Last Season: 12-4, lost Super Bowl.
Key Acquisitions: Jimmy Graham.
Key Losses: Max Unger, Malcolm Smith, Byron Maxwell, Zach Miller.
Oh, the Seahawks. Even with the Patriots being a gigantic evil franchise, it was hard not to laugh when Butler made that final pick of Russell Wilson and all the bandwagon 12s lost their football innocence. All these fans who never showed up until the Pete Carroll era suddenly realized that with great heights comes great heartbreaks. Countless people wondering why the hell didn’t they just give it to Lynch.
Honestly, the bottom line is that Malcolm Butler made the play of his life. Passing in that situation was fine, even a good idea, given the timeout and time remaining factors. The pass itself was a good playcall, a low-risk quick slant that usually results in easy small yardage (in this case a TD) or an incomplete pass. If you watch the tape, it pretty much looks like a straightforward TD if Butler doesn’t read it perfectly. Butler made that play happen. It wasn’t the worst playcall of all-time, it wasn’t a failure of the Seahawks (though Russell could have made a better throw), it was just a fantastic play by the defender that is going to haunt Hawks fans forever, no matter how much they plead for you to shut up.
This offseason has been fine. Secondary lost a fair amount of depth, but nobody irreplaceable left the team except maybe Max Unger, who was replaced by Jimmy Graham. Now Ant-Man in training Russell Wilson’s offensive line is going to be even worse, but now at least someone on his team can catch a ball, so it’s hard to say. It’s okay if Russell gets hit, though. He has RECOVERY WATER WITH HEALING NANOBUBBLES TO STAVE OFF INJURY. I was told by a Seattleite that the stuff is sold out across the city, so it goes to show you how dumb some people are.
The Seahawks still look to be one of the premier contenders in the NFC. They still have Sherman, Thomas, Bennett, Lynch, Wilson and Kam. Carroll is still a good coach. They still have one of the best home field advantages in all of sports. There’s no need for the 12s to be pessimistic, but there is an undeniable sense of uneasiness around the fandom this year. The fever isn’t as strong. The new fanbase has experienced humiliating pain, and they’ve gotten a little skittish. Case in point, today’s fan perspective, by “Manoueverable”:
Despite my team having made the last two Super Bowls, I think the play might have broken me as a football fan. I’ve resigned myself to taking a shot every time I see it on Sundays this season, and I just can’t bring myself to be optimistic. The way I see it, the Seahawks have three possible outcomes for the 2015 season:
- Win the Super Bowl, to the chagrin of 90 percent of the country because, apparently, Seahawks fans are insufferable douches when we win (though still not as bad as Pats or Steelers fans). SB49 is forgiven.
- Lose to Green Bay in the playoffs because the game will be at Lambeau, and because Rodgers has probably made it his goal this season to maim the secondary even worse than he did last year.
- The team suffers severe PTSD and misses the playoffs, Jimmy Graham is somehow a non-factor, Lynch retires, Russell turns into a pumpkin without him, and they have a fall from grace that somehow one-ups the Niners’ because that’s how we roll. SB49 is remembered and mocked for being our last moment of relevance.
No. 1 is what I hope, No. 2 is the most likely outcome, and No. 3 is what I expect. I don’t have any rational explanation for why I expect an implosion. After snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, I guess I figure Murphy’s Law won’t stop there.
