was given a chance to start at the same point in his career that Romo was afforded the same opportunity. The two are dramatically different quarterbacks though. Hasselbeck’s strength lies in his ability to make multiple reads quickly, a skill that doesn’t deteriorate much with age, so Hasselbeck should continue to be effective for a few more years. With an effective running game and defense, Hasselbeck can hopefully get back to his bread and butter short-pass game. He was being relied on for way too much offense last year. The hawks can potentially be third and short masters if we can have effective short yardage running coupled with hass’s always strong ability to complete the quick pass. Last year: too many 3rd and longs. This year: can we get 4 YPC on 1st and 2nd down?

I basically just signed up to post this comment. I like the blog; it’s one of my favorites on SB Nation. Just as a warning, this will get long. But I though I would post it anyway for any interested fans of the Seahawks.

Ratliff will be the starter at NT. He was the starter last year, and nothing has been reported to indicate otherwise. The only exception to this was when Tank started the last game of the season at WASH because the coaching staff sat Ratliff for rest. Judging from coaches’ comments, Thomas represents a sizable upgrade from Ayodele in pass coverage out of our base defense. This seems very plausible. Fasano was replaced by the drafting of Martellus Bennett in the second round this year. Martellus may not start out as the blocker that Fasano was, but it’s dificult to imagine how we would be a downgrade in the passing game. The team also used Tony Curtis, the third string tight end from last year, in some of the same packages that Fasano was in. It’s difficult to see how this would be a problem for us.

I basically agree with the comments about Flo, but the part about Bigg, Gurode, and Colombo’s play declining this year because they will each be 30 seemed a bit odd. I assume you don’t mean a steep one at least. I’ve never read anything that indicates that, and aside from Colombo, none of them have had catastrophic injuries (unless you want to count Haynesworth’s head-stomping). If you mean the aggregate age of the OL is troubling, then I think you might be on to something. However, Colombo’s contract expires after this year and he probably won’t be resigned. Right now it looks like his replacement will be James Marten (third round pick from 2007). Just my speculation, but I imagine the Cowboys are only realistically counting on Flo for another one or two years. His replacement could also well be all ready on the roster in the form of Doug Free (fourth round pick in 2007). For what it’s worth, the team really liked his work in training camp last year.

I’d argue that the real “achilles heal” for the team is the depth at WR. You mentioned Owens being indestructible; our fans will only hope that continues. I like Patrick Crayton, but he is probably more of a #3 WR rather than the starter opposite Owens that he was forced to play last year because of Glenn’s injury. He put up a 16.5 DPAR for receivers with 10-49 passes in 2006,. That was ranked first, with the second person (Greg Lewis) putting up a 8.4 DPAR. He was ranked 25th in DPAR this past year for receivers with a minimum of 50 passes. There is a good chance Glenn may never play again. Jerry Jones admitted this past week that right now Glenn can’t pass a physical. In May, Jones remarked that Glenn had a 50-50 chance of returning at all. And even then no one knows if he can make through the season or what at level he can play.

I only harp on Crayton and Glenn so much because it looks worse beneath them. Sam Hurd and Miles Austin played the roles of 3rd and 4th string WRs last year, respectively. They’re both undrafted free agents th team signed back in 2006. Austin’s play has been mainly on special teams, but the team tried to use him more toward the end of the year on offense because of his speed. However, you know, you have to catch teh football when it’s thrown toward you. The Cowboys didn’t draft a WR this year, but it seems like they’re counting on something from Isaiah Stanback, a fourth round choice from 2007. He was basically red-shirted last year, making the transition from QB (which he played at Washington) to WR. He’s intriguing, but I’m not sure how much you can count from a guy who was only active two times last year, and only played at WR during garbage time. Hopefully, he can make through training camp healthy this year (had problems with shin splints last year, if my memory serves me correctly).

Anyway, I know this will probably look like a manifesto. Hope someone enjoys reading it. Take care.

“it isn’t because he is trying to compensate for a loss of explosiveness off the snap”

—the comment to which you’re reacting wasn’t about Adams, it was about Colombo.