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(Sports Network) - With a few stiff-arms and even more broken tackles, Marshawn Lynch secured the Seattle Seahawks victory over New Orleans in last Januarys NFC Wild Card Playoffs, giving the franchise a bit of vindication after becoming the first division winner ever to post a losing record during the regular season. But what goes up ultimately comes down, and an ugly loss to the Chicago Bears the following week ushered the Seahawks out of the postseason. If their hosting of a first-round playoff matchup was the biggest surprise of the year, than the Hawks not-so-shocking exit in Chicago stood at the other end of the spectrum. While Seattle certainly wasnt expected to make a deep playoff run, dont think head coach Pete Carroll will simply just rest after getting the Seahawks to the postseason for the seventh time in 12 seasons. Carroll and general manager John Schneider pulled off an incredible 284 transactions in their first year together, and the team may have as many as 11 new starters between both sides of the ball in addition to a new kicker in 2011. But while Carroll tried to mold new piece after new piece together throughout the 2010 season, his first at the helm of the Seahawks following a successful college tenure with USC, hes taken a slightly altered approach for year two. For starters, he brought in former Raiders head coach Tom Cable to be his assistant head coach and oversee the offensive line. That will help a pair of new starters in tight end Zach Miller and left guard Robert Gallery, who both played under Cable in Oakland, fit in quicker. Even bigger is the addition of quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, who figured to be a step behind because of the lockouts shortening of offseason preparation time. However, Jackson will be working under new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who comes to the Seahawks after spending his previous five years in that position with the Minnesota Vikings, the team that just happens to be the recent home of both Jackson and another free-agent addition, wide receiver Sidney Rice. See a theme here? "The unusual circumstances of the lockout allowed us to think and revisit what our opportunities and our chances were," said Carroll. "The more we saw it coming, the more we realized that we needed continuity and we needed continuity that we could generate in a very short amount of time. "Without question, in the minds of the staff and across the board, we realized that because of our background on our offense -- with Tom and Darrell coming together -- we could capture Tarvaris in this thing, whos been with Darrell for five years. We could hit it running full speed." Jackson will need any extra help he can get as the Seahawks attempt to defend their fifth NFC West title in seven seasons, but Rice feels that Seattle is a good situation for the quarterback to start earning some respect around the league. "Its going to be great for Tarvaris," Rice said. "I felt like in Minnesota, he was never let loose. He was never allowed to play comfortably like I know he can play, and I feel like hell get that opportunity out here to prove all those guys that think hes not an NFL quarterback wrong." Jackson wont be the only one under the microscope, as returning defensive coordinator Gus Bradley tries to solve a unit that ranked second in the league versus the run at midseason, but ended the year 21st in that category and 27th overall. Bradleys initial plan is to be more aggressive and use different looks to create confusion. First, Seattle may have to solve confusion in its own huddles, as just 16 players remain from the team Carroll took over prior to last season. That includes just two players -- linebacker Leroy Hill and cornerback Marcus Trufant -- who were on the Seahawks 2005 Super Bowl team. Make no mistake, this is Carrolls team through and through now. Below we take a capsule look at the 2011 edition of the Seattle Seahawks, with a personnel evaluation and prognosis included therein: 2010 RECORD: 7-9 (1st, NFC West) LAST PLAYOFF APPEARANCE: 2010, lost to Chicago in NFC Divisional Playoff COACH (RECORD): Pete Carroll (7-9 in one season with Seahawks, 40-40 in five seasons overall) OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Darrell Bevell (first season with Seahawks) DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Gus