Seahawks: If Only The Game Was One Half

It was the epitome of the Seattle Seahawks season. After an impressive first half to build a 21-6 lead, a lackluster second half and the inability to convert two runs on third-and-one and fourth-and-one led to the demise of the Seahawks Sunday.

Once an upper-tier team in the NFL, the Seahawks are an empty shell of themselves.

Never has the loss of an offensive lineman been so important, as was the case when the Seahawks let Steve Hutchinson walk to the Minnesota Vikings after he paved the way for Shawn Alexander to set NFL records and lead Seattle to the NFC Championship.

But the injury-prone Alexander has not been the same, and the one-time NFL MVP has now run for fewer than 50 yards in four straight games. He blames it on his broken wrist, which now has company after injuring his leg this last weekend.

But the real loss was in Hutchinson.

And, just like last season, the Seahawks are coming up a yard short. As you might remember, the Seahawks had multiple opportunities to put away the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game with a simple short run, but were unable to. Perhaps the largest was a fourth-and-one in the fourth quarter at Chicago’s 46-yard line when Alexander was tackled for a one-yard loss.

And in much the same way the Seahawks were denied not once, but twice in Sunday’s loss in Cleveland.

If the Seahawks had Hutchinson and Walter Jones leading the way, there is no question Seattle would have converted on one of those runs Sunday. And there is no question they would not have come up short on big plays in last year’s NFC Championship.

So while Alexander can blame his wrist for what his feet cannot do, we know there is just something missing. A lineman who is reliable and consistent in leading the way.

It might be the only thing blocking the Seahawks from another post-season run.