I know there’s an attitude out in Seahawk Nation that the sky is falling. And frankly, I don’t get it. The Seahawks are 5-4 and in a 1st-place tie in their division. Now if the Seahawks were a team of New England’s stature, or even a team like the Eagles or Colts, then this doom and gloom would make perfect sense. But these are the Seahawks were talking about; we’re not exactly the Yankees of the NFL.
The problem is as much the expectations as anything right now. We were pegged by some overzealous Jimmie-the-Greek wannabes as a Super Bowl contender. And I’ll admit to wanting to believe the hype as much as anyone reading this. But what was it based on? Nothing more than the fact that we backed into a wild card slot last season (when the Cowboys lost in Week 17) and then almost upset the Pack at Lambeau. Compare that to the Eagles string of NFC Championship Game appearances, and the addition of Terrell Owens, and ask yourself which team was more deserving of the preserving hype? Yes, the Eagles got more than the Seahawks, but that we got any at all seems foolhardy to the objective eye, doesn’t it?
So you have to ask yourself, those of you who feel the sky is falling: What were your honest expectations at the 9-game mark? Let’s look at this game-by-game as if it were still the pre-season:
Week 1 @ New Orleans: optimistically you could hope and think this could be a win, but you couldn’t count on it after the awful road record we put together last year. 50/50 on this one.
Week 2 @ Tampa Bay: this is a loss. No way the Hawks beat the Bucs on the road.
Week 3 vs. SF: this is a win. It’s a home game and the 49ers were known to be awful coming into the season.
Week 5 vs. St. Louis: 50/50 here, since it’s the Rams. But we edged them at home last year, so let’s call it a win.
Week 6 @ New England: loss
Week 7 @ Arizona: win
Week 8 vs. Carolina: Even though it’s a home game, you figure this to be a loss because this is the defending NFC champ bringing back their whole roster with another year of experience (Steve Smith, Stephen Davis, etc.). You figure this is where the home winning streak ends.
Week 9 @ SF: another win, the 49ers are that bad
Week 10 @ STL: loss.
So after 9 games, with a brutal schedule that has only 3 of those games at home, how could you realistically figure the Hawks to be any better than 5-4, or optimistically 6-3? You couldn’t. But what’s infuriating, I realize, is that two of the current 4 losses should’ve been wins — STL #1 and Arizona. So yeah, you’re thinking “we could be 7-2″ but we’re not, so the sky is falling. But you can’t think that way, because for every game that should’ve been a win, there’s another that should’ve been a loss. How about Tampa Bay? We sucked wind that day and had no business getting a win. And you can bet that one of these upcoming games will be a win we don’t deserve. It all evens out in the end. (Speaking of which, if the Seahawks play to potential it appears the only iffy games left are at Minnesota and at the Jets. I’m figuring that last game against Atlanta is a win because the Hawks should have the NFC South wrapped up by then and won’t want to run Vick out there, esp. if it’s an important game for the Hawks.) I’m optimistic that 10-6 / 11-5 is well within reach, and that’ll be plenty for the playoffs.
My point here is this: The sky isn’t falling. At 5-4, we’re pretty much where any sane Seahawks fan would’ve pegged us for this point of the season. It’s almost Thanksgiving and we’ve only played 3 home games. The W-L record isn’t cause for concern. But if you need to be worried about something to feel right inside, worry about the injuries. That’s where things are looking their worst.
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