Bradley (third season) OFFENSIVE STAR: Sidney Rice, WR (17 receptions, 2 TD with Vikings) DEFENSIVE STAR: Chris Clemons, DE (49 tackles, 11 sacks) 2010 OFFENSIVE TEAM RANKS: 28th overall (31st rushing, 19th passing), 23rd scoring (19.4 ppg) 2010 DEFENSIVE TEAM RANKS: 27th overall (21st rushing, 27th passing), 25th scoring (25.4 ppg) KEY ADDITIONS: QB Tarvaris Jackson (from Vikings), WR Sidney Rice (from Vikings), TE Zach Miller (from Raiders), OG Robert Gallery (from Raiders), OG John Moffitt (3rd Round, Wisconsin), OT James Carpenter (1st Round, Alabama), DT Alan Branch (from Cardinals), K Jeff Reed (from 49ers), DE Jimmy Wilkerson (from Saints), DT Clinton McDonald (from Bengals), OLB David Vobora (from Rams), S Atari Bigby (from Packers), K Jeff Reed (from 49ers), KEY DEPARTURES: QB Matt Hasselbeck (to Titans), TE Chris Baker (released), C Chris Spencer (to Bears), OT Sean Locklear (to Redskins), MLB Lofa Tatupu (released), CB Kelly Jennings (to Bengals), SS Lawyer Milloy (not tendered), K Olindo Mare (to Panthers), WR Brandon Stokley (not tendered), WR Ruvell Martin (to Bills), C Chris White (to Giants), OG Chester Pitts (not tendered), OG Stacy Andrews (to Giants), OT Ray Willis (to Dolphins), DE Jay Richardson (not tendered), DT Kentwan Balmer (to Panthers), DT Craig Terrill (not tendered), DT Amon Gordon (to Chiefs), OLB Will Herring (to Saints), S Jordan Babineaux (to Titans) QB: After parting ways with Matt Hasselbeck and ending the teams all-time leader in wins 10-year stay in Seattle, Carroll wasted no time handing the keys to the castle to Jackson (341 passing yards, 3 TD, 4 INT in 2010). The 28-year-old has made 20 starts in his career, including 12 in 2007 with the Vikings, but just one came last year as he slowly drifted into an afterthought as Brett Favres backup in Minnesota. He now takes his arm and mobility to the West Coast and will hope his familiarity with Bevell will pay off quickly. Carroll made the decision to go with Jackson over Charlie Whitehurst (507 passing yards, 2 TD, 3 INT), Hasselbecks backup from last year. Seattle gave up a pair of draft picks to get Whitehurst from the Chargers in March of 2010, so Carroll wont hesitate to go to the Clemson product if Jackson struggles. Rookie free agent Josh Portis is the third quarterback. RB: Lynch became an instant favorite in the Emerald City when his 67-yard touchdown run against the Saints literally shook the earth and helped the Seahawks knock off the defending world champions. One of Carrolls many in- season pickups, Lynch ended up making 11 starts with the Seahawks after beginning the year with Buffalo and led the club with 573 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 165 attempts. His acquisition knocked former college teammate Justin Forsett (523 rushing yards, 2 TD) down the depth chart, but the latter still got 118 carries and was third on the team with 33 receptions. Expect both backs to get their playing time in 2011. Leon Washington also contributed after coming back from a horrific leg injury, but his true value is in the return game. The 240-pound Michael Robinson is a fullback who can make plays with the ball if the chances come. WR/TE: Carroll had high praise for the signing of Miller (60 receptions, 5 TD), and the move became even bigger when fellow tight end John Carlson (31 receptions, 1 TD) was lost for the year due to a torn labrum he suffered during the preseason that required surgery. While the Seahawks lost depth, they still have a true No. 1 at the spot in Miller, a Pro Bowl selection last year. Mike Williams got his stalled NFL career back on track under his former college coach last year, with the 6-foot-5 wideout topping the Seahawks with 65 catches and 751 receiving yards to go along with a pair of touchdowns. Jackson shouldnt have much problem finding the tall receiver given his history with the 6-foot-4 Rice (17 receptions, 2 TD with Vikings), who was limited to just six games last year due to a hip injury but is healthy and ready to go in Seattle. Ben Obomanu (30 receptions, 4 TD) showed his big-play ability with an 87-yard touchdown grab a season ago and is an underrated target, while 2010 second-round choice Golden Tate (21 receptions) will look to build off his rookie season. The club is also waiting for Deon Butler (36 receptions, 4 TD), to return from a broken leg suffered late last season, but it