The Seahawks have re-signed 25-year old RB Marshawn Lynch to a 4-year, $32 million dollar deal with $18 million of it guaranteed.  Lynch played in 15 games for the Seahawks last year and he carried the ball 285 times for 1,204 yards (4.2 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  He also caught 28 passes for 272 yards (7.6 avg) with 1 TD grab last year.  Lynch has now played in 27 games in his first two years for the Seahawks and he has carried the ball 450 times for 1,777 yards (3.9 ypc) with 18 TD runs.  He has also caught 49 passes for 350 yards (7.1 avg) with 1 TD grab with the Seahawks.  This was a good move for the Seahawks as Lynch has a lot left in his gas tanks.  Locking up “Skittles” was a great idea and now the Seahawks can focus on improving the passing game.

The Seahawks have re-signed 26-year old OT Breno Giacomini to a 2-year, $6 million dollar deal.  He played in 15 games (8 starts) for the Seahawks last year.  He has now played in 16 games (8 starts) in his first four years in the NFL.  The Seahawks must have really likely what they saw out of Giacomini last year to give him a contract like the one he got.

The Seattle Seahawks have added a nice bunch of players to the team in the 2011 NFL Draft.  Here is a look at how they did in their first taste of NFL action:

22-year old OT James Carpenter came to the Seahawks in the 1st round last April.  He played in 9 games (all starts) for the Seahawks last year before his season ended early due to a torn ACL.  Carpenter is going to be a starter for the Seahawks for a long time.

25-year old OG John Moffitt was picked in the 3rd round by the Seahawks last April.  He played in 9 games (all starts) before his season ended due to a knee injury.  Moffitt was also suspended for four games due to testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.   If Moffitt keeps his head on straight, he will likely be a starter for a long time for the Seahawks.

22-year old LB K.J. Wright came to the Seahawks in the 4th round.  He played in all 16 games for the Seahawks last year and he had 65 tackles, 2 sacks, 8 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  He is also going to be a starter for a long time for the Seahawks as he is a big time playmaker.

23-year old WR Kris Durham came to the Seahawks in the 4th round.  Durham played in 3 games for the Seahawks last year and he caught 3 passes for 30 yards (10.0 avg).

23-year old CB Richard Sherman came to the Seahawks in the 5th round.  He played in all 16 games for the Seahawks last year and he had 55 tackles, 17 passes defensed, 4 interceptions and 1 forced fumble.  Sherman was a absolute steal for the Seahawks as he is a big time playmaker.

23-year old safety Mark Legree was a 5th round pick for the Seahawks.  He was cut before the season started and he was picked up by the Jets.  He didn’t play in any games for the Jets in 2011.

23-year old CB Byron Maxwell was picked in the 6th round for the Seahawks.  He played in 9 games for the Seahawks last year and he had 1 tackle.

24-year old DE Lazarius Levingston was picked in the 7th round.  He played in 4 games for the Seahawks last year and he had 1 tackle.

22-year old LB Malcolm Smith was pitched in the 7th round by the Seahawks.  He was quite a find as he played in 12 games for the Seahawks last year and he had 16 tackles, 1 sack and 2 forced fumbles.

GRADE FOR 2011:  B+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A+

28-year old QB Tarvaris Jackson played hurt most of this year and that is because Charlie Whitehurst was playing so awful.  Jackson played in 15 games (14 starts) for the Seahawks last year and he completed 271 of 450 passes (60.2%) for 3,091 yards with 14 TD passes and 13 INTs (79.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 40 times for 108 yards (2.7 ypc) with 1 TD run last year.  Jackson has now played in 51 games (34 starts) so far in his NFL career and he has completed 625 of 1,053 passes (59.4%) for 7,075 yards with 38 TD passes and 35 INTs (77.7 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 159 times for 643 yards (4.0 ypc) with 5 TD runs in his NFL career.  Jackson is now 17-17 (50%) as a starting QB in the NFL.

29-year old Charlie Whitehurst didn’t play too well at all last year for the Seahawks.  They were 0-2 in his starts in 2011.  Whitehurst played in 3 games (2 starts) for the Seahawks last year and he completed 27 of 56 passes (48.2%) for 298 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT (62.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 4 times for 13 yards (3.3 ypc) last year.  Whitehurst has now played in 11 games (4 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 84 of 155 passes (54.2%) for 805 yards with 3 TD passes and 4 INTs (64.6 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 26 times for 69 yards (2.7 ypc) with 2 TD runs so far in his NFL career.  Whitehurst is now 1-3 (25%) as a starting QB in the NFL.

The Seahawks have signed 25-year old RB Tyrell Sutton to a reserve/future contract.  Sutton sat out the whole 2011 season, which is surprising to me because he is a talented RB.  Sutton has played in 16 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has carried the ball 25 times for 139 yards (5.6 ypc).  He also has caught 18 passes for 132 yards (7.3 avg) in his career so far.  Sutton is also a good special teams player as he has returned 16 kickoffs for 332 yards (20.8 avg) and he has 9 tackles.  This was a good move for the Seahawks as Sutton will likely have a decent shot of making the team in 2012.

