Seattle Seahawks – It’s Been Too Long 12th Man, Let the 2013 Season Begin!

Aug 23, 2013; Green Bay, WI, USA; A Seattle Seahawks helmet during warmups prior to the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Seattle won 17-10. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Like many a Hawks fan, the sinking feeling was ominous as the foot of Matt Bryant connected with kick number two in the Georgia Dome. After he had missed the first field goal (nullified by a Pete Carroll TO), we all knew the second one was going to be down the middle… didn’t we?

And that’s the way it ended. Not by blowout… it looked like we were headed that direction when nothing went right in the first half and Seattle went down a decisively deflating 20-0. The temptation was to turn off the misery. But also, not by the second greatest comeback in NFL Playoff history. Only one team in the history of the League has been down 20 points or more in a playoff game at halftime and come back to win; Remember the Tit… no the Oilers, but close enough.

At any rate a miracle season, and comeback, wasted by what we believed to be the best defense in the League in the final :34. I still want to put both hands to my face for a half hour every time I WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS. It was so painful that PC was blaming the refs for granting him the clear timeout that “de-iced” the kicker. He knew he had made a crucial mistake and needed someone in stripes to blame. It’s just human nature, after all.

But enough of thinking about what could have been! Enough of the wishy-washy “what-if’s”! Enough debating on the best team in NFL football, before we’ve even kicked it off! Ok, Denver and Baltimore technically kicked it off, but the season’s not officially “On” til Sunday!

Enough anticipation already!

It’s time to watch our team try and prove it THIS season!

12th Man we are Rising again and it starts in Carolina tomorrow. I can’t wait to watch the 2013/2014 Seahawks under the leadership of Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson. My goodness is this the first time Seattle has had the same quarterback in back-to-back years since Carroll’s been here?! #InRussWeTrust is just getting started!

#BeastMode is back, but it’s no longer just a truck with a 24 on the jersey and skittles on the sidelines, it’s morphed into a train that also powers down the tracks on the wheels of 22 and 33. The train will rely on a shiny new bumper-duo in Derrick Coleman and eventually Spencer Ware, both of whom looked at least reliable enough in preseason. But it will be an interesting thing to watch to see how much that affects the running game after fan favorite Michael Robinson was cut to save salary cap space. Regardless, a totally fresh Marshawn in January, my what that would look like!

#LegionofBoom is also back. The best collection of DB’s in the NFL may be a little dinged and Brandon Browner might miss a game or two, but does it really matter? Walter Thurmond is back to his old high-draft-value-self, and the combo of Jeremy Lane and Byron Maxwell had a tremendous camp! So good in fact, that Seattle coaches were forced to bounce highly valued free agent Antoine Winfield from the mix.

The D-line was a major question mark coming into the season, but with our favorite defensive end on schedule to be full go (at practice) next week, things are looking pretty good there too. I know that Jordan Hill and Cliff Avril won’t play in game 1, and Brandon Mebane has been sketch, but as long as the D-line is full strength by week 4 or 5 we have to consider that a big-time win. Of course that’s contingent on the record at that time as well and there’s no doubt it will hurt against the Niners next week, but such is life in the NFL. Let’s just use this as another opportunity to buy into the Pete Carroll mantra “Next Man Up”!

Percy Harvin is also missing in the equation (at least for a while), but what’s up with this kid Stephen Williams?! If he’s for real, Seattle still stole a deep threat… and from within the division no less (thank you Arizona)! I guess poetic justice for the fact that Chris Harper ended up stealing away to try and live up to his 4th round pick in San Fran after Williams bumped him from the Seattle 53-man roster.

All-in-all it’s just time! Let’s go get Carolina and the rest of these knuckleheads this NFL season!

GO HAWKS!