What 5 Things Are You Most Excited About...

For Your 2014 Seattle Seahawks?


I will refrain from answering my own question until later, I know that if I do, this thread will be about what I wrote, rather than others posting their own answer.

Just one thing, a 2nd Lombardi

My five things I'm looking forward to in 2014:

5. See the possible emergence of backup players who have potential to become great players (i.e. Michael, Mayowa, Bailey, etc) if they get more playing time.

4. Wilson's progression as a QB; seeing if he will produce bigger stats so his detractors can shut up about the bogus "game manager" label they've placed on him. I'm a firm believer that game managers can never win a Super Bowl, no matter how good their supporting cast is. Dilfer won one, but the rules have changed so much since then that I think it's no longer possible.

3. Seattle's ability to handle better adversity (although I think they handle it pretty well already). The NFCW will probably be better than ever this coming season, and the Seahawks will have a target on their backs as being the defending champ from other teams as well.

2. Training camp and preseason, where we get to see the next wave of potential "steals" from the draft and UDFA.

1. To see if Seattle wins the Super Bowl again. If they do then I think the talks about a dynasty can really start to become real, and the discussion in 2015-16 about the first possible three-peat in the SB era would be incredible.

Other than Percy playing hopefully a full year I am interested to see how this Cassius Marsh does. Dude looks like a heller and resembles Grant Wistrom IMO.

I'm only excited about these under the guise that they actually happen or come to fruition, which they certainly may not....


A full season from Percy Harvin

Some meaningful and material playing time for Christine Michael

An improved O-line via health and continuity

A less predictable offense (esp. in the red zone) via more passing options

An even more athletic overall defense via younger and more athletic players such as Scruggs, Mayowa, Marsh, Pierre-Louis, Maxwell, Lane, etc. in lieu of Bryant, Clemons, Browner, et al.

Wilson throwing for 30+ touchdowns, and being the first league MVP to win the Super Bowl in a long long time.

I am not as excited as I have been in the past.

Maybe cause we finally won the superbowl? Usually I'm anxious about how the season is going to go. This year I am just kinda OK with however it turns out.

5. Does Lynch still have the ability to carry the load or does Michael proves he deserves an abundance of carries
4. Who wins the #2 and #3 CB Battle (Maxwell, Lane, Simon, Cox, Shead, Pinkins, Adams, Jefferson, Auguste)
3. Who steps up on the DL in the absence of Clem and Red (Scruggs, Mayoa, Hill, Williams, Marsh, OB)
2. A Full Season with Wilson throwing to two explosive WR's (Harvin anf BPR)
1. Repeat Super Bowl Winners establishing this team as a Dynasty (playoff wins 4 of 5 years and 2 SB wins is dynasty)

scruggs, cmike, home rematch vs az, harvin, and if lane runs out of bounds on a kickoff and knocks over that punk from sf

1. We have improved every year under Pete Carroll. I expect this trend to continue, so I'm really excited to see how much we can improve and see whether or not that results in an undefeated season.

2. There is room for realistic expectations of improvement on the offense. I'm excited to see Paul Richardson going deep on most plays with Harvin being a dangerous line of scrimmage threat. Teams will have to respect our WRs a lot more while still defending against Beast Mode. Wilson is capable of taking advantage of stressed defenses.

I'm also really excited to see the development of Luke Willson as a joker TE. Now that he has a full year under his belt, I expect him to further stress defenses and provide another legitimate weapon for Wilson.

Our offense last year was 7th in DVOA, 8th in points, and 18th in yards. I think with these new toys for Wilson, we'll be a top five offense by any measure. I'm excited to combine that with the number one defense.

3. Despite having an all-time great defense last year, they still have room for improvement. Full seasons of Byron Maxwell and Malcolm Smith starting (is this presumptuous?) plus pass rushing contributions from places on the roster where we had none last year (Clemons and Bryant) makes me hopeful that our defense can be even better.

