Season Retrospective

The 2010 season, in hindsight, was a wild success.  To me, you look at what you achieved:

We got new leadership, in John Schnieder and Pete Carroll, and had a good draft.  It seems obvious to me that two pillars of the Hawks future will be Earl Thomas and Russell Okung.  I will go into the rest of the 2010 draft a little later, but I'd say that overall, it was a resounding success.



NFC West Champions.  The Seahawks won their division.  Because of the fact that no other team in the division could muster a record better than 7-9, we won it.  I don't care if they're the first team to do so with a losing record:  that isn't going to happen every year, or ever again maybe, so I am not on the bandwagon that the NFL needs to fix their seeding system.  One instance of having a losing team in the playoffs out of the last 50 years or so doesn't strike me as an embarrassment to the NFL.  On the contrary, that team won it's first game, gave the host city an earthquake when Marshawn Lynch had his historical 67 yard TD run, and provided an awesome storyline for the league.  Parity is alive and well in the NFL, and that is good for everyone.

Many people were whining that the Hawks should try and lose to the Rams, secure a higher draft position, and not be an embarrassment to the city.  To me, that is a bunch of bullshit.  You play the season to get to the playoffs, it's the number one goal throughout the year: job well done.  Or, job done anyway.  As for embarrassed fans, people need to get some perspective.  Why do you want to tank and get a high draft pick?  So you can have the chance to get to the playoffs... next year??

How many teams have not been to the playoffs in years?  How many fans suffer for decades to get a chance at the playoffs?  The Hawks have been one of the most successful teams in the last decade plus. Over the last 12 seasons, only the Colts (11), Patriots (8) and Eagles (8) have appeared in the playoffs more often than the Seahawks (7).

Take a minute to let that sink in.

Only the perennial powerhouse Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles have made the playoffs more than us in the last 12 years.

Be glad in this fact.  Be fucking stoked in fact.  Be fucking stoked we got to host essentially two playoff games (Rams/Saints) and won them both in Primetime and in front of the whole country.  We really SHOULD have beaten the Bears and hosted the NFC Championship game as well.  Or, we could have won that game anyway.  Our record didn't matter:  we got hot at the right time and won some really exciting games.  Beastquake was probably the most insanely awesome sports play I have witnessed on live TV and might have equalled the ecstasy Seattle as a city had felt as Jr slid into home in the '95 playoffs against the Yankees.

So we lost to the Bears and went home.  We now have the 25th pick instead of the 8th.  While that could be damaging, I would not have it go the other way if I had the choice.  Like I said, essentially, we got to enjoy two home playoff games.  Do you know how HARD it is to make it to the Super Bowl?  Getting to see your team in the playoffs is a privilege.  For me, not making it to the Super Bowl is not a failure.

Look at the Patriots.  They have not made it back to the Super Bowl since 2007, and haven't won it since 2005.  This is with essentially the best team in the regular season (and on paper) almost every year.  They have had, arguably, the best coach and the best QB for the last 5 years and have come up empty.  This all can be debated of course, and indeed parity is involved, but my point is this:  getting to and winning the Super Bowl is HAAARD.

I'm not saying I don't want the Hawks to do that, or that they can't win it all in the foreseeable future, but you have to appreciate your triumphs every year, or you will become an insufferable curmudgeon and no one will want to watch any games with you.

When I think about the 2009 season, I honestly cannot remember one specific play, other than Olindo Mare missing two field goals and us wearing those hideous lime green uniforms in one game (against who? I don't remember.)  2010 provided us with some awesome wins and good momentum going into next year.  Some people don't buy into that philosophy, but I really do believe that we have begun to re-instill that winning culture into our program, much like we had back in '05.