Q.  Ummmm ... the front 7 is "nasty"?

A.  Nasty in the John Madden sense, not nasty in the "Hampton, Dent and Singletary in the box" sense.

Dr. D has been watching tough teams beat up on skill teams for about 900 years.  Like Madden's free saftey, Jack Tatum used to put it ... as the season goes on, when the tough teams keep hitting the "skill" (wussy) teams, their will to win is going to be warped.

The Seahawks, under Mora, had a turf team.  Pete Carroll has, over one winter, turned them into a grass team.

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We're not talking about the Seahawks' stats on grass or turf.  We're talking about the fact that Red Bryant, Colin Cole, Brandon Mebane, Chris Clemons, Earl Thomas, and David Hawthorne are hitters rather than finesse players.

Lawyer Milloy is a fairly remarkable choice, an extreme bias toward toughness vs. skill.  Milloy would probably be an "0" in Strat-O.  SSI is sure that he's the worst among 32 NFL safeties, in covering fast wideouts.

But Carroll understands that on defense, toughness is non-negotiable ...

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Q.  How's the linebacking?

A.  David Hawthorne is my favorite Seahawk.  Chuck Knox would have called him a "thumper" and had him at middle linebacker.

For that matter, Aaron Curry looks almost more MLB to me than OLB, so the Seahawks could be argued to have three (3) of the Matt Millen-style thumpers that the Raiders used to torment the Seahawks with.

Since that thought occurred, we'll remark that the 2010 Seahawks' defense looks like it is one All-Pro corner, and one All-Pro defensive lineman, away from having a 1970's, 1980's Oakland Raiders defense.

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Q.  Is the front four playoff-caliber?

A.  Again, this isn't a group that is going to dominate a game with a four-man rush, the way the 1970's Rams and 1970's Steelers used to, back in my day.

In general, this defense needs a blitzer or two if it's going to hit the passer [one tick] after he plants its back foot.   But that's okay.  That was often true of the Raiders too.

The point is, this front four can engulf the run on its own, and when you can dismiss the run, you're free to create.

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Q.  SSI's verdict on Earl Thomas?

A.  He jells with what they're doing up front.  Grass player from the word Go.

He'll get burned.  Jack Tatum got burned constantly at FS for John Madden.  He got burned in the first half, before the wideouts lost interest in the game.

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Q.  Could the defense collapse in 2010?

A.  It has the personnel to go the distance.  But Dr. D has seen some defensive coordinators foul up some pretty decent defenses.

The only Achilles' heel would be the Seahawks getting out-called from the press box, and that could happen.

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Q.  Will it happen?

A.  Carroll is aggressive -- sometimes even college-reckless. 

He tries to keep the initiative.  That's what's key in S-O-M flow, to get the other playcaller reacting to your play calls, and Carroll's staff does that on defense.

I predict that it won't happen, that the defense won't melt down into confusion and passivity this season.  Could be wrong.

The Seahawks are fun to watch on D.  They will probably be fun to watch all year on D.  I'd bet a Seahawks cap, as it were, that this defense will finish in the top 10-12 or so.

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Part 4

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