4. Its almost like we're adding two draft classes to the team this year. Most of the 2013 class redshirted last year, and with all the departures in free agency, they will finally get their chance. I think most of the 2014 draft class will also get immediate opportunities due to the positions they play. Of particular note, I'm most excited about seeing the explosiveness of Michael and Richardson on offense and to see which of Tharold Simon and Eric Pinkins fits in with the Legion of Boom.

5. I don't know if this is a reason for optimism or just something I can't wait to see how it plays out, but I want to see how Britt does at RT. I'm more nervous than excited. I felt Giacomini was an average RT, so I want to see if Britt provides an upgrade there. It might not be realistic to expect an immediate upgrade, but I can hope. That would be huge for the offense, especially against the Rams.

Erebus":1a66x2bs said:

Our offense last year was 7th in DVOA, 8th in points, and 18th in yards. I think with these new toys for Wilson, we'll be a top five offense by any measure. I'm excited to combine that with the number one defense.
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Also, last year we played 11 games vs top 10 defenses in DVOA. This year, we play the 30th, 31st and 32nd defenses in the first half of our season. I'm excited to see how our offense becomes a juggernaut in the first half. Second half, oh my! Things get a bit rougher then.

A chance at watching the Seahawk sweep the Niners. I really, really want to see the Hawks beat the Niners in Santa Clara.

Erebus":8wzsp0pe said:

1. We have improved every year under Pete Carroll. I expect this trend to continue, so I'm really excited to see how much we can improve and see whether or not that results in an undefeated season.

2. There is room for realistic expectations of improvement on the offense. I'm excited to see Paul Richardson going deep on most plays with Harvin being a dangerous line of scrimmage threat. Teams will have to respect our WRs a lot more while still defending against Beast Mode. Wilson is capable of taking advantage of stressed defenses.

I'm also really excited to see the development of Luke Willson as a joker TE. Now that he has a full year under his belt, I expect him to further stress defenses and provide another legitimate weapon for Wilson.

Our offense last year was 7th in DVOA, 8th in points, and 18th in yards. I think with these new toys for Wilson, we'll be a top five offense by any measure. I'm excited to combine that with the number one defense.

3. Despite having an all-time great defense last year, they still have room for improvement. Full seasons of Byron Maxwell and Malcolm Smith starting (is this presumptuous?) plus pass rushing contributions from places on the roster where we had none last year (Clemons and Bryant) makes me hopeful that our defense can be even better.

4. Its almost like we're adding two draft classes to the team this year. Most of the 2013 class redshirted last year, and with all the departures in free agency, they will finally get their chance. I think most of the 2014 draft class will also get immediate opportunities due to the positions they play. Of particular note, I'm most excited about seeing the explosiveness of Michael and Richardson on offense and to see which of Tharold Simon and Eric Pinkins fits in with the Legion of Boom.

5. I don't know if this is a reason for optimism or just something I can't wait to see how it plays out, but I want to see how Britt does at RT. I'm more nervous than excited. I felt Giacomini was an average RT, so I want to see if Britt provides an upgrade there. It might not be realistic to expect an immediate upgrade, but I can hope. That would be huge for the offense, especially against the Rams.

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Great post ....

A lot of quality posts thus far. I've decided that I'll do my 5 things in a series of post rather than one lumped thought dump.

V. What Do We Gain From Good Health/ No Suspensions?

I don't know how but 4th youngest team in the NFL was able to go 16-3 despite succumbing to a barrage of injuries and 3 suspended players.

Seahawks had injuries or suspension to these players:

Michael Robinson (missed first 7 games)
Derrick Coleman (missed 4 games)
Spencer Ware (I.R.'d after first 2 games)
Russell Okung (missed 8.5 games)
Breno Giacomini (missed 7.5 games)
Max Unger (missed 3.5 games)
J.R. Sweezy (missed 1 game)
Zach Miller (missed 2 games)
Anthony McCoy (out for season)
Percy Harvin (missed 15 games)
Sidney Rice (I.R.'d after 8 games)
Jermaine Kearse (missed 1 game)

