Richard Sherman sounds more frustrated than anything and he has every right to be. Nobody took the loss to the Patriots harder than Sherman did. He is a competitor, and he is a warrior that gave everything he had for the Seahawks. I don't think he is wrong in this case either.
Unlike the Bears, and Ravens the Seahawks had a Quarterback, and had decent skill position players on offense to boot. We had the talent, and most of them were young and home grown. We had one of the strongest rosters in the NFL, and our team was more balanced than the likes of the Ravens and Bears. We had the talent necessary to win three Super Bowls straight. Alas that never happened. A series of bad decisions have led to where we are at in this point in time.
1. We traded for Percy Harvin, and didn't resign Golden Tate, who turned out to be number one receiver material. We have spent considerable draft capital trying to get a guy who does exactly what he is doing for Detroit on the other side of Baldwin. Golden Tate's salary was on the low side as well.
2. We didn't replace our aging, and outgoing talent. Our drafts have been poor as of late, and our trades have been questionable. This has left the Seahawks with poor depth and sub-par replacements for starters that have departed.
3. Questionable coaching staff kept on past their expiration date. Pete Carroll has taught the mantra "compete" since day one. Somewhere the "all in" and "compete" mantra stopped being a thing. Carroll's offenses have been inconsistent, and downright unwatchable -- especially when Lynch retired. Slow starts, and rope a dope became a thing. Offenses since 2016 were like an anchor weight for most of the game. Only by the grace of Wilson, and his fourth quarter heroics did the offense do anything. Cable, the assistant head coach, offensive line coach, and running game coordinator thought he was able to polish a turd, and had an overly complex blocking scheme. It turns out that this man couldn't draft, develop talent, or develop competent running schemes. The unique talents of Wilson, and Lynch had been hiding a lot of deficiencies of our offense. I think many saw it on defense, and it irked them that Bevell, and Cable were getting a free pass. Always compete only applied to the defense, not the coaching staff nor the diva behaviors of Jimmy Graham, and Percy Harvin.
4. "the play". The play was bad not because it was a pass, it was bad because it played into the strength of the Patriots. We relied on one of our worst receivers, and route runners to make a play. Moreover it was the only play we only ran from that specific formation in short yardage situations. The OC said it was his call, and that it was the right one. He then went on to throw Russell Wilson and Ricardo Lockette under the bus for not executing his offensive brilliance. Nothing was said about that from Carroll.
5. Contradictions in Pete Carroll's philosophy. He held some accountable, but not others. He built his philosophy on accountability, and competition.
Carroll both built one of the greatest teams of all time, and squandered the talent and opportunity he had. He is at a crucial point in his career. A do or die moment, a go out with a bang, or with a whimper moment. What happens in this season, and perhaps the next will determine whether or not he is more Ditka, or more Billicheck.