Things didn't end
quite like we hoped they would for the Seahawks. Instead of being the two time
defending Super Bowl champions the Seahawks fell just short. However, the
failure at the goal line doesn't mean the season was a failure. In fact far
from it. The Seahawks turned what looked to be a struggling and potentially
disappointing season into what ended up being another NFC Championship. They
broke the NFL's draught of defending champions failing to win a playoff game
and rattled off eight straight wins. I think it is important to stop and
reflect on this success of a season. In doing so I want to focus on one key
point of the season, a game that turned the season around and catapulted us
into the playoffs.
Coming into the 2014
season the Seahawks were riding high. They had just won Super Bowl XLVIII. That
is probably an understatement. They had just dominated the Super Bowl in a way
that no team had in decades. They beat the favored Denver Broncos 43-8. The
Seahawks roster was young and talented. They were one of the favorites to win
the Super Bowl again in 2015.
The regular season
started out with a blowout win against the Packers, an unexpected loss to the
Chargers and a nail bitter that resulted in a win against the Broncos. The
Seahawks then capped the first quarter of their season with a win over
Washington on MNF. The 3-1 start reminded us that, though they once seemed
invincible, the Seahawks were beatable. The team wasn't going to go 16-0, but
they were also still a force to be reckoned with.
Sitting at 3-1 the
Seahawks prepared to take on the Dallas Cowboys at home in CenturyLink Field.
At this point in the season it was assumed the Cowboys were pretenders, the
Seahawks were supposed to just show up and collect the win. That didn't happen.
The Cowboys showed up ready to play. The Cowboy offensive line protected Romo well
the whole game, allowing him time to find open receivers. The Seahawks forgot
they had Marshawn Lynch on their team and managed only 78 yard of offense in
the first half. The game ended up as the second Seahawks loss of the season. It
opened the eyes of many (myself included) that the Cowboys were for real.
During the week
after the Cowboys loss a bomb dropped. The Seahawks traded Percy Harvin, their
star WR and up until that point the clear focal point of their offense, to the
Jets for basically nothing. Chaos erupted among the fan base. What were the
Seahawks thinking? Was this a terrible overreaction to the Cowboys loss or
something more? Where would the offense come from with Percy? The questions
went on and on. One thing was for sure, the Seahawks would have to go into
their next game against the Rams without Harvin.
The Seahawks had to
traveled to St. Louis to take on the Rams. The Rams were a good team this
year. Their defense was excellent. If they played in almost any other division
they would have made the playoffs. Against the Seahawks they proved it by pulling off an upset win. However, it was Jeff Fischer, the St. Louis
head coach, and special teams who won this game for the Rams. Not their defense
and certainly not their offense. Fischer, who has a reputation from bravery
bordering on stupidity, called for two trick special teams plays. One resulted
in a touchdown and the other converted a fourth down that basically let the
Rams end the game. Both were ballsy and both led directly to a third Seahawks
loss.
After the first back-to-back defeats suffered by the Seahawks in a very long time and the apparent
collapse of the now Percy Harvin-less Seattle offense, many fans were ready to
throw in the towel. The season appeared to be spiraling out of control. The next
game up was against the reigning NFC South division champion Carolina Panthers,
on the road in Charlotte. The Seahawks have a history of success against the
Panthers, but like wall street, in the NFL past gains do not guarantee future
success.
Heading into N.C.
there were lots of concerns surrounding the Seahawks. The offense appeared
broken without Harvin. Against the Rams the Seahawks managed 26 points but 13
of them came in the fourth quarter. The special teams, which traditionally are
a strength of a Pete Carroll coached team, appeared to have been exposed by the
Rams. Finally the defense, which many credited with delivering the team's first
Super Bowl Championship, was unable to get pressure on any quarterbacks and had
surrendered 30, 30, and 28 points in the teams losses. Things were definitely
gloomy. Another loss would drop the team to 3-4 and basically eliminate them
from the divisional hunt. This was a must win game if there ever was one.
The game started off
a slug fest. It was sloppy and neither team gained any real momentum. The score
at half time reflected this at 6-3 in Carolina's favor. Although the defense
had only surrendered six points, their inability to get to the quarterback was
still obvious. Normally failing to get sacks against the beast of a man that is
Cam Newton is not a bad thing, but on this day it appeared to be more Seahawks
failure than Newton elusiveness. Additionally, The offense was a mess.
Frustration and straight up anger was present all over the Emerald City. If the
team was going to win this one they were going to need to make a change at half
time.
Although the half
time adjustments in this game did not have as drastic of an effect as they did
in several other Seahawks wins over the last few years, they were enough to get
the job done. In the second half the defense shut down the Panthers attack. They
held Carolina to 103 yards and a field goal. After a late TD by the Seahawks
gave the Seahawks the lead, the Panthers got the ball back with time 47 seconds
on the clock. The Seattle defense didn't even let the Panthers get started at a
comeback. Bruce Irvin got two huge sacks and the Panthers lost 15 yards total
on the drive. It was a huge effort by a unit that many fans had serious
concerns about before the game.
In the second half
the offense was still anemic, but they did what they had to in order to win the
game. Leading up to and during the game Wilson's ability to always stage a late
game rally had been questioned by many. The sting of the two losses to the Cowboys
and Rams was still fresh. However, against the Panthers Wilson showed he still
had the magic. With 4:37 min left he led the team down the field late and
scored the go ahead TD on a pass to Luke Willson.
For my money this
win over the Carolina Panthers was the turning point of the season. Coming off
two deflating losses and trying to find a new offensive identity after the
trade of Percy Harvin, the Seahawks were floundering. Although it was sloppy
and a nail biter, stepping up and beating a team on the road showed these guys
still had fight left in them.
The win highlighted
traits that made the 2013 team special and that many fans feared the 2014 team
just didn't possess were still there. The time of day and location of the game
didn't matter, the team came to play every game. The team showed they could overcome
adversity. The defense proved it wasn't broken and in fact was still capable of
big time play (they would go on the lead the lead in fewest points allowed for
the third straight year). Finally, Russell Wilson made evident that he has a
magic about him and always shows up in crunch time. The win reminded people that the Seahawks
were the defending Super Bowl champions.
I know many will
claim the Kansas City game a few weeks later was a more important turning point
in the season. That loss to a team at that time on the rise dropped the
Seahawks to 6-4. It forced a closed door meeting between the coaching staff and
the team leaders where confidence and trust in each other was emphasized. The
team emerged with a new sense of purpose and proceeded to rattle off eight
straight wins and a trip to Super Bowl XLIX. But, let's not forget, many
experts expected the Seahawks to lose to the Chiefs and the results of the
entire season were not dependent on that game.
If the Seahawks had
fallen to the Panthers they would have been 3-4. After the Chiefs lost they
would have dropped to 5-5, assuming they still beat the Raiders and Giants,
which, after hypothetically losing three straight, might not have happened. The
collective psyche of the team could have been crushed by a Panthers win. The
unity and togetherness we witnessed as the season progressed wouldn't have been
given a chance to sprout.
Instead, by winning
the game, the Seahawks rose to 4-3 and remained right in the thick of things.
The win over the Panthers gave the Chiefs game a chance to matter. The Seahawks
hard fought win against the Panthers was the most important game of the season
and the turning point that propelled them into the Super Bowl.
Sources: CBS Sports
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