“Shathawks… Nope,…Shethawks… No, That’s Not Right… Hold On, I’ve Got It…” Seattle At The Bye

As Beastmode Ate My Baby is off on another top-secret government mission,

it falls to me, another Seahawks season ticket holder and the writer of the Seahawks 2018 season preview this year, to provide an update on the team everybody used to hate.

At their bye, the Seahawks are 3-3 – not entirely unexpected but they could easily be 4-2 or even 5-1 if a couple of bounces had gone their way. Just as likely, they could also be 2-4, if other teams had had better QBs.

• September 9 – lost to Denver 27-24 – they should have won that game, but shit away their chances
• September 17 – lost to Chicago 24-17 – this score flatters Seattle, as they were playing catch-up from deep behind most of the game
• September 23 – beat Dallas 24-13 – no complaints here, aside from being unable to actually attend the game
• September 30 – beat Arizona 20-17 – this score flatters Seattle, as they refused to pull away from the Cardinals, and let them stick around
• October 7 – lost to the Rams 33-31 – they had every chance to win this game, but Pete Carroll channeled his previous coaching experience with the Patriots and time-managed the game away
• October 14 – beat Oakland 27-3 in London

Also, they have played four of their first six on the road, wake up from their bye in Detroit,

and don’t have another home game until November 4th, when they will take on Marmalard & the Chargers. For a team that has been dependent upon the home field advantage the last decade or so, the slow start & numerous road games could have had the cumulative effect of psychologically ending their season early.

Instead, they have achieved a level of cromulence that could leave them well outside the playoff race but near-enough to .500 that it might convince Carroll & Co. to consider that everything is a-okay.

Russell Wilson has been masterful in keeping the offence alive & on the field. He hasn’t been hit nearly as much as everyone thought he would be. (Hell, a good portion of the fan base thought he’d be dead by now, and we’d be watching Brett Hundley guide the team out of the playoff race as masterfully as he performed the task last year in Green Bay.) It helps that they are using most of the same O-line players for a second year in a row, a marked departure from their usual recruiting process of seeing who university teams left behind after playing the Huskies up at U-Dub.

Plus, they seem to have discovered a running-back-by-committee structure that works for them, with Chris Carson taking on a good chunk of the workload while Rashaad Penny learns how to be a pro. It’s still too bad they broke Thomas Rawls, because he was all set to be L’il Beastmode.

As for the defence, well…

Oh, and Paul Allen died on Monday,

so expect a commemorative patch on the jersey, which means something new to add to the collection. I can’t wait to see it on the 12 jerseys.

Looking ahead to the rest of their schedule, here’s what you can expect:  

• October 28 – at Detroit – should win
• November 4 – home versus the Chargers – surprise loss
• November 11 – at Rams – probable loss
• November 15 – home to Green Bay – surprise victory
• November 25 – at Carolina – probable loss
• December 2 – home to San Fran – should win
• December 10 – home to Minnesota – probable loss
• December 16 – at San Fran – probable victory
• December 23 – home to Mahomes – probable loss
• December 30 – home to Arizona – should win

I’m predicting they go 5-5 the rest of the way, earning an 8-8 record, falling outside the Top-10 draft selections, and lots of talk about “turning the corner” so the season ticket waiting list doesn’t drop from 15,000 to zero. They will achieve a ticket price increase without increasing the cost to season ticket holders by cutting the face value of the pre-season games, keeping the “standard” ticket prices the same, and increasing the face value of the “premium games”. Given that next year’s known opponents are the AFC North & NFC South, it looks like the “premium” home games will be the Ravens, Saints, and the NFC North same-place finisher.

At least they go visit the Browns.