Seattle Seahawks: Picking up where they left off

The beloved NFL season is officially back up & running, and after the 1st of 256 regular season games, it is time for analysts all over the country to start their overreactions.

Putting that aside, it is very obvious that the defending champions have not missed a beat. It is often a concern of franchises coming off of a Super Bowl victory to lose that hunger and passion going into the next season after all the celebrations. Well there is nothing about the Seattle Seahawks organization, from the fan base to the personnel that lacks passion in any way shape or form. In fact, if you look up words like passion, drive or hunger for success in the dictionary I think there is a picture of the Seahawks logo.

Meanwhile, in Eagle land, the conversation this time of year seems to be swirling around potential and how high this team’s ceiling is. The sharks in Vegas say upwards of nine wins (closer to 10) seems most likely with our schedule, the experts at ESPN seem to unanimously pick them to win the NFC East, and the local talk radio shows say they win their one home playoff game and then get bounced by either Seattle or possibly New Orleans in the second round. Though all of this is speculation, it is hard to argue.

This Seattle team has been built from the ground up and it has been a process from the basement of the NFC, to average, to the playoffs, and now looking at a possible dynasty a few years down the road. What a lot of Eagles fans fail to understand, is the Eagles process started last year when management brought in a new guy to be in charge. He has plans to build what Seattle has now and has started the process, but in the grand scheme of things it takes years.

He has implemented a system, got everyone to buy into it (cutting ties with the Desean Jacksons of the world) and is now growing his personnel through experience in the system (much like Pete Carroll has done with his guys). The Eagles are a good team going in the right direction (so there is reason to be excited), but that doesn’t belittle how the Seahawks are further down the road as far as building a successful team. We cannot take away from the fact that this is their time (so there is reason to not go too overboard with that excitement).

This season, the Eagles host Seattle on December 7th, a day that many fans have marked off on their calendar because it will be a true test of where they stand late in the season. Potentially a trap game for the Seahawks (if there is such thing) playing their arch rivals San Francisco before and after this matchup and having to travel all the way to the east coast, something no team likes to do with time differences.

Getting back to the reigning champs out west, Vegas has them winning upwards of 11 games (closer to 12) this year. My question to you after watching them man handle arguably the second team in the NFC on opening night is, who do you expect to beat them? Now I know it is human nature to overreact to the first game of the season and I know they technically have the hardest strength of schedule in the toughest division with the Broncos coming to town in two weeks. However, you also have to take into consideration that this team is guaranteed eight home games which are as close to a lock for a win as you’ll get in the NFL so even if they are average on the road and go .500 this is a 12 win team at worst, that’s scary.

Personnel wise, they are arguably a better football team than they were last year when they were the best team in the league. If Percy Harvin stays healthy, he opens up a whole new facet for this offense to go along with a tough running game (Marshawn doesn’t seem to have too much tread on his tires like many said he would) and a smart quarterback who doesn’t turn it over. Oh and not to mention, hands down, the best defense in this league.

To look at things realistically, injuries are apart of the game and effect just about every team in the league, but this team doesn’t have that one player that would collapse them if significantly injured. They have talent everywhere you look and a system that seems like it allows even backup players to step in here and there without the machine having any malfunctions or being derailed on course to Arizona on February 1st. They also signed a few key pieces long-term this offseason and are currently paying one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL his rookie salary of $662,434 a year, the 3rd highest paid quarterback on the roster.

As Earl Thomas said during Thursday night’s post game, “We are a great team and we are after greatness.” Again, I hate to be the guy who seems to be overreacting after opening night but all things considered, I would be shocked if this team wasn’t the heavyweight of the NFL for a very long time.