Why the Seattle Seahawks are the Most Underrated Team

Why do the Seattle Seahawks always end up rated so low in the power rankings? When will it be our time to finally maintain our status as one of the elite teams? When it comes to NFL franchises, the Seattle Seahawks are always one of the most forgotten teams in the NFL. Year after year, the analysts refuse to see how good our team is or they can't believe that we are for real.

Going into this season, we are looking at some of the same old stereotypes. We can't compete against the good teams, the Arizona Cardinals will dominate us this year, and we are barely as good as the St. Louis Rams. Are these critics for real? Have they forgotten how good we were only two years ago?

When I take a look at the roster, I see a team that is full of stars. Last year, we were decimated by injuries to the point where we had Charlie Frye as our starting quarterback. That can never be good. Matt Hasselback sounds as if he is coming back strong from his back injuries, and that alone should be enough to return us to our glory days.

Besides Hasselback, we have added some much needed new weapons to go along with the ones we already had. T.J. Houshmandzadeh being added to our receiving core was a huge pick up. Deion Branch, Nate Burleson, John Carlson, and Deon Butler will provide some much needed firepower for Hassleback to use at his disposal. Each of these weapons provides a unique talent to be used in the right situation. While losing a weapon like Bobby Engram will hurt, the Seahawks will have plenty of go to guys once the season starts.

The offensive line, over the last couple of years, has been struggling to remain healthy. At any given point last year, the team had one or more of the lineman down with varying injuries. In lieu of that, the Seahawks drafted Max Unger who can play either the center position or guard. Early reports out of camp are positive, and he might be in the running for a starting position when the season starts. Rob Sims and Sean Locklear resigning for multiple year contracts adds stability to the line we have not seen in awhile. If Walter Jones and Mike Wahle can succesfully return for the injuries that plagued them last year, we should be able to dominate the line of scrimmage again which will open up the running game and give Hassleback time to throw for a change.

Enough with the rebuilt offense. Has anyone seen what they did to the defense? Adding Aaron Curry to the already stout linebacking core of Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill was tremendous in itself. Colin Cole, Cory Redding, and Ken Lucas were solid pickups that will only make our defense stronger. With the improved offense allowing them to get off the field, the defense should be able to regain the swagger that was missing last year.

the defensive line will be stronger this year with the return of Patrick Kerney from injury and the maturity of Lawrence Jackson and Darryl Tapp.  During minicamp, Jackson and Tapp showed a better understanding of what they were doing and proved to the coaching staff that they might be better prepared when the season starts.

The secondary has an oppurtunity to look pretty solid as well.  Marcus Trufant, Kelly Jennings, Josh Wilson, and Ken Lucas are a good combination of size speed and experience that should be able to compete in the NfC West.  The safeties look to be a good compliment to the cornerbacks.  Brian Russel provides the veteran presence needed.  C.J Wallace and Courtney Greene offer some youth to learn from the vet.

When the season starts, everyone will begin to take notice the improvements that have been made. They will begin talking about how surprised they are that we were able to rebuild so quickly even though we never really were sunk. The last thing I will leave you with is watch out NFC West, we are taking back over! Were Baaaccckk......