The Seattle Seahawks seem to be going with a youth movement under new coach Pete Carroll, getting worse in the short term in order to get better in the long term.
That timeline works well for the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers play the Seahawks in the short term, specifically this Sunday at 1 p.m. PDT to kick off their 2010 NFL season.
The Seahawks cut their leading receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh over the weekend, leaving Seattle with a cupboard of mostly rookie receivers. Seattle has also recently cut starters Julius Jones, and Lawrence Jackson.
It is also not helpful that the Seahawks' offensive line coach resigned on them this weekend, a week before the opening game.
Seattle fans fans are wailing like grunge guitars over the unpopular moves. "The problem is that the Seahawks took a sledgehammer to their roster just days before the season is set to begin," Jerry Brewer complains in the Seattle Times. "It means they're almost guaranteed to start the year slowly because so many new players must get comfortable."
Oddsmakers share the lack of enthusiasm for the Seahawks' direction, and have the 49ers as two and-a-half to three-point favorites for Sunday's game.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who will always remember Houshmandzadeh for the "Who's Your Mama" commercial.
