The news of the Seattle Seahawks trading Percy Harvin just five games into the season didn't shock me too much.

The fact that after six games, the team is 3-3 and on the outside of the playoffs looking in, really doesn't either.

WHEN HARVIN was traded from Minnesota to Seattle a few years ago, the future looked very, very bright for the team.

Then he got hurt.

So fans waited, and waited, and waited for him to get back into a game.

He returned - ironically - against the Minnesota Vikings, then, got hurt again.

And we waited, while players like Jermaine Kearse and Doug Baldwin continued to get better as the season went on.

Then came news of his return again in the divisional round of the playoffs last year, where he'd again get hurt against the New Orleans Saints.

When Harvin finally showed what he could do for the Seahawks, it was in the Super Bowl, where he had a couple of long runs, as well as a kickoff return for a touchdown.

This year, with his role increased, Harvin didn't have the same flash and defenses were ready when Seattle attempted runs with him.

It didn't work.

Sometimes, it just doesn't work out with players in certain places, and it really didn't for the $25.5 million the Seahawks were going to pay Harvin.

BUT THE team's problems are far beyond just Harvin.

Last year, they were one of the most feared teams in the league, but this year, they're getting everyone's best shot, and giving one back.

Only six games into this season, they've matched their total losses from last season, and it seems like there will be a few more along the way with tough games at San Francisco and Philadelphia still on the schedule.

In case you forgot - and maybe you did - Seattle has had an issue of winning games away from home in recent years, especially those on the east coast.

It had appeared as though the Seahawks had solved some of those problems, with wins at Carolina, Atlanta and the New York Giants last year, but they've fallen back into that trap again this year.

There has been years when Seattle has finished unbeaten at home - which they won't do this year - and gone 1-7 on the road, and still made the playoffs, but this isn't the year.

And that defense, which was good at a lot of different things last year, hasn't quite lived up to its hype this year either.

JUST AS quickly as the season has started to slide downhill, they can flip the switch, win six or seven straight games, consider this slump a small bump on a long playoff run.

Something better change in a hurry.

Otherwise, it might be another one of those long winters that have became so unfamiliar in recent years.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.