The 2015 Seattle Seahawks are not a playoff team

Turns out Godsmack was right about the Seattle Seahawks.

At a concert in Yakima, WA last week, Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna, a New England native and die-hard Patriots fan, responded to the crowd chanting “Sea-Hawks!” with an improvised, profane, little acoustic diddy about how bad the Hawks are. (Warning, the video is not suitable for work). But there it is, on the record, Erna saying the Hawks aren’t going to even make the playoffs. And that was before last nights loss to Arizona.

As much as I wanted to hate him for saying it I have to give him credit. First of all, his little made-up-on-the-spot slam song was pretty creative. Secondly, he was right.

The 2015 Seattle Seahawks are NOT a playoff team.

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That was an extremely difficult sentence to type. As I re-watch the replay of last night’s game I’ve been staring at my laptop screen for a good 15 minutes, trying to think of something more optimistic to grab onto. But then I looked up and saw two plays, back to back, that sealed it for me…

Midway through the third quarter (know where I’m going with this?) with the Seahawks trailing 22-10, Russell Wilson dropped back and had a clean pocket, time to set his feat, and two receivers running 40 yards downfield. Instead of hitting Doug Baldwin (who was wide open) or Tyler Lockette (who was wider open) he hit….. Cards safety Tyrann Mathieu. The pass was as poorly thrown as any I’ve seen Wilson attempt, and it cost his team seven points.
On the very next play Richard Sherman, who may have played his worst game as a Seahawk, was juked badly on a routine out-and-up by Larry Fitzgerald and was called for pass interference. Arizona kicked a field goal on the drive for a net 10-point swing.

Time and again this season the Seahawks have done one thing extremely well; miss opportunities. Early in the schedule you could excuse that away by citing inexperience, or new personnel, of a holdout by your Pro Bowl safety. But 9 games into a season, with a roster full of well compensated star players in their prime, this team simply isn’t making plays when it needs to. There are too many mistakes and too many of those missed opportunities.

They’re the kind of mistakes good teams, playoff teams, don’t make at this point of the season…and the Seahawks have been making them all year.

Sure, they’re mathematically still in the thick of the NFC playoff race, after all… SEVEN teams are sitting there with four wins just like the Hawks are. But then consider this, they’re two games out of a wild card spot right now with seven to play, and one of those teams already owns a tiebreaker on us (Green Bay.)

Still think they can make the playoffs? OK, then take a quick glance at the remaining schedule. How many “easy” wins do you see? Maybe San Francisco and Cleveland. Maybe. But how much confidence to you have that the Seahawks can win consecutive games on the road at Minnesota and Baltimore, or that they can slow down the Pittsburgh offense with a healthy Big Ben? Even if they’re still in the playoff hunt after week #15 they’ll be looking at facing Todd Gurley and the Rams at home before finishing up on the road versus a clearly superior Arizona team.

It’s going to be a tough road.

Weekly talk from the team and it’s coaches about how they’re “going to fix it” are ringing more hollow with each passing failure. The things keeping the Seahawks from winning can no longer be explained away by inexperience, or lack of continuity. They’re systemic weaknesses that can’t be addressed until the off season.

Next: Seahawks lost to Cards - The View From Section 114

It may be too early to start talking about draft strategy and possible staff changes, but that will no longer be the case should they drop another home game to the 49ers Sunday.

Even with a win one thing should be clear at this point……

This edition of the Seattle Seahawks is not a playoff team. And that was no easier to type this time than it was at the top of this page.

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