Seattle Seahawks: A Fulfilling Start to 2013 Through Three Weeks

Sep 15, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during the 2nd half at CenturyLink Field. Seattle defeated San Francisco 29-3. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks have not disappointed in the first three weeks of 2013. Actually, they have far exceeded expectations thus far.

It started with a difficult game against Carolina, whom we have learned in Weeks 2 and 3 might be tougher than the Hawks made them look offensively. That was especially evident in their 38-0 pasting of the Giants last weekend.

Russell Wilson was magnificent against Carolina, even under pressure the entire game, and Jermaine Kearse made the necessary play (finally) on a late deep ball and the defense took care of the rest in a 12-7 triumph.

Week 2 saw an entirely different challenge and it just seemed like an epic war with San Francisco was imminent…

Nope. Lightning struck on SF and another blowout at C-link to the tune 29-3 made a whole swarm of fans think twice about their penciling of the Niners into the Super Bowl. Indy then made them think three times about it, after going into the “Stick” and mauling SF to a pulp in a 27-7 victory last Sunday. Could it be that Seattle is in the heads of San Fran? Or is it that Seattle just owns everybody at home and the 49ers simply couldn’t overcome Aldon Smith’s distractions last week?

Either way, the Seahawks hold an early two-game advantage in the division. Just like old times. I’m looking at you 12th Man!

Speaking of old times, former defensive coordinator Gus Bradley was in town in Week 3, probably the very last place in the NFL that he was hoping to be after a dismal 0-2 start with his new-look Jacksonville Jaguars. As expected, it didn’t go well. As the announcers stated, Seattle has Super Bowl aspirations and are “disappointed if they don’t stay in that conversation every week, while the Jags are just trying to get one week better.”

Well hey, they did! Jacksonville doubled their touchdown output for the year, scoring 17 points! The Seahawks were able to play the back half of their roster for most of the second half. Tavaris Jackson is a much better backup then a lot of fans gave him credit for when he was picked up in preseason. He is great for the locker room and does in fact excel in this Pete Carroll offense, who knew? (Oh yeah, anybody who actually watched him play as a healthy version of himself in 2011).

Back to the team though, everything is clicking right now and it has been for a while. As our we pointed out yesterday on twitter:

Week 4 will be challenging with injuries piling up a little bit, but championship teams deal with that and ultimately overcome it. That’s the plight of Seattle as they work to get healthy by mid-season or so without losing. To this point, it’s been a fulfilling start to 2013 for the team and us, the 12th Man.