Rob12
New member
I'm just going to type and see what comes out.
I need a healthy dose of perspective right now. I have an amazing wife (and a new 12, she never grew up watching football but I've indoctrinated her completely), three healthy baby boys, a house, a good job, and my health. Life should never be all that bad, and it's not. I've got it good. Real good.
But I can't shake this loss. So, it's only been 31 hours, and that's to be expected. But the more I think about it, the more it saddens me. Seeing Russ shake his head immediately after that pick... Seeing Sherman's reaction... Seeing our guys lose their cool at the end of the game while reinforcing every non-Seattle stereotype of our team (Bruce was insanely remorseful, but that narrative doesn't fit with most people), seeing the Pats celebrate... And in the midst of all of that, knowing that if we had just handed Marshawn the ball, we would have walked away with our second straight Lombardi... It just seems like too much to take (as a fan). But then I think about the absolute frailty of human psychology, and how I can let a mere game get to me like this... A game, and a team, that I have literally ZERO control over. It's a funny thing, but we all do it, and it's because we absolutely love our Seahawks. To echo kearly, we had the No. 3 rushing offense of all time, and we employ the hardest to tackle running back in league history, and NE statistically gets owned in power run situations... And we put the Beast on the sidelines, metaphorically speaking. We take a sure win and the coaching staff refuses to grasp it, and instead hands it to Belichick and the New England Patriots. What sense can ever be made of this? I've read the links and seen the damage control by Pete and company, but I can't accept any of it. I had a few people bring up on social media today that Lynch has been stuffed this season four out of five times when he carries it from the one-yard-line, and I just laugh that stupid stat off because of the insanely small sample size, and the fact that that is just a stupid thing to bring up and it doesn't deserve any type of response.
Marshawn taking the high road shows me more and more how classy of an individual he really is. He puts the team first, and refused to bad mouth anyone. I mean sure, he's possibly up for a big payday and might not want to rock that boat, but the restraint that that takes is mind blowing to me. He's 28, and despite showing no signs of slowing down, he doesn't have many years left, and for him to defer to the coaches in that situation shows that he values the team more than he values himself. I'm sure behind closed doors it's a completely different ballgame - but my respect for Marshawn is off the charts. And I hope we extend him and he ends his career as a Hawk. I'm not qualified to know how that can even happen, but this team without Marshawn should scare every single Seahawks fan that lives on this earth.
Russell is a champion, and I love how he won't let one play or game define him. When he says that greater things are coming, I believe him. He's a cliche machine, but those cliches are imbedded in every fiber of that dude's being, and he believes every one of them. He's going to get paid, and again, I don't know how we make all of the numbers work. His contract will be the direct result of us losing some very good players this off season - players that both they, and we, will be blindsided when they become cap casualties. I don't know who those players are, but it's going to hurt. Through all of that, I need to remember that this team without Russell Wilson is something that I flat out do not want to see. No thank you in starting over with the quarterback position - but I've seen more and more fans question the intelligence of signing him to a big deal. Don't let one throw cloud your judgment on our quarterback. Things were dark before he got here, and if he leaves, they'll be even darker. I know I'm 99 percent preaching to the choir here on .NET, but it's amazing to see what people are writing in my Facebook feed.
This brings me to my next point - how do we get him help in the passing game? The dude can extend a play like no one else in league history. You can't teach or coach that - it's the quarterback and football player that he is. He can survive very well without a good pass blocking line, but the questions about our receiving corps have merit. I love Doug, Jermaine, and Richardson. The jury is out on Paul with his knee injury, but I believe he bounces back. But we have to get better in the passing game. Chris Matthews is a wild card, but I loved the big play ability he showed. I think it means bad things if Lockette and Walters are on our 53 next year, and Norwood, despite being a rookie, has to show more. He'll be 26 shortly after the start of next season. We need to hit home runs in the draft when it comes to our passing game. No more projects. The scouting talent that exists in the Seahawks organization must scout better than any other team and find insane value in the draft and get Russ the help he so desperately needs.
The only worry I have on the defensive side of the ball is how the LOB recuperates after going under the knife this off season. We were so damn banged up, and it showed. Brady was always going to get his yards, but the YAC is what showed me that this was a hurting unit. Zero wood was laid. Again, we need to bolster this group in the draft. Maxwell is gone; I absolutely believe that dude has played his last game as a Seattle Seahawk. The same can be said for Jeron Johnson. Tharold Simon looked bad yesterday, but I love that kid's future. Depth is my concern heading into next season.
Finally, and I touched on this earlier - the salary cap situation scares me. Someone brought up the number of $22M under (after the cap increases). When you're talking about Wilson, (most likely) Lynch, Wagner, and a few other key pieces, that's not a lot of breathing room. I'm an absolute idiot when it comes to the cap, but it just seems like we are going to be saying goodbye to some key pieces to this team. Okung (I know his cap hit isn't bad at all for a LT), Mebane, Miller (he gone), Kearse (will have to be an extremely team friendly deal), Maxwell, Johnson, McDaniel (I could be way off with this one)... I can't even think of all the names that could very well be on the chopping back as a result of extensions and staying in a place where our cap number isn't dangerous.
I think that's enough. I'm not as knowledgeable as most on here, though I do feel I have a good grip on what we have to work with. This loss has been, by far, the hardest loss I've ever had to stomach in my more than 25 years of being a Seattle sports fan... I played competitive sports for most of my life, and I can't remember anything that ever left a knot in my stomach quite like this.