is unknown when he will be back. OL: Gallery wont be the only new face on Carrolls revamped offensive line. Seattles first two picks in the 2011 draft, first-rounder James Carpenter and third-round selection John Moffitt, will also claim starting jobs. The 6- foot-7 Gallery will take over at a left guard spot where three different players made starts last year, while the 321-pound Carpenter will step in at right tackle opposite 2010 first-round pick Russell Okung. Carpenter has size and solid run-blocking ability, as he paved paths for former Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram at Alabama, while Moffitt brings a mean streak to the right guard position. Both Sean Locklear and Stacy Andrews, both of whom got the bulk of the starts on the right side last year, are gone, as are center Chris Spencer and reserve guard Chris White. Spencer started all 16 games last year and will be replaced by Max Unger, who missed all but one game of last year with a toe injury. Okung, meanwhile, made 10 starts while battling injuries and also suffered a sprained left ankle during the preseason. Tyler Polumbus stepped in for him at left tackle last year and will do so when needed again. Mike Gibson is also an option off the bench after he made starts at both guard positions last year. DL: Thanks in part to the 323-pound Red Bryants successful shift to the right end spot, the Seahawks dominated opposing ground games early on before Bryant (18 tackles, 1 sack) went down with a knee injury after seven games. He returns to that position this year, with Brandon Mebane (31 tackles, 1 sack) shifting to nose tackle while Colin Cole (44 tackles, 1 sack) recovers from an ankle injury. Seattle signed Alan Branch (35 tackles, 2 sacks with Cardinals) to line up at the three-technique spot after he spent his first four seasons with division-rival Arizona in a reserve role. Chris Clemons (49 tackles) was acquired from the Eagles before the start of last year to play the roaming "Leo" end spot and excelled, recording a team and career-high 11 sacks. Veteran backup Raheem Brock (32 tackles) added another nine sacks even though he didnt make a start. Seattle looked outside of the locker room for reserve help, signing Jimmy Wilkerson (16 tackles, 2 sacks with Saints) and trading with the Bengals for tackle Clinton McDonald. LB: Though the Seahawks did not allow many sacks last year, they did have their own struggles with getting to the quarterback, posting just 37 sacks of their own. The bulk of that came from Clemons and Brock, so Bradley will look to get his linebackers more involved. The release of the respected Lofa Tatupu opens up the middle spot for 2010 leading tackler David Hawthorne (106 tackles, 1 INT), who made 16 starts on the outside a year ago. Taking his place will be Hill, who re-signed with Seattle after spending last season on injured reserve. While those two settle into familiar positions, the fourth overall pick of the 2009 draft, Aaron Curry (73 tackles, 3.5 sacks), will likely get some more shots at being a disruptive presence as a blitzer. Seattle does have one veteran backup in Matt McCoy (19 tackles), but the other expected options off the bench are fourth-round pick K.J. Wright (Mississippi State) and fellow rookie Malcolm Smith, a seventh-round choice who played under Carroll at USC. DB: The trade of cornerback Kelly Jennings to the Bengals for McDonald leaves Seattle looking for a starter opposite of Trufant (80 tackles, 1 INT), who is now the longest-tenured Seahawk after getting selected 11th overall in 2003. Trufant was second on the team in tackles last year and will see either second-year Walter Thurmond (37 tackles), 6-foot-4 former CFL corner Brandon Browner or 2011 fifth-round pick Richard Sherman (Stanford) start on the opposite right side. While Trufant may be the "old guy" in the secondary, he has a talented youth watching his back in free safety Earl Thomas (76 tackles). The University Texas product started all 16 games last year after being selected 14th overall in the draft and led the club with five interceptions. Veteran Lawyer Milloy started opposite of Thomas last year, but his job now belongs to Kam Chancellor (23 tackles, 1 sack), a 6-foot-3 second- year man out of Virginia Tech. Veteran Atari Bigby, who played in just four games with the Packers last year due to ankle surgery, was signed to be Chancellors