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November 4, 2010 at 3:43 PM

Charlie in charge: Giants at Seahawks

The Seahawks signed Charlie Whitehurst with the idea that he could be the starting quarterback.

Not that he would start right away. Not that he should start right away.

But Seattle believed Whitehurst capable of being a starting quarterback in the league, and while the expectation was Matt Hasselbeck would remain Seattle's top quarterback, the door was open for Whitehurst to compete for the job and potentially assume that position given Hasselbeck is unsigned beyond 2010.

So here Seattle is, 4-3 in the first year under Pete Carroll, which is a better record than anyone could reasonably expect given the struggles of this offense over the first two months of the season.

Now Whitehurst gets his chance, something that a not-so-quiet minority have been calling for the past month or so.

Whitehurst throws a nice deep ball, something that has never been Hasselbeck's strength. His quickness in reading through the progressions and his touch in the short game are the two biggest questions he will face, and that's a question that doesn't get answered until a quarterback faces the defensive pressure that only a regular-season game can produce.

This is an uphill climb. Expect to see Chester Pitts starting at left tackle for the Seahawks, and Seattle may very well have Deon Butler, Ben Obomanu, Brandon Stokley and Ruvell Martin as the only active receivers in this game.

That could add up to a prohibitive disadvantage in personnel.

But for the past month, Seattle's offense has struggled not because it turned the ball over, but because it failed to mount much of any semblance of a consistent offense with the exception of the victory at Chicago.

Seattle failed to cross midfield in the second half of a loss at St. Louis, scored a touchdown on only one of seven red-zone possessions against Arizona and went 27 minutes without gaining a first down last week in Oakland.

For everyone who feels the quarterback has been the problem or to a lesser extent simply was not the answer, the Seahawks are about to switch that up. How do you feel about that decision heading into Sunday's game?

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