Can the Hawks extend their Niner dominance?

Slow starts. It's what the Seattle Seahawks have become known for over the past few seasons. And every year, we ask, and maybe think, that this season will be different. Unfortunately though, it seems like this season might not be.

So far the offense has struggled to get going, scoring only one touchdown. On top of that, injuries to key pieces of the offense still exist, inhibiting any positive glimmer of hope for some sudden uptick in performance.

Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett should be a go for Sunday, even though both were limited earlier in the week in practice. Who knows how effective they will be agains the 49ers.

At running back, Thomas Rawls is listed as doubtful for Sunday, listed with a shin injury sustained in last Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams. Look even further down the running back depth chart, the health is not much better with third-stringer C.J. Prosise who is nursing a cracked bone in his hand, which kept him out of Sunday's game in Los Angeles. Although the team does expect to get him back.

All signs point to Christine Michael carrying a heavy load against San Francisco Sunday afternoon at Century Link. And Michael might actually deserve it, as he's averaged five yards per carry in the two games this season, including 60 yards on 10 against the Rams. However the trends point towards a different story. This is the time of year when Darrell Bevell has his head in the clouds and thinks he has a system and the personnel to out gun teams. But reality and results says he does not.

Russell Wilson threw a personal record of attempts against Miami in the opener, and threw another 35 attempts Week 2. The result is one offensive touchdown total, rushing or passing. So far his completion and yards per attempt are below his career averages and his QB rating is at 80.7, well below his career 100.9 average. 

Still, on the other sideline is Blaine Gabbert, and Gabbert is not going to be able to carve up this defense, especially not in this stadium. They're allowing 120 yards rushing per game, and 23 points per game. While a W should be expected, an offensive breakthrough should not be expected, because for whatever reason, this team has not tried to stick to their core philosophy of running the ball.

While the game should be an easy win, be that as it may the play calling will get in the way in making it so.

Photo: Flickr/Ben Rea

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