THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Seahawks need help, luck to navigate brutal schedule

The NFL is off and running.

It will own us until January, so it’s pretty much obligatory that we weigh in with some thoughts on the Seahawks.

Yes, you can use the word “predictions,” although seeing the future in football is roughly as accurate as fiddling with Tarot cards.

Just ask 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, who was brimming with excitement in last year’s NFC title game — until the Eagles nearly tore his arm off.

One gruesome surgery later, Purdy is back and the 49ers remain a major obstacle in front of the Seahawks.

There’s some irony in that, because I think Seattle’s season will boil down to medical science and the scheming of the league’s schedule-makers.

Let’s take those two things one at a time, shall we?

To compete for the NFC title and a significant playoff run behind that, the Hawks need help and luck with injuries.

For instance, we know that Jamal Adams — after a long surgical rehab — is practicing but not game-ready for the opener Sunday against the Rams.

Adams has missed so much time with serious injuries over the past two seasons, we tend to forget he’s almost a force of nature as a hybrid safety/blitzer.

THE HAWKS were tissue-paper soft on defense at times last year, and that was despite a pretty good secondary.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t stop the run.

Adams would help tremendously with that, especially paired with the ultimate prodigal son, Bobby Wagner.

Remember, Wagner’s partner at inside linebacker, Jordyn Brooks, is coming off a surgery of his own.

This gang must get together — along with the top draft choice, corner Devon Witherspoon, who will miss at least one game with a hamstring problem.

One reason the linebackers (and Adams) have to fill a lot of gaps and get opponents on the ground is that the defensive line will be new and perhaps shaky — at least for a while.

Dre’Mont Jones got the largest free-agent contract for a lineman in Seattle history to help shore up that front, but the Hawks really need someone like rookie nose tackle Cam Young (another injury issue) to step in and plug holes.

You’ll notice that all the focus so far has been on the defense, for obvious reasons.

The Seahawks have the talent to move the ball and get points, assuming a couple of newcomers on the offensive line (Evan Brown and Anthony Bradford) are as solid as the coaches believe they’ll be.

The whole thing on offense is about running the ball — just enough — to keep Geno Smith upright for the seconds necessary to heave throws toward Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf and exciting rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

The whole group should be comfortable with coordinator Shane Waldron’s offense by now, and ever-optimistic coach Pete Carroll has said: “We’re going to get the ball up and down the field, don’t worry about that.”

Forgive us, Pete, but worry comes with the territory — especially with a viciously brutal schedule that the Seahawks have inherited.

Remember, with the league’s divisional rotation, you play a different group each year.

This time around, Seattle gets the NFC East and AFC North.

Yikes!

BAD NEWS.

The only redeeming feature to this schedule is that the 49ers, Rams and Cardinals have to play one very similar.

Unfortunately, that only matters if you’re battling for the division title.

Matching records with other NFC teams for wild-card spots will NOT be fun and giggles, I suspect.

There are painfully clear reasons why the Hawks want Adams, Witherspoon, Brooks, Young and Smith-Njigba (who had wrist surgery two weeks ago) healthy and active as soon as possible.

After the usual brawl with the Rams, Seattle ventures out to play the super-physical Lions, who are picked to win the NFC North.

You think I’m kidding about the schedule being tough?

OK, consider this: In weeks 12 through 15, the Seahawks play the 49ers, then at Dallas, at San Francisco, and finally the Eagles at home.

Having a good time yet?

It’s not like Rutgers or Vanderbilt are mixed in there, either.

Even prior to that four-week gauntlet, the Hawks face road games against the Giants, Cincinnati and Baltimore, in addition to the Lions.

Then there are home games with Cleveland and Pittsburgh, which will not exactly be flag football.

In case you haven’t been counting, that’s 11 of the 17 games that we’ve already mentioned as scary and/or mega-smashmouth.

Add in the road game against the Rams and a trip to Tennessee, and we’re running out of chances to say, “Hey, the Hawks have this one nailed.”

Thank goodness they play Arizona twice.

So, there you have it.

If this Seattle team wins 10 games, it’s a damn juggernaut.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”