Last season the Seahawks went 4-12-0 and finished in third place in the NFC West division, missing the playoffs.

Offense: Starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck missed nine games last season due a back injury that plagued him throughout the season and it was part of the reason that the Seahawks finished 29th in passing yards last season. This season Hasselbeck says he is healthy and the Seahawks signed him a new target to throw to in T.J. Houshmandzadeh, formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals. At the running back position it was a two-headed attack with Julius Jones and Maurice Morris each gaining over 550 yards. Now that Morris has signed with the Detroit Lions the Seahawks needed to find another back behind Jones, and they brought in a former division rival in Edgerrin James from the Arizona Cardinals. James will fill the same role that Morris did as a change-of-pace power back behind the speedy Jones to try and build on a rushing attack that ranked 19th last season.

Defense: The defense for the Seahawks last year was bad in almost all categories as they finished last in passing yards allowed, 30th in total yards, and 25th in points allowed. Seattle made the defense a priority this offseason acquiring Cory Redding from the Detroit Lions and drafting linebacker Aaron Curry with the fourth pick in the draft. Seattle also brought in University of Washington and current Seattle resident Lawyer Milloy to play safety and to try and improve the pass defense. Milloy has 11 career seasons with more than 90 tackles from the safety position and 25 career interceptions with New England, Buffalo and Atlanta.

Star Power: When former coach Mike Holmgren came to Seattle back in 2001 he brought Matt Hasselbeck with him from Green Bay. Since then Hasselbeck has had five years throwing for over 3,000 yards after having only 145 yards in two seasons as Brett Favre’s backup. One of the main reasons for Seattle’s struggles last season was Hasselbeck’s back injury and ineffectiveness when he was able to play. With his back at 100% and a new, sure-handed receiver in T.J. Houshmandzadeh expect Hasselbeck to record a sixth season of over 3,000 yards passing as Seattle rebounds from a terrible season.

Biggest Addition: Now that T.J. Houshmandzadeh is the number 1 target of the Seahawks it will be interesting to see how he responds after being target 1b in Cincinnati. He will be the key receiver that teams game plan for this year and how he responds to the increased attention from defensive backs will be a key to this offense. Houshmandzadeh’s numbers declined last season in receptions, yards and touchdowns but that was more due to injuries to Carson Palmer than a decline in his play. Expect Houshmandzadeh’s stats to improve from last year with his second season of over 100 receptions, a third 1,000 yard receiving season and a second season with more than 10 touchdown receptions for Seattle.

Biggest Loss: The Seattle pass defense will improve with the addition of veteran Lawyer Milloy, but a back injury that kept Marcus Trufant out of the preseason will hinder that improvement. Trufant was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list by the Seahawks meaning that he will be out for the first six weeks of the season. He is the best cornerback on the Seahawks roster and his 17 interceptions and 93 passes defended will be missed for the first six weeks. It will be interesting to see how he performs if and when he is activated by the Seahawks.

Biggest Game: On Sunday, September 13th the Seahawks host the St. Louis Rams in a Week 1 matchup. This game is big for both teams because they are both rebuilding from awful seasons last year. It will be interesting to see which team will fight their way out of the division basement after both making Super Bowl appearances in this decade.