Only Meaningful Seahawks Game Left: The Blame Game

Oh, the statistics are ugly.

--The Seahawks are 7-19 over the past two seasons.

--Their defense, supposedly the cornerstone of GM Tim Ruskell's winning formula, allowed Brett Favre to complete a career-best 88 percent of his passes Sunday. It even allowed a TD pass from Tarvaris Jackson.

--The Seahawks rushing attack, supposedly bound for improvement under new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, is the worst in the NFL.

Get out your pointing fingers! It's time to play the blame game!

Ruskell: Whipping Boy

The Times' Steve Kelley fixes on GM Tim Ruskell: "The Seahawks are in a death spiral and the defense that Ruskell has put together has allowed 56 points and 746 total yards in the past six quarters. ... They need a shake-up at the top."

Kelley's already touting a candidate for Ruskell's job: Former coach and GM Mike Holmgren, who left the team after last season.

Yeah, things are getting a little silly.

If you must place blame for this season, point the finger at Lady Luck, who has struck the Seahawks where they are most vulnerable.

The Seahawks have five Pro Bowlers on their roster: Walter Jones, Matt Hasselbeck, Lofa Tatupu, Patrick Kerney, and Marcus Trufant. Through eleven games, these players could have played a total of 55 combined games.

They've played in just 26. Jones, the best player in franchise history, hasn't played at all. Tatupu is also out for the season.

Even those who are playing aren't doing so at full strength--Hasselbeck is playing with a broken rib, and Kerney has a variety of injuries. Trufant missed the first two months of the season and has looked rusty on his return.

Jones' absence, already a huge blow for the team, was exacerbated when his backup went down. And then that backup went down. Another former Pro Bowler, Mike Wahle, was supposed to line up beside Jones, but Wahle was released before training camp after failing his physical. Instead of having a left side of their line with two Pro Bowlers, the Seahawks have rookies and backups.

Ruskell's stewardship brought the Seahawks to a Super Bowl, and three consecutive years with a playoff victory. If the team he constructed was actually taking to the field and losing this badly, I can see how you might replace him.

But when injuries strike down every single one of the team's top five players, you have to take the vagaries of chance into consideration.

If I'm in charge, I'm keeping Ruskell until I see what he can do with a relatively healthy team. Because in the past, that's been Super Bowl wins and playoff victories.