NO! I have maintained since before the draft and training camps, that the Seahawks were not in the highly touted “rebuilding mode”, and that Pete and John were on the job, looking to take out the trash, bring in some fresh meat and get us back where we were when we were dominating our division.
I’m the one who maintained that “The Legion of Boom”, was not a cast of characters, but rather Pete Carroll’s brain child, and teachable philosophy, if given a pool of skilled and talented players to carry out his “game plan”, welcome back the LOB part duo.
I am also the one who maintained that our offense had steadily developed throughout last season, and with the intro of Chris and Mike, our running game was back. The hiring and firing of the coaches, was a necessary move on Pete and John’s part.
I didn’t hear much blowback when Tom Cable got his walking papers.
That was a no brainer, although he does deserve some credit for sticking by his picks, that in the hands of new coaches, and partnered with some seasoned veteran talents, have really synced with each other. I’d go so far as to say that “Beast Mode” has been reborn in the Emerald City as well.
Our passing game has never looked so good.
I know there was all kinds of shock and protests when Sherm, Bennet, Graham, Richardson’s, and a few other notables got their pink slips. Sherm admitted himself that he was playing as a shadow of himself, you know the Seahawks medical staff had a pretty good idea about what his prognosis was after surgery, Bennett was playing with one injury after another last season, Sheldon Richardson kept laying on the ground after about every 5 or 6 plays grabbing his knee, and having to leave the field for a few plays.
Paul Richardson had great hands, but it look to me like he either wasn’t in the playbook as much as he needed to be, or he suffered from short attention span theater, because on way to many plays when Russell went to him with a pass, Richardson was running some other route than Russell was. I know Russell studies his game more than any other player on the team, and he wasn’t off course going to his other receivers.
Jimmy Graham never did fit in Seattle, he’s a WR, not a TE, he can catch, but he can’t block, at least not well enough to fit into the Seahawks offensive strategy. Will Dizzley, Ed Dickson, Nic Vanett, all 3 are better TE’s than Jimmy, and all 3 can block in a manner that benefits our offense.
The draft this year and the rebirth of Pete Carroll’s mantra about competing for your position was back in full swing this year, on a level that it hadn’t been since 2012-2015. It couldn’t work, the Seahawks had all these high dollar contracts that they bound themselves to, with aging players that were moving past their prime, but because we’d paid them so much we almost had to play them to justify all the cap space they were eating up.
Young guns, wanting to believe in Pete’s compete, rapidly saw it was BS and quit competing, because they knew it was just that, BS. That if anything was where Pete struggled in the transition from college ball to the pros. In College ball the players are in and out in four years most of the time. You might have a small hand fall that stick around for Masters and Doctorits, but in the pro’s Pete found himself if foreign lands.
He was trying to be sentimentally loyal to his players that helped him make it to a couple of super bowl bids, even when he knew they were at or near past their primes, or damaged goods. Keeping them in the mix sounded the alarms to the young bloods, that unless one of these old players fell down, that they were not going to find much play time for themselves.
Thank God we finally quit going cheap on our kickers. If I didn’t get the importance of these positions before 2017, I sure as hell have no more doubts about it now. Pay those feet, they are potentially the most important feet on the team. Think about how many games we lost last year at the feet on ole wild foot Willy, who couldn’t make it thru the uprights when we needed it, and nailed it everytime it didn’t mean diddly squat. I include Seabass and Dicksen in my nightly prayer thank you list with out fail.
We could have easily won our division and home field advantage in the playoffs if it wasn’t for all the missed field goals and missed extra points. It wasn’t funny, I got to the point last yesr, that when we really needed Walsh to come thru for us, that I’d get up and walk in the other room or go out in the other room until it was over, because I couldn’t stomach watching him let us down. I think this is what that word “ad nausium” evolved to define the emotional state people are left in when they watched Walsh blow it again, and again, and again.........
Drafting Shaquem Griffin, was maybe the best move that the Seahawks franchise ever made. Not only because, as has been his lifelong history, he will eventually fully acclimate to playing at the very top of his position assignment, and winning over his wteammates, coaches and fans in his climb to the top of his position.
What Shaqueam brings to the Emerald City, is a loud and clear message to the world , that resonates with millions and millions of new fans joining the 12 this year, in numbers that no NFL team in history has ever enjoyed. The Seattle Seahawks have the largest fan base of any team in NFL history, and that number increases daily. That kid is lightening in a bottle, the hope, drive, determination, and outright excitement and confidence he brings with him everywhere he goes is infectious. His belief in himself is undeniable, I said the day that the Seahawks drafted him that a miracle was going to unfold In the Emerald City this year, and it is. Keep your eyes open it’s only just begun.
Where I was going with that is that the 3rd leg of the team, our special teams is the best I can ever recall, and every passing game they just keep getting better. I took a lot of flak at the start of this season when I said I thought we would not only make it to the playoffs this, but that we would win our division, but would make our 4th Super Bowl appearance. I haven’t waveredfrom that, “ I Still Believe”, and if you think I’m an optimistic, never say never, Homer, your absolutely correct.
It’s an infectious mindset that spreads itself like wildfire throughout the team and the twelve, and eventually even the rest of the NFL starts to fear that crazy magic of the Seattle Seahawks and realize, that we are on a mission and it’s a mission that no one or no thing can stop.
Go Seahawks ! We All We Got - We All We Need!