The Seattle Seahawks, now 1-3 and third in the NFC West behind Arizona (3-2) and San Francisco (2-3), are in somewhat unfamiliar territory.

The past five seasons have netted the Seahawks four consecutive division titles (2004-2007) and five straight playoff appearances.  Just two full seasons removed from the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance (a 21-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, during which Seattle managed two interceptions, 20 first downs, 396 total yards of offense, and  held Ben Roethlisberger to 9-of-21 passing for just 123 yards), Seattle is feeling the sting of a difficult start to the 2008 season.  Although the injury bug has hit the Seahawks in critical areas (most notably the four WR out for the season opener, five WR out for weeks 2 and 3, and two out for entire season) and hurt their depth, what has caused this dramatic turnaround from the competitive team that has been one of the most consistent in the NFC to their current state of being considered one of the worst teams of the first quarter of the 2008 season?

Julius Jones, signed along with T.J. Duckett to fill the void left by the departed Shaun Alexander, has been electric.  He was held to just 61 yards rushing against a very good Giants defense, but he managed 127 and 140 against San Francisco and St. Louis in consecutive weekly performances.  Duckett, the 250-pounder, has been good in the short-yardage situations, picking up 3 TDs already.  Mike Wahle, the former Pro Bowl Carolinia Panthers guard, has shored up the left side of the offensive line and effectively helped Walter Jones protect Matt Hasselbeck's backside.  In short, the offense has been adequate.  Not excellent, but adequate.  Considering the injury issues on the O-line (Gray, Spencer, Locklear), at the WR position (Branch, Engram, Burleson, Obomanu, Payne), and at RB (Morris), the Seahawks have done an admirable job of moving the chains with some semblance of consistency.

However, the defense has been an entirely different story.  A squad that returned 11 starters from 2007 and did very well for a majority of the 2007 season has just not been effective.  They're somewhat undersized, but they make up for the issue by being quicker, fatser and smarter than most.  Marcus Trufant, signed for a huge contract extension, has been acceptable thus far, but Kelly Jennings, the 2006 NFL draft 1st round pick for Seattle, now in his third season with the Hawks, has been consistently underperforming; he in not progressing, rather regressing.  Deon Grant and Brian Russell, the savvy and hard-hitting safeties, have been completely invisible thus far, providing very little support to either of the cornerbacks on deep converage.  Routinely, fans see wide-open tight ends and slot receivers down the middle seam with nary a blue jersey to be found.  Where's the coverage?  How is this DB squad - which is 100% intact from last year and led the NFL in 2007 by allowing just 15 touchdown passes - performing so poorly after performing so well the previous year?  Some people point to John Marshall, the defensive coordinator, as having a poor game plan; some point to Jim Mora Jr., the DB coach and heir to the Seahawk head coaching position when Mike Holmgren retires after this season.  But, is it really just one thing, or is it a multitude of problems?

Seattle has routinely been playing what looks like a shallow zone coverage, giving opposing wideouts a big eight to ten yard cusion at the line of scrimmage.  Playing in that cover-two zone doesn't allow for the same kind of safety support we saw all last year, when Seattle played in man-to-man coverage a lot more often than thus far in 2008.  Add in the size differential between the average starting offensive line and Seattle's defensive line, poor push form the D-line, inability to control the line of scrimmage, and voila - a few things being a little bit off have us all seeing our beloved Seahawks sitting at 1-3 after two horrendous road losses to Buffalo (34-10) and New York (44-6).

The past is only prologue...

In the coming weeks, Seattle must change theri defensive approach, and that starts with John Marshall making some changes on DB coverage and running a few different blitz packages to put better pressure on opponents' quarterbacks.  Three times in four games, Seattle has made opposing QBs look like All-Pro caliber performers - Trent Edwards, J.T. O'Sullivan and Eli Manning all picked Seattle's defensive backfield apart - and that trend must come to an end if seattle has any hope of returning to the playoffs.

Free up Julian Peterson and LeRoy Hill in more blitzes.  Continue to run the ball over and over and over.  Throw passes to the tight end. 

It all starts with the coaches and their game plans from week to week, and Seattle's play-callers and decision makers must do a betterf job... and they will.

GO HAWKS!!!