Something to Worry About?

That Kansas City loss was a difficult one. Just watching the game you got this weird sense of just the sheer mental struggle that the Seahawks were having with the game. It just seemed like a—well a slog—is the best word I can come up with. The last two plays of the game pretty much sum up this slogginness. Two kneel-downs.

Now, I don’t think that was the wrong play at the end of a game the Hawks were losing by 22 points. In fact, I think it was the only merciful thing for Pete Carroll to do after giving up 21 points in the fourth quarter, but I do think it exemplifies the slog that has been the Seahawks season.

And along comes an article by Danny O’Neil in the Seattle Times in which Matt Hasselbeck said that Pete Carroll told the team in a meeting that, “Hey guys, I need you to believe in how good you can be.” The slog.

Carroll pointed out that the team was only behind by four points when the fourth period started. According to O’Neill’s article the meeting was meant to be a confidence booster for a team that has struggled with quite a bit of adversity this year.

Here is what I think might be going on here, and I have no basis for believing this except conjecture. I think that Carroll is really afraid of the Seahawks losing this week, and also of losing the rest of this (albeit unspoken) “rebuilding” season next week.

The Panthers are a terrible team, especially in the estimation of the collective intelligence of the web. Google “Panthers Bad” and you get over 3.5million hits. I myself said I would quit blogging (or at least change my screen name) if the Panthers beat the Hawks.

And on paper they look bad as well. They have only won one game. They are last in the NFL in points, total yards, and passing yards. By all accounts, this should be an almost bye week for the Hawks.

Except it won’t be.  Here are some Cynical Facts Worth Pondering (trademark pending) for the upcoming week.

• The Panthers lost to the Saints week three to a fourth quarter field goal.
• The Hawks never were really in the Saints game.
• A list of the teams the Panthers have lost to: Saints (twice), Bucs (twice), Bengals, Bears, Rams, Ravens, Browns.
• I am not sure what the above means. I only know that this is a tough schedule.
• The two of the last three weeks Mike Goodson ran for 100 yards against the Bucs (13^th in rushing defense), and 120 yards against the Ravens (11^th in rushing defense).
• The Seahawks are 25^th in the NFL in rushing defense.
• The Panthers are 8^th in the NFL in pass defense.

I realize that there are a lot of positives for this week (mainly that the Panthers can’t really score), but I think this game is worth us worrying about.

Side Note: Because of my awesome shoveling skills, and helping with the laundry this holiday, the over/under for embarrassing New Year’s Moments has shifted to 7.