backup, while rookie Mark LeGree (4th Round, Appalachian State) is listed behind Thomas on the depth chart. SPECIAL TEAMS: After enduring the brutal cold and winds of Pittsburgh for most of his career, kicker Jeff Reed fell out of favor with the Steelers and finished up the 2010 season with the 49ers. Hell now stay on the West Coast after signing with Seattle in the offseason. Reed missed seven of his 22 field goal tries with Pittsburgh, but hit on all but one of his 10 kicks with the Niners. Punter Jon Ryan (37.3 net avg.) enters his fourth season as Seattles punter and is coming off a solid season. Washington showed that he recovered from his compound leg fracture suffered in 2009 by racking up 1,461 kick return yards on 57 attempts while racing to the end zone three times. That along with averaging 11.3 yards per punt return earned him a new multi-year contract over the summer. PROGNOSIS: Given the turnover with Seattles starting lineup and just how close the weak NFC West was a year ago, logic would say the Seahawks will have trouble defending their title in 2011. However, Carroll and his coaching staff seem to have a plan on how to move ahead of the learning curve with all the new faces, and it just might be crazy enough to work. Of course, crazy is exactly how many people might describe Carroll if he thinks Jackson is the answer at the quarterback position, but the former Viking castoff will get a chance to prove doubters wrong and has some solid help in Williams, Rice, Miller and Lynch to do so. Jacksons mobility will also give the offensive line time to mold together, but the Seattle defense must be the ones to first find a way to stay consistent all year long. <a href="http://www.chinacheapnfljerseysstore.com/">wholesale nfl jerseys</a>. Since that time, Canada has lacked a figurehead - someone to oversee the technical development of the game in Canada. Now, it appears that void is about to be filled. <a href="http://www.chinacheapnfljerseysstore.com/">wholesale jerseys</a>. Even the potential problems at Andretti Autosports right now are good ones to have. Hunter-Reay grabbed the lead with 12 laps to go and held off a surging Andretti to win his second race in seven days, a week during which Michael Andretti successfully pulled off a return to Milwaukee as a first-time promoter. <a href="http://www.chinacheapnfljerseysstore.com/">http://www.chinacheapnfljerseysstore.com/</a>. You can watch Raonic play Paul-Henri Mathieu of France live on TSN2 and TSN.ca at approximately 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt. <a href="http://www.chinacheapnfljerseysstore.com/">cheap jerseys from china</a>. Padres manager Bud Black says left-hander Josh Spence and right-hander Brad Boxberger will be sent to Triple-A Tucson to make room on the roster. Kelly is San Diegos top-ranked prospect and one of the key parts in the 2010 trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez to Boston. <a href="http://www.chinacheapnfljerseysstore.com/">wholesale jerseys china</a>. On Tuesday, the club announced that forward Gabriel Landeskog has been named team captain. SEATTLE -- In case the recent blowouts clouded memory, Seattle rookie Russell Wilson can still put together a fourth-quarter, game-winning drive. That came after he put his name alongside Peyton Manning in the NFL record book. Wilson tied Peyton Mannings record for most touchdown passes by a rookie with 26, and his 1-yard TD run with 1:39 left gave Seattle a 20-13 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday and an 8-0 home mark for the Seahawks. "To tie that record is really something special," Wilson said. "Its a tribute to my faith and all God has put me through, but also to my team and what theyve done." Seattle (11-5) had hopes of still winning the NFC West entering the day, but needed Arizona to pull off a stunning upset of San Francisco. For a while, it looked plausible with Arizona holding an early 6-0 lead and trailing just 7-6 at halftime. But San Francisco pulled away in the third quarter and with it went Seattles hopes of being any more than just the No. 5 seed and a road trip for the first round of the playoffs. Seattle will travel to NFC East champion Washington for the first round of the playoffs next Sunday. The Seahawks closed out the season as the only undefeated team at home. But to get another home game this season, the Seahawks would need to pull