Biggest obstacle standing in our way to repeat.

Obstacle standing in our way does not mean we cannot overcome it, just the largest aspect we have to face to again stand on top of the mountain.

Or if you will our biggest challenge, if I left something off add it in a comment.

I allowed three votes, figuring some won't put everything in one basket, but we should still get an overall picture of what the board thinks are the top challenges.

Camp I believe starts Friday, it's about to get real again, we have so much to look forward to.

It's the NFL and anyone can beat anyone else on any given week, but as of now, I see my biggest concern being a rash of injuries as the most obvious possibility in having struggles this season

My superstitions won't allow me to play :141847_bnono:

Went with injury, complacency, and lack of focus. I think if the team stays focused, driven, and healthy, there's no one that can keep them from locking up the #1 seed and HFA again, leading to a 2nd championship.

The Seahawks are the best team in the NFL. The only thing that can stop us from repeating is injury, and then even with our depth we'd still have to get hit with some bad breaks.

SacHawk2.0":2t20ycea said:

The Seahawks are the best team in the NFL. The only thing that can stop us from repeating is injury, and then even with our depth we'd still have to get hit with some bad breaks.

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Agreed. Which is why I chose injuries, bad calls, and unlucky bounces.

I just don't see complacency or attitude being a factor, not with these coaches and players. And I don't think anyone is going to substantially improve themselves more than we will, and I certainly don't see us regressing.

I only voted for 1...because I did not know there were 3 choice capability. I voted lack of Fowkus....I would have gone with injuries too and left the third....Other.........not enuff 12 man at away games....LOL :twisted:

Injuries can be game changers. But you can't allow fear of injuries to impair your preparation.

I would say injuries would be the primary big one, followed by bad calls in close games.

We really were only 1 game away from not locking up HFA even after our incredible start, and SF's average start...they still caught us.

I think the Cards have improved while the Niners have improved, but only slightly. The Cards are aging along the DL, but are still damned good there. The Washington suspension hurts them, but they make up for it on the backend I think. Strangely enough, their secondary might be the strong point of that team, and I still think the way we beat them is through the air with our new weapons and Harvin.

I theorize that the Niners will lose some production from aging positions, but improved with Stevie Johnson. The caveat here is can Kaepernick take advantage of having a very good 4th option ? I honesty haven't seen it yet, but that is the crux of the Niners upcoming season right there: can Kaepernick improve ? If he can't, they probably split with the Cards. If he can, we might be in trouble. The Bowman injury hurts them; they have quality depth but it's not Bowman's caliber (what is?) so they drop off there.

Their secondary is an unknown. They've shored up the backend with Bethea, but he's not a great Safety against the run. I think J. Smith is due for a decline. Aldon Smith will likely lose some time due to suspension, if the Niners are unlucky (so far they dodged a huge bullet legally) he'll see 8 games. If we can win that game down there, it is HUGE for us winning the division; it's the only game I have us losing for certain this year in division.

STL is really all about whether Bradford can get that offense together. If he can, they're going to challenge for the division. Their secondary is still weak, but that front 7 is shaping up to be one of the best in the NFL.

Injuries.

None of the above.

The Hawks on paper are the most talented team in the NFL right now, BUT they play in the nastiest division arguably in all of sports.

I could easily see a scenario where the entire NFC West beats the living crap out of each other going 3-3 in division, or at best 4-2..........and some other division leader runs away with their division going 14-2 or 13-3.

This means even if we win the division or get a wildcard birth, no home field advantage, therefore making it extremely difficult to go on the road and win somewhere like New Orleans, Green Bay, etc.

kidhawk":vyr76fv3 said:

It's the NFL and anyone can beat anyone else on any given week, but as of now, I see my biggest concern being a rash of injuries as the most obvious possibility in having struggles this season

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This. The biggest thing--besides Vince Young running wild--that prevented USC from getting that three-peat was a ridiculous level of injuries on defense. We had 3rd/4th string guys playing alongside less-injured 2nd string guys and some starters (plus some true freshman who otherwise wouldn't have been playing). It was actually a miracle we went undefeated to get to that Rose Bowl game.

If the Hawks stay healthy, they'll have a good shot to repeat.

Sgt. Largent":dugi1u4r said:

None of the above.

The Hawks on paper are the most talented team in the NFL right now, BUT they play in the nastiest division arguably in all of sports.

I could easily see a scenario where the entire NFC West beats the living crap out of each other going 3-3 in division, or at best 4-2..........and some other division leader runs away with their division going 14-2 or 13-3.

This means even if we win the division or get a wildcard birth, no home field advantage, therefore making it extremely difficult to go on the road and win somewhere like New Orleans, Green Bay, etc.

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Only one division I can see having a team pull that off and it's the NFC East with the Eagles, NFC South and North are going to be battles, Packers are not going to have a cakewalk with the resurgence of the Bears and the Lions playing more controlled I think, Turner could get a motivated Vikings offense to create early problems as well. Saints, Buc's and Panthers are going to go at each other, Atlanta is not to be discounted as well.