The Seattle Seahawks fell just a tad short in this game.  They had the ball first in O.T., but couldn’t get anything going.  The Cardinals then took the ball right down the field and Jay Feely connected on a 28-yard game winning field goal.  Tarvaris Jackson was so-so in this game as he completed 21 of 35 passes for 222 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Marshawn Lynch led the way on the ground in this game with 86 yards rushing on 19 carries (4.5 ypc).  He also caught 2 passes for 5 yards (2.5 avg) in this game.  Leon Washington also had a solid game with 7 carries for 78 yards (11.1 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has also caught 2 passes for 12 yards.  WRs Ricardo Lockette (1 rec, 61 yards, TD), Golden Tate (5 rec, 46 yards) and Doug Baldwin (3 rec, 40 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Seahawks.  The Seahawks finished up with 178 yards rushing on 34 carries (5.2 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 35 passes (60%) for 191 yards as they had possession of the ball for 33:42.

The defense didn’t play too well for the Seahawks in this game.  LB David Hawthorne led the way for the Seahawks in this game with 13 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit.  Safety Kam Chancellor (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss), CB Richard Sherman (6 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) and LB K.J. Wright (4 tackles and 1 fumble recovery) also pitched in for the Seahawks.  The Cardinals finished up with 131 yards rushing on 31 carries (4.2 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 40 passes (55%) for 257 yards in this game.  The Seahawks finished the 2011 season with a 7-9 record.

The Seahawks and Cardinals are both playing tomorrow to finish .500 on the 2011 season.  That might not seem like much, but the Seahawks started this year 2-6 while the Cardinals started the year 1-6.  They are both playing their best football of the season right now, which could set up for a classic football game.  The Seahawks beat the Cardinals earlier this year, 13-10 in Seattle.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Seahawks have the ball:  The Seahawks have decided to hook their wagons to Marshawn Lynch and that is when the offense took off.  Look for Lynch to have a heavy workload this Sunday against a Cardinals’ D that is allowing 120.5 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  The Seahawks have not been passing the ball much lately as they are running out of healthy receivers.  That won’t stop them from passing when the have to in this game.  The Cardinals blitz a lot, so the O-Line is going to get challenged in this game.

When the Cardinals have the ball:  The Cardinals are likely going to be more balanced than usual in this game.  That means that Beanie Wells is going to get 20-25 carries, so the Seahawks are going to have to be ready for him.  The Seahawks are giving up only 3.8 yards per carry, so they should be up to the challenge of dealing with Wells.  The Seahawks are going to have to get after John Skelton, because he makes a lot of mistakes with the football when under pressure.  The Seahawks will likely double Larry Fitzgerald the whole game and try to force Skelton to beat them by throwing the ball to Early Doucet and Andre Roberts.

PREDICTION:  CARDINALS 23, SEAHAWKS 20

22-year old safety Earl Thomas is heading to Hawaii after the regular season is over as he will be playing in the Pro Bowl.  Thomas played in 15 games for the Seahawks so far this year and he has 92 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 2 fumble recoveries, 6 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  He has now played in 31 games in his first two years with the Seahawks and he has 168 tackles, 7 interceptions, 13 passes defensed, 6 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 2 fumble recoveries.  The best is yet to come from Earl Thomas in the coming years.

The Seahawks just couldn’t get enough going offensively to beat the 49ers last Saturday, but they did put up a good fight.  Tarvaris Jackson completed 15 of 28 passes for 163 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Marshawn Lynch led the way on the ground for the Seahawks in this game with 107 yards rushing on 21 carries (5.1 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 24 yards (12.0 avg).  Justin Forsett pitched in with 1 carry for 5 yards and 2 catches for 20 yards.  WRs Ricardo Lockette (1 rec, 44 yards) and Doug Baldwin (2 rec, 17 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Seahawks.  The Seahawks finished up with 126 yards rushing on 27 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 28 passes (53.6%) for 141 yards as they had possession of the ball for 27:06.

The defense was solid against the pass, but no so good against the run for the Seahawks last Saturday.  Safety Kam Chancellor led the way for the Seahawks in this game with 10 tackles.  DT Brandon Mebane (7 tackles), LB David Hawthorne (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed) and DE Chris Clemons (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 3 QB hits) also had solid games for the Seahawks.  The 49ers finished up with 178 yards rushing on 40 carries (4.5 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 26 passes (53.8%) for 171 yards in this game.  The Seahawks are now 7-8 on the year.

The Seahawks are rolling right now as they have won three games in a row by a combined score of 99-41!  The Niners thumped the Steelers 20-3 in San Francisco last Monday Night, so they could be in for a let down today.  The Niners won 33-17 over the Seahawks in the season opener in San Francisco.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Seahawks have the ball:  The Seahawks aren’t going to change how they play football today.  Look for RB Marshawn Lynch to get a lot of carries against a Niners’ D that is allowing only 71.5 yards rushing per game and 3.3 yards per carry so far this year.  The Seahawks are going to need some WRs or TEs to step up today as they continue to lose players due to injury.  Tarvaris Jackson is going to be under a lot of heat in this game, so he’s going to have to make good decisions and get rid of the ball quickly.

When the 49ers have the ball:  The 49ers are going to come out running the ball with Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter.  That is good news for the Seahawks’ D as they only allow 3.7 yards per carry so far this year.  The Seahawks will get after Alex Smith, trying to force him into making some bad throws.  The Seahawks have 21 interceptions so far this year as they have a ballhawking secondary.

PREDICTION:  SEAHAWKS 16, 49ERS 14