Great SI article on Seattle offense

If you're looking for a team set to make a dramatic turnaround in 2009, be sure to keep your eyes on the one in the Pacific Northwest.

New offensive coordinator Greg Knapp has the pieces to guide Seattle back to the ranks of the elite after the Seahawks finished 4-12 last season and ranked near the bottom of the league in several offensive categories.

Knapp, who served as offensive coordinator for Jim Mora Jr. in Atlanta, brings an offensive system that is ideally suited to his roster. Relying on a passing game that features several of the West Coast offensive principles used by his predecessors, Mike Holmgren and Gil Haskell, Knapp should get the offense off to a fast start.

The most obvious reason for optimism revolves around the return of Matt Hasselbeck. The 11-year pro missed nine games last season due to injuries (knee and back) and is looking to bounce back from one of the worst seasons of his career. Hasselbeck completed only 52.2 percent of his passes, for 1,216 yards with five touchdowns and 10 interceptions in seven starts in 2008.

Those numbers are well off the standard he established during his eight-year tenure in Seattle. The three-time Pro Bowl passer has thrown for 23,549 yards in his career with 147 touchdowns and 94 interceptions. He has a career completion percentage of 60.1 percent and a 84.5 passer rating.

Hasselbeck's return coincides with that of Nate Burleson and Deion Branch, who combined for 99 receptions, 1,355 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2007, before missing most of last year while recovering from injuries. Burleson suffered a torn ACL in the season opener and missed the remainder of the year; Branch missed eight games while recovering from an ACL injury that originally near the end of 2007.

When healthy, Burleson and Branch give Hasselbeck two dynamic weapons in an aerial attack that ranked eighth in passing yards in 2007. Though neither is truly a No. 1 receiver, their collective abilities helped Seattle average 24.6 points per game and finish 2007 as the league's ninth-best offense.

With marquee free agent signee T.J. Houshmandzadeh joining Branch and Burleson, the Seahawks have the ability to attack defenses from all angles. Whereas Branch and Burleson thrive outside the numbers, Houshmandzadeh makes his living over the middle of the field.

Houshmandzadeh, who has tallied at least 90 receptions in each of the past three seasons with the Bengals, replaces Bobby Engram as the team's slot receiver and will be counted on to develop into Hasselbeck's security blanket in critical situations. As a crisp route runner with exceptional hands, the ninth-year pro has proven to be a clutch performer throughout his career and is coming off a season in which he led all receivers in third-down receptions (30).

Second-year tight end John Carlson is back after leading the team in receptions (55), receiving yards (627) and receiving touchdowns (5). Though he isn't considered a speed merchant, Carlson averaged over 11 yards a catch and emerged as a threat down the middle of the field.

While the pieces are clearly in place for Seattle to field a dynamic aerial attack, the team must shore up its lackluster running game to return to the ranks of the elite. Last season, the Seahawks ranked 19th in rush offense and only featured a 100-yard rusher in four of 16 games. Julius Jones, who was signed as a big money free agent last offseason, only rushed for 698 yards and lost his starting position to Maurice Morris by season's end.

However, Jones and the Seahawks' running game figures to be more productive under Knapp's zone-based running scheme. The 14-year coaching veteran has orchestrated top rushing attacks in all of his previous stops (San Francisco, Atlanta and Oakland).

In a zone-based running scheme, running backs are taught to be decisive in their running style. Coaches often implement a "one-cut" rule, which encourages runners to follow a predetermined path before making a quick cut downhill (inside move between the tackles) or to the outside on all runs. The premise behind the rule is to eliminate the negative runs that result from indecisive runners dancing in the hole.

With Jones and T.J. Duckett in the fold, Knapp inherits a pair of runners who should thrive in this scheme. Jones, who had two 100-yard games last season, is a decisive runner who is most effective running between the tackles. Though his season was viewed as a disappointment, the six-year pro averaged a respectable 4.4 yards per carry and didn't receive nearly enough touches (he only averaged 10.5 rushing attempts a game in 2008) to determine if he could cut it as a feature back.

Duckett, who enjoyed the most productive seasons of his career under Knapp in Atlanta, gives the team a power runner to rely on in critical situations. While most would assume Duckett would serves as the team's short yardage/goal line specialist, the eight-year pro likely will play a prominent role as the team's "four-minute" back. With a passing game that has the potential to put up points in bunches, Duckett should receive plenty of carries in the fourth quarter as the team relies on the bruiser to salt away victories behind a powerful running game.

Additionally, the move to the zone-based blocking scheme should benefit the offensive line. In their new system, offensive linemen work in unison to block areas rather than to block assigned men. This often results in more combo blocks (centers and guards or tackles and tight ends working together), which minimizes penetration from the defensive line. With the use of more double teams, it is not necessary for the offensive line to feature a host of all-stars at every position. Seattle's running game has never recovered from the lost of perennial Pro Bowl lineman Steve Hutchinson, but the new scheme will help it mask some of the deficiencies.

The Seahawks fell off their lofty perch last season, but on the heels of a revamped offense, the team is set to soar again in 2009.