The Blog is back!
Sorry for the long break. I’ve spent the offseason just doing different things. Writing, reading, going through personal and professional hell and having my life flip on its axis…you know, the typical summer. Aside from my obsession with the Seahawks, my other passion in life is writing…and I do have some pretty big things hopefully coming up on the horizon. Stay tuned!
Anyway, so apparently the Seahawks won the Superb Owl last year or something. That’s pretty awesome, has any team ever done that before? And it’s so crazy how we, the 12th man, basically won it all by ourselves. I think we should all congratulate ourselves with a big pat on our back.
Okay hopefully that warded off the Niner trolls so we can get down to brass tax, as I always say (I actually never say that). We had a pretty damn good season last year I must say.
Best year in Seattle sports history if you ask me.
Personally, I felt conflicted this entire offseason. As much as I loved basking in the glory of being Super bowl champions, and shutting down every argument with every football troll out there by shoving our ring in their face, my heart yearned for the return of football and now its finally here.
The talk around the water cooler is “How are the Seahawks going to do this year?”
Of course no one really knows. On paper, this team is definitely legit. They are returning basically all of their starting personnel, as well as added a few pieces that should be major contributors. But we’ll get to that in a minute.
I’ll try to summarize my thoughts on how I see this season going below. In honor of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, which I refuse to watch because I’m tired of Michael Bay raping my childhood, I provide 4 reasons each on why this season might be good or bad.
4 Reasons why the Seahawks will be as good or possibly better in ’14
1. Russell Wilson looks better than ever. That should really come as no shock to anyone. The guy works harder than a coal miner. A lot of players talk about being in the film room, first one in, last one out, but Russell is the guy that actually does that on a consistent basis. So far this preseason (yes, I know its preseason), he looks incredible. He looks faster, stronger, and most importantly to me, seems like he is making the perfect decision every time. He is reading his progressions perfectly…to translate for those not football savvy, that means he’s looking at everyone and throwing it to the guy that’s open. It sounds easy, but incredibly, it’s really not.
2. Percy Harvin. Not much to say here to elaborate on. I’ve been a Harvin fan ever since he got here. You saw why in the Superbowl. He changes the offense, he really does. It’s kinda like watching Mike Tyson in his prime. You can sense the fear in the other team. Only, they aren’t fearful of getting knocked out, but rather that this guy’s speed will run them out of the building. And he does.If Harvin stays healthy the whole season, and yes, that’s almost an oxymoron at this point, the rest of the league is in serious trouble.
3. Our best players should be even better. In addition to the #1 reason, all of the best players on our team are around 25 years of age or younger. That’s really unique to this team. Superbowl champions of the past were never really able to make that claim. And if they did, they typically won following Superbowls (Pats, Cowboys in 90’s, etc…). We lost some pieces in the offseason, but these guys: Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin, Russell Okung, Percy Harvin, Bobby Wagner, Malcolm Smith and perhaps a few others are all not even considered in their “prime years” and should only get better. That’s gotta be scary AF for other NFL teams.
4. We’re the best damn football team. Period. This almost goes without saying, but perhaps some need a reminder that the Seahawks, in my humble, unadulterated opinion, are the best team in the league in terms of talent, coaching and overall ability. Pete Carroll needs scuba gear, our depth is so insane (I can’t take full credit for that), and from 1 to 53, we have the best players in the league. The law of averages and probability says we will win it again.
Reasons why we might take a step back (but not too far, let’s not get crazy)
1. Loss of Leadership. I know what you’re probably thinking, Russell Wilson, Earl Thomas and the Legion of Boom are all leaders. Yes, they are. However, they are also really young. Their roles were great within the context of the environment they had last season, which included such vocal and emotional leaders as Mike Robinson, Red Bryant, Sidney Rice and Chris Clemons. We don’t have those guys this year, and while I thought all of those guys had down years last year and their cuts were justified, I think the culmination of all of those losses of leadership could come back to hurt us. Hopefully it won’t hurt us too bad, but one thing is for sure: the chemistry will be different.
2. Injury bug. This should be #1, but since every team has to deal with this, I put it at #2. Realistically, the only thing that I think can stop the Seahawks is injuries. Thankfully, I don’t think one single injury will stop them. Losing someone like Wilson, Thomas, Lynch, or Sherman would suck, but one of those won’t hurt us to the extent that it might on other teams. We can survive one of those losses. Two of those and things could get very dicey. The talent up and down the roster is insane, so hopefully it won’t be bad if it ever comes down to that…but you know, football.
3. Loss of nasty. We specifically lost three very nasty guys on our team. Breno Giacomini, Brandon Browner and Red Bryant. You might be saying Breno has the brain of a graham cracker, Red isn’t as good as he used to be, and Browner didn’t even play in the playoffs. This is all true….however, these guys were nasty in the positions you want guys to be nasty. These guys are street fighters. When you lined up against them, you were literally in for a fight.
Now, we’ve replaced those guys with more talented players, but on some level I think NFL players would rather go up against someone that’s good, than a guy that wants to fight with them.
It’s worrisome.
4. Football is hard. Repeat champions are rare. Talent doesn’t always win…in fact, most seasons the best team doesn’t win. It really comes down to a lot of luck, and whether you are luckier than the other 31 teams or not. The margin of error is razor thin, and the disparity between teams is even thinner. Our schedule this year in particular is brutal. I believe it was John Clayton that said often times, the difference between a good team and bad team is how tough their schedule is. That might not be a good omen for the Hawks.
Final Thought: If my premonitions are right, which they usually are because I’m just gifted like that, I think the Seahawks will still have a very successful year. I can’t call that they’ll be champions just yet. I don’t want to go that far. If I had to put money on it, absolutely I would take the Seahawks because again, they are the best team. We just have to figure out how lucky they will get, and how much our losses will affect our chemistry.
Season prediction: 11-5, or 12-4. Let’s go with 12-4.
Go Hawks
Categories: NFL and Seahawks
Tags: Brandon Browner, Breno Giacomini, Earl Thomas, John Clayton, legion of boom, Michael Bay, Mike Tyson, Percy Harvin, Pete Carroll, Red Bryant, richard sherman, Russell Okung, Russell Wilson, seahawks, Seattle, superbowl
The Seattle Slew 