Weekend Picks

Seahawks -7 over Cardinals - Payback time for the Hawks in Seattle this weekend. The loss in September to Arizona remains the only division defeat for Seattle this season. This Arizona team will look quite a bit different than the one that beat the Hawks. Veteran QB Kurt Warner has taken over for Matt Leinart and both of the Cardinals' star receivers may miss Sunday's game due to injury. If both Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin due miss the game and the Seahawks continue to get to the QB like they have been, then Warner could be in for a long day. Between the injuries for Arizona and the Hawks being at home, that doesn't leave much room for error for the Cardinals.

Seahawks can win if: They shutdown Edgerrin James - James had 120+ yards in the first game - and force Arizona into throwing situations. Then the D-line has to get pressure on Warner and force him to throw quickly to his depleted receiving corps. On offense Seattle needs to fix the protection problems they always seem to have early in the game. Seattle 27, Arizona 14

Quick Husky football note: Now that Tyrone Willingham is staying as coach I want to move on and stop that debate like most people do. I just wanted to add one quick note in his defense. A lot of Willingham supporters pointed to the fact that the players on the field weren't his players. I went ahead and ran down the depth chart to see if the numbers really did bear that out. On offense, a look at the starters and key reserves shows 20 players in all and seven of them were brought in by Willingham. On defense I counted 17 players who either started or played key roles at some point during the season and eight of them were recruited by Willingham. Add in the fact that Willingham's first recruiting class came after a 1-10 season and him being hired in December and it looks like you simply can't blame Willingham for the talent on the field. Now if you have a problem with his coaching style and game management then that is a completely different story. But most people I'm sure would first point to a lack of talent for the reason why the Huskies have performed so poorly the last few years. Next year's team will be made up almost entirely of Willingham players and if recruiting analysts have been accurate about his classes, then the Huskies should be a much better team.

Random Notes

• Good column in the Seattle Times today from Jerry Brewer on Tyrone Willingham. One of the key points he makes is what the fallout might be from having a fourth head coach in six years. Some people just don't realize the kind of impact a coaching change can have on recruiting and how that can set a program back. Just look at when Willingham was hired, UW missed out on any real shot at getting Jonathan Stewart, because they essentially didn't have a coach. By the time Willingham was hired, it was too late in the game. Although recruiting may not mean much to people until it actually produces on the field, Willingham for all intents and purposes has been doing a very good job. Next year will be the first year with almost all players brought into the program by Willingham himself. The other encouraging sign I have noticed this season is all the positive things said by current players, as well as recruits about Willingham and the direction of the program. If the top high school players in the state believe the program is headed in the right direction enough to come play at UW, then maybe it truly is. Only time will tell.
  

• Regardless of how you feel about Shaun Alexander, the Seahawks run game is better with both Alexander and Mo Morris involved. I like Morris a lot and he has done a great job this season, but he still isn't the type of back who you want carrying the ball 25-30 times. He is much more effective with a smaller workload and working off of Alexander's contrasting running style. Alexander is simply not the player he was two years ago anymore and he is also not capable of producing with that many carries. But as shown by Sunday's game, with both players working off of each other, the Hawks can run the ball pretty well. And that is something that will make them a much better team and is probable necessary for them to go deep into the playoffs.
  

• The Huskies basketball team has now dug themselves into a hole. This weekends game against Pitt has now become almost a must win. With the strength of the Pac-10 this year, they simply can't afford to have four or five non-conference losses. What's troubling is that the problems this year are very similar to last season. Too many turnovers and giving up too many points. Oklahoma State shot nearly 60% in that blowout on Saturday. Clearly they just had a good shooting day and sometimes there isn't much you can do about that, but it was also partly due to a lot of easy and open shots. There is no doubt this is a talented team, but maybe they are still a year away.