What to make of Seahawks at midseason

Halfway home.

In a year when you might have expected the Seahawks to be somewhere between pretty good and average, the verdict so far would be…

Decent.

But scary.

And that’s not exactly scary in a good way — more like Halloween scary to Seahawk fans who’ve had to sweat out all but one victory as they puzzle over a 6-2 record at the midpoint of the season.

The latest win was the most bizarre, as the Hawks did as they pleased for 30 minutes on Sunday, building a 24-0 halftime lead against a poor Atlanta bunch that is now 1-7.

After that, though, the Hawks imitated sleepwalkers through most of the second half as the Falcons’ backup quarterback, 38-year-old Matt Schaub, shredded Seattle on drive after drive to cut the final score to 27-20.

Schaub wound up with a staggering 460 yards on 52 passes, and but for a single great defensive play, the Seahawks actually could have blown their entire lead.

Fortunately, the outstanding Marquise Blair put on a clinic at safety — including a strip of Devonta Freeman inside the Seattle 5-yard line.

Bobby Wagner’s recovery of that fumble shot a hole in the Atlanta recovery.

SO WHAT to make of these Seahawks with half the season gone?’

Pete Carroll insists that the Super Bowl is always their target, but somehow it’s hard to picture this team getting quite that far.

Yes, there’s been a lot of excellence for the Seahawks through those eight games, starting with spectacular play from Russell Wilson.

Several newcomers have shown the flashes Carroll and his staff hoped to see — DK Metcalf, Blair and veteran Jadeveon Clowney all have looked like fixtures going forward, with Metcalf catching his third and fourth touchdown passes of the season against the Falcons.

The linebackers have been as advertised, and the Hawks also have gotten decent play from a banged-up offensive line.

Tackle Duane Brown and guard D.J. Fluker both have missed time — and then on Sunday, Joey Hunt had to replace the injured anchor Justin Britt at center.

The guy who has benefited the most from the bully line play is running back Chris Carson, who ran over and through his usual complement of Atlanta defenders.

Back to Wilson…

His telepathy with Tyler Lockett — who has become an elite NFL receiver — is almost magical.

Among other things, the arrival of Metcalf and Lockett’s rocketing to stardom has alleviated the preseason worry about Seattle’s receivers after the retirement of Doug Baldwin.

However, the loss of tight end Will Dissly for the season looks like a major issue.

YOU CAN find plenty more reasons to worry about these Seahawks.

For one thing, five of their wins were against sub-par teams — and only a victory at Arizona was by more than a single touchdown.

The lone quality win came against the Rams at home, and that was a true high-wire act as Los Angeles kicker Greg Zuerlein missed a potential game-winning field goal.

New Orleans and Baltimore won easily at CenturyLink Field, which gives you some hint about the future — because the schedule is not particularly kind going forward.

The Hawks get the Rams on the road, they play the division-leading 49ers twice, and they face games against the rugged Vikings and Philadelphia on the road.

For good measure, they also travel to Carolina.

Tough to see much fun in there.

Ironically, it’s the defense — which has been the Seahawks’ calling card almost forever — that looks as though it will struggle against that gauntlet of tough opponents.

Carroll insists that the pass rush, which has been toothless so far, is ready to explode.

It truly must if the Seahawks hope to be a playoff team.

Clowney has been OK, but free agent Ziggy Ansah on the other side has been nursing injuries and basically hasn’t offered a thing.

Top draft pick L.J. Collier hasn’t been deemed good enough to see the field for more than a few plays in the defensive line.

Good teams can move the ball against these Seahawks, and there are some outstanding outfits looming on the horizon.

If you put a gun to my head — and I hope you won’t — I’ll guess that Seattle finishes 10-6.

Same as last year, despite Wilson playing out of his mind.

Scary, no?

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball once monthly during the offseason. The weekly edition will begin Nov. 5.