The Seahawks are enjoying some well-deserved time off with a bye in Week 9, but just because there's not game this week, that doesn't mean we can't still have a mailbag taking a little time off. As always, thanks to everyone who asked questions this week, and apologies if I couldn't get to yours this time around.

Cynthia Johnson from Vancouver asks, "Will the Seahawks make it to the playoffs and possibly the Super Bowl?"

A: Love the optimism Cynthia, especially after so much doom and gloom over the past couple of weeks. I'm not going to bother considering the Super Bowl just yet until we see if the Seahawks can get hot and play themselves into playoff contention, but as players and coaches have been saying even after a three-game losing streak, the playoffs are still the goal, and when you look at the NFC standings, there is still a very realistic path to the playoffs. Catching the 7-1 Rams and Cardinals would be very tough, to be sure, but even if the Seahawks don't make that happen, getting a Wild Card spot is very much in play. The Rams or Cardinals seem like a safe bet for one Wild Card presuming the other team wins the division, and the 5-2 Saints are currently also in a strong position, though they just lost their quarterback for the season, but after that the NFC is full of 4- and 3-win teams all vying for that final Wild Card spot. With Russell Wilson expected back soon, possibly as soon as Seattle's next game after the bye, and Chris Carson also getting close to his return, and with the defense playing much better of late, it's very easy to foresee a scenario where the Seahawks finish on a hot streak and earn a Wild Card spot.  

On the other hand…

James Parker for Chirnside says, "Forget this season, it's over! I don't know what people are drinking if they think the Seahawks can make the playoffs this season."

A: Well, James, we'll just have to agree to disagree here.

@Giannis34SZNMVP asks, "Do you think the Seahawks should upgrade at corner?"

A: Seahawks coach Pete Carroll would probably tell you that the Seahawks have upgraded at corner in recent weeks without adding anyone new to the roster. The first big change was inserting Sidney Jones IV into the lineup on the left side and moving D.J. Reed to right cornerback, where he has played better than when he was on the left side. Since then Tre Brown has taken over the left cornerback spot from Jones, starting last week, and the rookie has been playing well ever since he started splitting time with Jones in Week 6. The Seahawks have also tweaked some things from a schematic standpoint with their corners playing more aggressive in coverage, and between the lineup changes and those schematic ones, the results have been significantly better in recent weeks. 

The trade deadline passed Tuesday without the Seahawks making a move, so they won't be upgrading that way. That doesn't mean at some point they couldn't look to add depth at cornerback or elsewhere via a waiver claim or free agent signing, but with the improved play from the likes of Reed, Brown and Jones, I don't think the Seahawks feel like this position is as much of an issue as it appeared to be early in the season.

JimSwain37 asks, "Who do you think is next in line for the Ring of Honor?"

A: First off a disclaimer, I have no inside info on the selection process here, so don't take this answer as a tip as to what's coming. That being said, the player who makes the most sense to me would be Shaun Alexander, who is still the only player in team history to earn MVP honors.

There's a decent Hall of Fame case to be made for Alexander, who from 2001-2005 averaged 1,500 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns per season over a five-year span. A three-time Pro-Bowler and a first-team All-Pro during his 2005 MVP campaign, Alexander's greatness sometimes gets overshadowed a bit both because he played behind such a good line, and also because he was followed in Seattle by such an iconic player in Marshawn Lynch, but his contributions to some of the best teams in franchise history should not be overlooked.

And speaking of Lynch, he and a lot of other players from the Pete Carroll/John Schneider era will no doubt be in the Ring of Honor somewhere down the road, but if a player or two is going to go in before the likes of Lynch, Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner, Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Doug Baldwin, K.J. Wright, Carroll and Schneider all start making it in, then Alexander makes a lot of sense to me.

If the team wanted to honor a player from further in the past, defensive tackle Joe Nash would be a worthy choice. After signing with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 1982, Nash went on to play the most games in team history with 218, and his 15 seasons in Seattle are also a team record. Nash started 169 games, recording 47.5 sacks, including 7.0 in 1984 when he was a Pro-Bowler and first-team All-Pro. Nash, who won the Steve Largent Award in 1992, was somewhat overshadowed at times playing with Jacob Green early in his career, then later with Cortez Kennedy, but he was a great Seahawk in his own right.

@KuhlHawkFan asks, "What does Pete Carroll think about the show Ted Lasso? I feel like Ted and Pete would be best friends?"

A: Thank you for reminding me of this, because I really do want to ask Carroll if he has watched Ted Lasso, and in fact when I first started watching the first season, I immediately noted there were a lot of similarities between the two. Obliviously Ted Lasso is a comedy so he's going that character is going to be a bit goofier than an NFL coach, but from the over-the-top optimism to the belief in helping players be the best versions of themselves as people and not just athletes, to the influence of John Wooden, Carroll and Lasso do indeed have a lot in common. I mean, if I hadn't seen Ted Lasso, I would absolutely believe that it was Carroll and not Lasso advising people to "be curious, not judgmental."

And yes, I do think those two would indeed get along quite well.

@rtsolari asks, "Were there no updates on Dee Eskridge in Pete's latest press conference?"

A: No, Carroll was not asked about Eskridge, who has been out since Week 1 with a concussion, but he did provide an update on Friday, saying the rookie receiver should be back after the bye. 

"He's come back raring to go," Carroll said of Eskridge. "It looks like he'll be ready to play after the bye. He's able to work out and go for it and push and all that kind of stuff. He feels great. Everything is really positive, so barring and kind of setbacks or something, once we get back—he'll be going home over the break, working out there—then we get back, we really expect him to be able to go."