Today’s Seattle Times heaps tremendous praise on Matt Hasselbeck. It also pins a lot of responsibility on him. Matt Hasselbeck is expected to be the cure for a defense that can’t seem to get a grip on opposing running backs. He’s expected to be the cure for a flagging offensive line. Indeed, according to the Times he’s “the best quarterback in the NFC.”

A month ago, this game with Green Bay looked like another cakewalk on the way to the NFC West title, another sure thing on the pudding-soft Seahawks’ schedule.

But that was before Matt Hasselbeck got hurt. And it was before the defense’s tackling lapses. It was before Sean Locklear’s lingering injury. And Robbie Tobeck’s sick hip. And before the Seahawks’ inexplicable ho-hum first half in their loss at San Francisco eight days ago.

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The postseason that seemed assured since the first day of training camp nearly will be guaranteed.

Tonight, after missing 4 ½ games with a right knee sprain, quarterback Hasselbeck returns. And he is expected to make everything good again.

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He not only has to be good, he has to be better than he was before he got hurt. He has to be the Matt Hasselbeck of last season, from the first series of this game through the end of the season.

If Hasselbeck is good, the Seahawks still can be good. If he can complete the third-down money passes like he did last season, he can rally the Hawks out of the funk that has infected them for large chunks of this year.

“We’ve been inconsistent,” Holmgren said. “I think I know how they’re capable of playing.”

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But the Hawks haven’t played like a Super Bowl team. Haven’t tackled like a Super Bowl team. Haven’t had the fire that Super Bowl teams have.

Can one player change all of that?

Every bet wagered on a return trip to the Super Bowl is hedged on Hasselbeck. It’s a lot to ask of one man with one gimpy knee. But it is the reality of this six-week stretch drive.

His return makes Monday night big again. Because the march to February begins only if Hasselbeck looks sharp tonight and the offense rolls as inexorably as it did last season.

I’m sorry, but I can’t quite agree with all of that. Sure, Matt Hasselbeck is a good quarterback, but he’s been out for quite a while. Shaun Alexander is a great running back too, but his performance last week, on his first week off of injured reserve was less than stellar. I expect good things from Matt Hasselbeck, but he’s only one man on a team that hasn’t been playing very well.

Last week the Seahawks had some serious problems at quarterback, but lets face it, Seneca Wallace wasn’t the only thing that was wrong with the offense, and the Defense was horrible. Lets not forget that there were some really outstanding plays by Seneca Wallace and Maurice Morris in the weeks before the 49ers showed us that we can’t get by on a few good plays and luck every week.

It’s going to take more than the return of a star player to fix what has been wrong with the Seahawks. It’s going to take a concerted effort by the whole team. Without that even our stars can’t really help us.

Tonight’s game should be fun to watch, and a lot of hope is riding on Hasselbeck’s return. The Seahawks still have a chance to stay on top, but they won’t do it as a one or even two man show. It’s going to take eleven players on the field working together on every play to get the job done, for the rest of the season and into the post season as well.

The stars are back. The Seahawks should be out of excuses now.

Cross posted at Perri Nelson’s Website.