Raisingzona Interviews 12thmanrising.com for Today’s Cards-Seahawks Game

Keith Myers from Fansided’s Seattle Seahawks blog took some time out ahead of today’s matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks to answer some questions from Raisingzona.com about the Hawks. 

Raising Zona: Many think the Seahawks will try to tank the season just to get Andrew Luck and the first pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.  I don’t see them being able to do that with some of the talent they have.  I think they will be just good enough to not be bad enough.  Do you agree?

12th Man Rising: This is a team that won a playoff game, and then proceeded to get bigger, stronger and faster at every position where changes were made in the offseason. It is a very young team, and is currently going through some major growing pains, but there is no “tanking” it going on. Anyone who thinks that knows very little about the Seahawks.

RZ: I see Sidney Rice is returning to the field this Sunday.  Can he be a difference maker?

12th Man: He can be, especially against that Cardinal secondary. The problem has more to do with the guy throwing the ball. Unless Jackson has a much better game than he’s had so far, it wont really matter who’s playing receiver.

RZ:  It’s week three and this will be Seattle’s home opener.  Are there any upset fans at the NFL for kind of putting the Seahawks even in a deeper hole than they dug themselves into, not giving them a home game till week three?  

12th Man: There are some that are upset, and I think rightfully so. Though personally, I’d rather that the Seahawks had gotten 2 of their east coast trips out of the way already. This is a very young team, and it’s going to lose a lot of games early in the season, but should be better down the stretch. Better to save those home games and have them later in the season.

RZ:  On Tell the Truth Tuesday’s, why doesn’t Pete Carroll ever tell the truth?  I love that he just comes out and says “this is a process” after losing to Pittsburgh.  Well, you just lost 24-0.  It’s not a very good process.  Just come out and admit you are playing for next year or you were left behind the eight ball and missed out on guys like Kevin Kolb and had to settle for Tarvaris Jackson.

12th Man: The process involved getting so many young and inexperienced players up to speed at this level. Despite the score, there was a lot of improvement between weeks 1 and 2, especially in the special teams plays and the pass protection. What there wasn’t was 1) decent QB play 2) any pass rush of any time and 3) holes for the RB to run through. Those 3 things led to the lopsided score, but that doesn’t mean the process is bad. As long as all the young players continue to progress, this team will be fine.

As for Kolb, the Seahawks didn’t want him. Or rather, they did, but not at the price Phily was asking. No way you give up a first rounder and a very good young player like Brandon Mebane for an injury prone QB when your offensive line is full of players in their first or 2nd year like Seattle’s is. The Seahawks believe that they’re better off letting someone like Jackson get killed season, and then bringing in a better QB next season once the line play has improved.

RZ:  Your prediction for Sunday’s game? 

12th Man: While I think the Cards wont be able to run the ball against the Seahawks defense, there wont be enough pass rush and Kolb will end up having a good game. Seattle’s anemic offense wont be able to keep up. AZ over Seattle 24-17.