FanHouse Marcus Pollard

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

On the heels of a nightmarish 2007 season, the Falcons were predicted to go 0-16 by some pundits. But not even the most optimistic Falcons fan would have expected a playoff spot, and even fewer would have seen Matt Ryan going from rookie to franchise quarterback before the season's halfway point.

But now here comes the hard part: The Falcons have never managed to put together back-to-back winning seasons. Whenever the Falcons have broken through with a playoff appearance, it's always been followed with a quick crash back to Earth.

The Seahawks lost their best player 69 seconds into the first half. That was the last time Packers running back Ryan Grant fumbled on the day. His two turnovers, 57 seconds apart, led directly to a 14-0 Seattle lead. But the remaining 58:51 was all Green Bay.

The Packers tied a franchise playoff record for first-half points (28), and quarterback Brett Favre tied a personal playoff record with three touchdown passes. The team also set playoff franchise records for total points (42), individual rushing yards and total rushing yards (234).

Things were so one-sided that Jon Ryan didn't get punt until nine minutes to go in the game (snow he can handle; winds and freezing temperatures ... not so much). And the rushing record? Yep, Ryan Grant recovered nicely from his raging case of the early-game fumbles to finish with 201 yards on 27 carries, including three rushing touchdowns.

For a Seahawks defense has been stout against the run in '07 (ranking fifth, according to Football Outsiders), they were summarily abused against a Packers team that was without a rushing game for the first part of the season. Amazing what an undrafted rookie free agent can do to bolster the ground attack.

Offensively, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was a victim of at least eight dropped passes. Granted, the second-half conditions were awful, but even without the miscues, I'm guessing the Seahawks lose handily.

Danny O'Neill of the Seattle Times has a great description of how the Seahawks' new tight end played in their preseason game Saturday night:

Marcus Pollard caught three passes in a span of four plays during Seattle's only touchdown drive of the first half, gained 38 yards and at no point in the evening was he pulled over.

That last part was a shot at the Seahawks' previous tight end, Jerramy Stevens, whose off-field troubles included multiple traffic offenses. I sense that just about everyone in Seattle -- the Seahawks' front office, the players, the media, the fans -- sees Pollard as an upgrade over Stevens.

However, Pollard has quite a bit to prove. He was lousy in Detroit the last two years, and he's never been an effective player when he didn't have the luxury of Peyton Manning throwing him passes. And he's 35, which means the Seahawks weren't exactly building for the future when they signed him. But Pollard doesn't have to be an All-Pro to keep people happy in Seattle. He just has to be better than Stevens. That won't be too tall an order, either on or off the field.