off two road victories and have the No. 6 seed in the NFC -- Minnesota -- reach the championship game. Unlikely? Yes. But with how much has gone Seattles way the latter half of the season, anything is conceivable. Theyve won seven of eight, including a five-game winning streak to close the year. They won at least 11 games for just the third time in franchise history. "Lets see if we can make that nine (straight)," Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said. Most of the week was spent with the Seahawks receiving an inordinate amount of national attention and respect after their 42-13 rout of San Francisco and the news of Sherman winning his appeal of a four-game suspension. There was very little talk of the Rams, and that made the struggle against St. Louis (7-8-1) not very surprising. Getting that 11th victory was far from those easy blowouts the Seahawks enjoyed the previous three weeks. St. Louis defensive effort was superb. Seattles offensive eruption of the past three weeks was gone, bogged down by St. Louis smart coverage in the secondary and effective pass rush. Seattle became the first team since 1950 to score 150 points in a three-week span, yet had just three points at halftime and six midway through the third quarter. The Rams sacked Wilson six times, including three by Chris Long. Seattle got pushed around and still had a late answer to keep them rolling right into the post-season. "It definitely gave us an example of what to expect in the playoffs," Seattle defensive end Red Bryant said. "I would have rather had a game like this is the regular season than to get in the playoffs and not be able to respond like we were able to respond today.dddddddddddd" Wilson finished 15 of 19 for 250 yards and his 10-yard touchdown pass to Michael Robinson in the third quarter pulled him even with Manning for the rookie TD record. He added another 58 yards rushing, while Marshawn Lynch finished with exactly 100 yards on 18 carries, his 10th game of the season reaching the century mark. Golden Tate had three catches for 105 yards. Once again, Wilson found a way in the fourth quarter. Starting at his 10 with 5:11 left, Wilson took Seattle 90 yards in 10 plays. After Tate recovered a fumble by Lynch on the second play of the drive, Wilson found Tate for 44 yards, racing to the St. Louis 29, putting the Seahawks in prime position to close out a perfect home record. Wilson was given the shot at the rookie TD record by himself on second-and-goal from the 1. All his receivers were covered, and Wilson was left to scramble in for his fourth rushing touchdown of the season and another game-winning drive. Thats four fourth-quarter or overtime winning drives this season for Wilson. "To go into the playoffs with a game like that when it comes down to the fourth quarter, the last drive of the game and finish like that, thats great," Wilson said. "I wouldnt call it a wakeup call, I think we were ready to play, but I think it was great for us going into the playoffs." St. Louis quarterback Sam Bradford tried to put together a final drive, converting one fourth down and getting to the Seattle 29 with 40 seconds left. But on fourth-and-10, Bradford forced his throw and Sherman stepped in front for his eighth interception of the season. "I was hunting. I was waiting on an (opportunity) all day. I was playing tight coverage, didnt get very many opportunities and when I got an opportunity to overlap, I did." Bradford was 25 of 42 for 242 yards and a touchdown pass to Austin Pettis. Greg Zuerlein kicked field goals of 25 and 39 yards. Steven Jackson also went over 1,000 yards rushing for the eighth straight season, becoming just the sixth player in NFL history to accomplish that feat. "I dont think many people gave us an opportunity. I dont think many people thought this game would be close, except us," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. "Im very, very proud of the professional approach that the guys took, not only all year, but this year in preparation and understanding that this is a difficult place to play, understanding what we needed to do to win the game." Notes: Seattle went unbeaten at home for the first time since 2005. ... Wilson finished the year with a franchise record 100.0 passer rating. ... St. Louis still has not finished with a winning record since 2003. ' ' '
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