How This Could Be Our Year

Today’s game will tell us a lot about whether the Seahawks are for real this year.

I would like to think that last week’s annihilation of the 49ers in Seattle represented a sign of things to come. However, I am forced to recall last year’s home drubbing of Jacksonville in Week Four. At the time, I (and many others) imagined that we might see that same level of play later in the season, but we were bitterly disappointed. We mistook the triumph over the Jaguars as a sign of life when in fact it was a heroic last gasp from a doomed team.

The Seahawks have never been a great road team, and Denver is a tough venue. Losing Max Unger to injury for the rest of the season throws yet another wrench into our elusive quest for chemistry and competence on the O-Line, and poses yet another challenge for our sudden replacement offensive line coach, Mr. Not Alex Gibbs. If he can find a way to establish the run with our makeshift O-line, then I’ll have to learn his name.

If Coach Carroll can continue to maintain the team’s momentum, this year’s schedule gives the Seahawks a good chance to make the playoffs. First, as a reward for losing last season, we have one of the softest schedules in the league: only two teams play weaker opponents than we do. This effect is amplified by playing in the NFC Worst in a year when the reigning champion Cardinals are reeling from the loss of Kurt Warner, Anquan Boldin, and other veterans. Our interconference opponents offer yet another advantage: The AFC West is also a weak division, and playing so many western teams means we have only three games in the Eastern Time zone this year.

The schedule favors the Seahawks, if our coaches and players can rise to the occasion, one game at a time. Breaking the Broncos today represents the next step on the road back to respectability.