Brash Seahawks yet to earn 100% trust
SEATTLE – Once upon a time, I invested heavily in the Seahawks – correctly predicting they’d win Super Bowl XLVIII six months before they actually did so, but then incorrectly betting they’d repeat the following season ... which they should have. I even figured the “Legion of Boom” teams would replace the Patriots as the NFL’s latest dynasty ... and it could have. Maybe that’s why I have trust issues. The Seahawks outlasted the undermanned Vikings 37-30 Monday night, a victory that nudged Seattle past the 49ers for the NFC West lead and into position for a first-round bye. The ’Hawks have won five in a row, eight of nine and are virtually unbeatable at CenturyLink Field in January.
They were feeling themselves afterward, victory music pumping through the locker room and conviction coursing through even veterans long ago certified in the playoff crucible.
“We believe we’re going to the Super Bowl, first off,” ninth-year linebacker K.J. Wright told me. “We have a championship-caliber defense, and we’re on our way to greatness.”
I later asked quarterback Russell Wilson what the Seahawks must do to return to the Super stage. “I think that we have everything we need, and I think we have everything that we want,” he replied, adding he’s only worried about smaller details getting fine-tuned. “We have that clutch gene, we have been clutch all year ... we find a way to win.”
Wright and fellow linebacker Bobby Wagner respectfully disagreed with my preseason assessment a year ago that the “rebuilding” Seahawks were headed for a 4-12 finish ... and we all know now who was right on that front.
But I’m not sure I can buy what Wright, Wilson and many of their teammates are selling now.
True, Seattle is definitely laying the groundwork for a Lombardi rendezvous. They haven’t lost a playoff game at home since the 2004 postseason, winning 10 straight here and parlaying that success into three Super Bowl trips.
The ground game is peaking now that 2018 first-rounder Rashaad Penny is finding his stride. And Wright isn’t the only one crowing about a defense that’s turned the ball over 15 times during this five-game winning streak.
And yet ...
Even coach Pete Carroll lamented Monday’s victory was “marred” by Wilson’s doubly unfortunate pick-six and a blown coverage in the fourth quarter that led to a 58-yard touchdown that temporarily gave Minnesota life.
Wright’s “championship-caliber defense” ranks 24th, surrenders more than 24 points per game and gave up at least 350 yards for the sixth time against a Vikings team lacking offensive mainstays Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook for most of Monday’s second half.
Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is playing hurt. Ziggy Ansah has been virtually invisible. The safeties are dynamic, but the corners too often are not. The season-ending knee injury suffered by center Justin Britt has repeatedly left Wilson exposed to jail breaks up the gut. Kicker Jason Myers, signed after his Pro Bowl breakout with the Jets last year, has struggled.
“We just let those people keep saying we’re not good, and we keep getting these wins,” said Clowney.
He’s right. Sort of.
While Seattle has edged superb teams like the 49ers and Vikings, it’s labored to beat bad ones like the Bengals, Browns, Falcons and Buccaneers.
And even aside from San Francisco and Minnesota, the NFC is packed. The top-seeded Saints won at Seattle in Week 3 (without Drew Brees). The Packers still have Aaron Rodgers. And the rival Rams match up nicely against Seattle given their arsenal of receivers and Aaron Donald, who probably can’t wait to exploit the Seahawks’ depleted line this Sunday. That’s plenty that would keep me awake if I were Carroll and Co. But I’m not.
“Our confidence is at an all-time high,” said Wright. “We believe it, we know we can make it happen.”
I’m trying to believe it, too, K.J. Just not there yet.