Seahawks vs 49ers, is ANYONE ready for today’s game?

In just about every way, this morning screams football. The leaves, mostly fallen now, are every color you can imagine. The sun is out in all it’s glory. The NFL playoff race is heating up, just as fall temperatures plummet to take-your-breath-away lows.

But what about the temperature of the Seahawks themselves, or their usually-rabid fans? Are the players ready for this afternoon’s make-or-break home match against the San Francisco 49ers? Are the “12’s” going to bring anything near the intensity this 49ers team has crumbled under over the last few years of what now seems like a long-lost rivalry.

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Anyone looking for an easy answer wouldn’t have found it at Earl Thomas’ press conference this week. The All-Pro safety, fireplug and clubhouse leader seemed anything but cocksure while speaking openly about the Seahawks problems. When asked a simple “what’s wrong?” type question by a reporter he provided a brutally honest assessment of his teams damaged psyche.

"“I just think it’s kind of tough, you know, when you have so much success that we’ve had (and) you’ve been known as this type of player and that type of player. You know, sometimes you’re not who you think you are, in some cases,” Thomas said. “It’s an attitude, a mindset. You’ve got to give it up for the next guy. It’s not showing up all the time like that. … People have got to get out of their own way and give it up for the team.”"

Do those comments give you any reason to believe the Seahawks are on the verge of flipping the switch and hitting the field with a new found fire today? Anyone raring to run through a brick wall because you’re so pumped up after reading that? You might be, if they were delivered with any passion or edge, but as Thomas spoke his eyes fell, his voice was restrained as he searched for the right words. It sounded more like he was trying to find the answers in that moment, and still wasn’t sure of the answers he came up with.

Translated, it sounded more like “I don’t know….. I just don’t know if we can do it.”

But surely the home field crowd will help ignite the necessary game day fire today right? That might be unclear as well. Personally, I saw a dramatic drop in the number of people getting decked out for Blue Friday this week, and I can’t remember the last game weekend where there was so little buzz about the Hawks. Apple Cup Week is officially upon us here, and talk of the Washington/Washington State match up dominated football chatter yesterday. It feels almost as if the Seahawks are already an afterthought.

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And they shouldn’t be. There still is so much to play for. As Keith detailed here, the road to the playoffs is a tougher one than any of us want to admit, but it can be done. There’s too much talent on this roster to give up on the Seahawks chances now. And today will be telling. The Seahawks need a feel-good win. They need to punch the 49ers, and keep punching them. Truthfully, they need a complete effort; a blowout. A last-minute “phew!” type of victory won’t change any of the questions about this team, or the answers, or the overall narrative. And a loss would be the nail in their coffin for the season.

It may be cold outside, but the most important temperature reading today will be the one provided by the team in blue. Today, we will find out exactly how much potential, if any, there is for the 2015 Seahawks.

Is anyone ready for this?