Damn it. Go Hawks.
I need a healthy dose of perspective right now. I have an amazing wife (and a new 12, she never grew up watching football but I've indoctrinated her completely), three healthy baby boys, a house, a good job, and my health. Life should never be all that bad, and it's not. I've got it good. Real good.
But I can't shake this loss. So, it's only been 31 hours, and that's to be expected. But the more I think about it, the more it saddens me. Seeing Russ shake his head immediately after that pick... Seeing Sherman's reaction... Seeing our guys lose their cool at the end of the game while reinforcing every non-Seattle stereotype of our team (Bruce was insanely remorseful, but that narrative doesn't fit with most people), seeing the Pats celebrate... And in the midst of all of that, knowing that if we had just handed Marshawn the ball, we would have walked away with our second straight Lombardi... It just seems like too much to take (as a fan). But then I think about the absolute frailty of human psychology, and how I can let a mere game get to me like this... A game, and a team, that I have literally ZERO control over. It's a funny thing, but we all do it, and it's because we absolutely love our Seahawks. To echo kearly, we had the No. 3 rushing offense of all time, and we employ the hardest to tackle running back in league history, and NE statistically gets owned in power run situations... And we put the Beast on the sidelines, metaphorically speaking. We take a sure win and the coaching staff refuses to grasp it, and instead hands it to Belichick and the New England Patriots. What sense can ever be made of this? I've read the links and seen the damage control by Pete and company, but I can't accept any of it. I had a few people bring up on social media today that Lynch has been stuffed this season four out of five times when he carries it from the one-yard-line, and I just laugh that stupid stat off because of the insanely small sample size, and the fact that that is just a stupid thing to bring up and it doesn't deserve any type of response.
Marshawn taking the high road shows me more and more how classy of an individual he really is. He puts the team first, and refused to bad mouth anyone. I mean sure, he's possibly up for a big payday and might not want to rock that boat, but the restraint that that takes is mind blowing to me. He's 28, and despite showing no signs of slowing down, he doesn't have many years left, and for him to defer to the coaches in that situation shows that he values the team more than he values himself. I'm sure behind closed doors it's a completely different ballgame - but my respect for Marshawn is off the charts. And I hope we extend him and he ends his career as a Hawk. I'm not qualified to know how that can even happen, but this team without Marshawn should scare every single Seahawks fan that lives on this earth.
Russell is a champion, and I love how he won't let one play or game define him. When he says that greater things are coming, I believe him. He's a cliche machine, but those cliches are imbedded in every fiber of that dude's being, and he believes every one of them. He's going to get paid, and again, I don't know how we make all of the numbers work. His contract will be the direct result of us losing some very good players this off season - players that both they, and we, will be blindsided when they become cap casualties. I don't know who those players are, but it's going to hurt. Through all of that, I need to remember that this team without Russell Wilson is something that I flat out do not want to see. No thank you in starting over with the quarterback position - but I've seen more and more fans question the intelligence of signing him to a big deal. Don't let one throw cloud your judgment on our quarterback. Things were dark before he got here, and if he leaves, they'll be even darker. I know I'm 99 percent preaching to the choir here on .NET, but it's amazing to see what people are writing in my Facebook feed.
This brings me to my next point - how do we get him help in the passing game? The dude can extend a play like no one else in league history. You can't teach or coach that - it's the quarterback and football player that he is. He can survive very well without a good pass blocking line, but the questions about our receiving corps have merit. I love Doug, Jermaine, and Richardson. The jury is out on Paul with his knee injury, but I believe he bounces back. But we have to get better in the passing game. Chris Matthews is a wild card, but I loved the big play ability he showed. I think it means bad things if Lockette and Walters are on our 53 next year, and Norwood, despite being a rookie, has to show more. He'll be 26 shortly after the start of next season. We need to hit home runs in the draft when it comes to our passing game. No more projects. The scouting talent that exists in the Seahawks organization must scout better than any other team and find insane value in the draft and get Russ the help he so desperately needs.
The only worry I have on the defensive side of the ball is how the LOB recuperates after going under the knife this off season. We were so damn banged up, and it showed. Brady was always going to get his yards, but the YAC is what showed me that this was a hurting unit. Zero wood was laid. Again, we need to bolster this group in the draft. Maxwell is gone; I absolutely believe that dude has played his last game as a Seattle Seahawk. The same can be said for Jeron Johnson. Tharold Simon looked bad yesterday, but I love that kid's future. Depth is my concern heading into next season.
Finally, and I touched on this earlier - the salary cap situation scares me. Someone brought up the number of $22M under (after the cap increases). When you're talking about Wilson, (most likely) Lynch, Wagner, and a few other key pieces, that's not a lot of breathing room. I'm an absolute idiot when it comes to the cap, but it just seems like we are going to be saying goodbye to some key pieces to this team. Okung (I know his cap hit isn't bad at all for a LT), Mebane, Miller (he gone), Kearse (will have to be an extremely team friendly deal), Maxwell, Johnson, McDaniel (I could be way off with this one)... I can't even think of all the names that could very well be on the chopping back as a result of extensions and staying in a place where our cap number isn't dangerous.
I think that's enough. I'm not as knowledgeable as most on here, though I do feel I have a good grip on what we have to work with. This loss has been, by far, the hardest loss I've ever had to stomach in my more than 25 years of being a Seattle sports fan... I played competitive sports for most of my life, and I can't remember anything that ever left a knot in my stomach quite like this.
Damn it. Go Hawks.