The East I think will not be shock and awed by the Eagles offense this year, but a new offense in N.Y., a Jerry Jones looking more like a Al Davis in later years and the Team that has a name that people are not uttering these days has yet to show that RGIII is healthy and has a offense that can move when he isn't running makes the Eagles path the easiest in the NFC.

I would vote for Kaepernick. In the NFCCG, he seemingly got over a hump and is no longer intimidated enough to be freaked out by his own shadow. Injuries of course are #1 with every team in the NFL, but the 49ers are still really darn good.

Tical21":qdgn5b5y said:

I would vote for Kaepernick. In the NFCCG, he seemingly got over a hump and is no longer intimidated enough to be freaked out by his own shadow. Injuries of course are #1 with every team in the NFL, but the 49ers are still really darn good.

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Well, except for the 4th quarter.

But I get what you are saying--he's at least composed himself enough when he's here that I don't expect anymore 20+ point blowouts. Still, I would expect both teams to win at home in close games--he's not beating us here and I have my doubts that we can win in Santa Clara.

chris98251":3oglky90 said:

Sgt. Largent":3oglky90 said:

None of the above.

The Hawks on paper are the most talented team in the NFL right now, BUT they play in the nastiest division arguably in all of sports.

I could easily see a scenario where the entire NFC West beats the living crap out of each other going 3-3 in division, or at best 4-2..........and some other division leader runs away with their division going 14-2 or 13-3.

This means even if we win the division or get a wildcard birth, no home field advantage, therefore making it extremely difficult to go on the road and win somewhere like New Orleans, Green Bay, etc.

Click to expand...

Only one division I can see having a team pull that off and it's the NFC East with the Eagles, NFC South and North are going to be battles, Packers are not going to have a cakewalk with the resurgence of the Bears and the Lions playing more controlled I think, Turner could get a motivated Vikings offense to create early problems as well. Saints, Buc's and Panthers are going to go at each other, Atlanta is not to be discounted as well.

The East I think will not be shock and awed by the Eagles offense this year, but a new offense in N.Y., a Jerry Jones looking more like a Al Davis in later years and the Team that has a name that people are not uttering these days has yet to show that RGIII is healthy and has a offense that can move when he isn't running makes the Eagles path the easiest in the NFC.

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I could see the Saints running away with the South. The Panthers lost a lot of players, and neither the Bucs or Falcons did much in free agency to make up that much ground.

Obviously it's WAY too soon to tell how the divisions are going to shake out, but my point remains valid, all it'll take is one other division leader to run away with their division and it spells on the road for the playoffs. Obviously with our D we're in every game, including road games.........but nowhere near as dominant as home.

The reason I thought of wasn't up there, so I voted for unlucky bounces.

Last season, Seattle fixed the pass rush and conquered their bugaboo in 10 am starts. But they still lost 3 games and nearly lost several more. The reason is because of new problems that none of us couldn't have foreseen. Who thought our fullback situation would be so awful? Who thought we'd finish almost dead last in pass protection? Who foresaw defensive coordinators completely solving our offense after it was #1 in DVOA without Harvin the year before? Who thought Seattle would finish dead last in the league in power running situations despite Lynch being healthy and at the top of his game?

Pete is great at fixing things. Hopefully those areas will all be improved in 2014. But a new year means new problems. Hopefully not too many of them.

Last year the Ravens fell apart on offense and finished 8-8. Everybody said it was because they lost too much in FA and paid Flacco. But most of what they lost in FA was on defense, and the Ravens defense actually got better last year. The reason the Ravens declined was because their run blocking went from good to historically awful for no apparent reason. Sometimes aspects of a team will change wildly from year to year even if the personnel changes very little.

If Seattle falters this year, it will be because of new problems we are unable to foresee.

Right now I would have to say the refs they have a tremendous amount of power to decide the outcome of a game and we have seen it before on more than one occasion.

Didn't see my answer.

There are 31 other teams, and some of them are good too.

I can't bring myself to say the other one. It starts with I.

kearly":3iow5wy1 said:

Who foresaw defensive coordinators completely solving our offense after it was #1 in DVOA without Harvin the year before?

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Not to be a bragging jerk, but I did once we knew Percy was gone most of the year before the season started. I was even iffy about it before news of needing hip surgery came.

We haven't seen anywhere near enough games with Harvin yet, but I suspect that Harvin is the key to Bevell's play-calling heart. Simply having Percy even suiting up on game day has altered some of our offensive tendencies while Percy is not even on the field for some plays or a series. It seems like Bevell's a happy kid with a great toy (I don't mean that as insulting as it sounds, I'm just using it strictly as an analogy) and everything's improved because of it, in a manner of speaking, lol.

Small data sample set to be saying that, I know, but it APPEARS to be true in my opinion. If we're bolder and less predictable on offense now going forward, my concerns are toast. I look forward to finding out.