A formula for success

Many so-called experts suggest there is a window of opportunity – typically spanning two to three seasons – for teams to make annual playoff runs and reside among the NFL elite.

Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren disagrees. He sees it more as an open doorway and he presents evidence from his Green Bay past and, he hopes, the Seahawks’ future to support his contention.

Holmgren had seven straight winning seasons at Green Bay, earning playoff berths in each of his last six years. The Packers won at least one playoff game in five consecutive seasons and made two Super Bowl appearances, capturing one title.

“I was at Green Bay when free agency started and that’s the thing that changed things more than anything else,” he said. “The idea is to be smart with your (salary) cap, you have to take a chance now and then but not be too reckless, find a quarterback you can have for a while and then you have a chance to be a playoff-caliber team for a stretch.

“The idea that you only have a two- or three-year window, I’m not sure I buy into that, not if you manage things in the front office and on the field correctly.”

The Seahawks appear to have the necessary ingredients to demonstrate staying power. They return most of the key players from last year’s team, which won a franchise-record 13 regular-season games, then defeated Washington and Carolina in the playoffs before falling to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.

“It can be done,” team president Tim Ruskell said. “You may not win the Super Bowl every year, but you can be competitive and have a chance every year. You have to draft well – you can’t have a bad year – and you have to have an overall organizational philosophy and everyone has to stick to it.”

Ruskell likes the make-up of the Seahawks, rated by most as the favorites in the NFC West, if not the entire NFC.

“On paper, everything is covered,” Ruskell said. “We have good players at just about every position, good coaches, good special teams. Lady luck has to be our friend again and we can’t be devastated by injuries. But we actually have to play better than last year because everybody will be gunning for the NFC champions.”

Carolina probably tops the list of contenders. Several NFC East teams appear capable of mounting a challenge and defending NFC North champ Chicago returns the stingiest defense in the NFL.

“We’re not going to be able to sneak up on anybody,” cornerback Marcus Trufant said. “Everyone on the team realizes that and we’re going to have to come with our ‘A’ game.”

Or, perhaps more importantly, their ‘D.’ The Seahawks made an impressive jump in total defense from 2004 to 2005. The addition of Julian Peterson, who joins standout linebackers Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill, and improved depth on the line and in the secondary hint that Seattle may be even better this season.

“Julian is a special guy, a special athlete,” Trufant said. “He can play almost any position on the field.”

Said Holmgren: “With the addition of Julian, I’m very hopeful that we can play really sound, strong defense all year. Our defense has a chance to be good and there is nobody who would be more excited about that than me.”

The offense will again rely on quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who had a career-best 98.2 passer rating last year, and running back Shaun Alexander, the reigning league MVP. Tight end Jerramy Stevens could be out until early October with a knee injury, but the receiving corps should be dependable with Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram and Darrell Jackson, provided he returns to full strength from offseason knee surgery.

“We came into camp with 10 guys on PUP (physically-unable-to-perform list) and Stevens went down last week,” Ruskell said. “I sit up at night thinking about, first of all, how long we’re not going to have him and other guys, and secondly, how are we going to replace those guys and what do we want to do.”

Ruskell’s track record with personnel decisions alleviates many of the players’ concerns.

“Everyone is on the same page and pushing toward the same goal,” Trufant said. “We’ve got a lot of professional athletes on the team and when I say that I mean guys that know the game, know how to act and know what they need to do.”