Chris Clemons (missed 2 games)
Cliff Avril (missed 1 game)
Michael Bennett (missed 1/2 game)
Red Bryant (missed 1 game)
Gregg Scruggs (out for season)
Bruce Irvin (suspended 4 games)
Bobby Wagner (missed 2 games)
KJ Wright (missed 3 games)
Malcolm Smith (missed 1 game)
Brandon Browner (missed/suspended 8 games)
Walter Thurmond (suspended 4 games)
Jeremy Lane (missed 1 game)
Jeron Johnson (I.R.'d after 7 games)

Those are some key players, a lot of them quality starters , even the backups were valuable Special Teamers. Injuries are and will always be part of the game but to see this team grind through the adversity, not make any excuses, and just gut out some wins was amazing and it made the Championship run all that more special.

From 2008-2011, we've seen our Seahawks teams implode under the weight of mounting injuries leading to 4-12, 5-11, 7-9, and 7-9 records. While the 2013 injury woes weren't as significantly unraveling has the '08 /'09 squads that had no depth. The 2013 situation was relatively familiar to the '10/'11 squads. Yet, again the Seahawks finished with a 16-3 record and a Championship. The 4th youngest team in the NFL.

And it haunts me, not as much anymore but the question that will soon be revealed just eats at you as the ultimate WHAT-IF...

What If the Seahawks were much healthier in 2013, what if 80% of those players were 80% more healthy?

Could the Seahawks have gone 19-0?

Could the Seahawks have flirted with the DVOA triple crown with a healthy Harvin and Rice plus more quality O-Line play?

We will never know, however I do know that if the Seahawks are in a more healthier situation in 2014, they can compete with anybody in the NFL.

Tech Worlds":y3rgbif0 said:

I am not as excited as I have been in the past.

Maybe cause we finally won the superbowl? Usually I'm anxious about how the season is going to go. This year I am just kinda OK with however it turns out.

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I'm in the same boat. Beginning in the Holmgren era, my off-season thoughts revolved around wondering if it was the year that they'd finally win it. Now that they have, that anxiety has been replaced by a kind of peace, knowing that at least they've won it in my lifetime (something that, in the 90s, I NEVER thought would happen).

Up until 48 I strongly expected to not survive long enough to see a championship. Now that that pressure is gone I fully expect to be competitive for the rest of my life. Any more championships are cherries on top of a spectacular bowl of ice cream.

1} Irvin {I would love to see become the player we thought he was}, 2} Percy {can he play a full year} 3} someone to step up and return punts {ala GT} 4} Wilson further maturates as the leader of the team. 5} UDFA cant wait to see what the Pete/ John combo does. 2 cents. Oh ya 6} Rice...lol

I would like to see a huge lack of injuries.

I would like to see last years draft class make some sort of contribution.

I would like to see a dominant O-Line

I want to see a dominate D-Line

I want another Championship.

There ya go, not wanting much.

Do I really have 5?

Well of course tho the odds are against it I would love to win another SuperB owl, since that puts us in a pretty small club of back to back winners and gives us a chance to be the first 3 peat.

Much better and STEADY play from our O line. This happening could very well be our ticket to Lynch being able to play another 2 years. As far as his "backup" whom I'm not really sold on. Please let him take better care of the ball when he's carrying.

Percy playing an entire season and someone stepping up to take the other side so teams aren't able to crowd the running box so much. That happened entirely to often last season.

Russell Wilson being given the opportunity and the receivers to help stop opposing teams from crowding the running box. And that he keeps on being Russell Wilson driving defensive teams crazy and running them into the ground chasing but not catching him.

My last????? STOP THE DAMNED USELESS PENALTYS THAT ARE TAKING HUNDREDS OF YARDS AWAY FROM THE OFFENSIVE!

I actually have more. you know,,like red zone ineptitude. All I want is an offensive line like 2005 and the same red zone effectiveness as 2005. (just little stuff)

:les:

5. Training camp and preseason games. I really want to attend a day of TC just to experience the great practice vibe. With so many unknowns ('13 and '14 draft classes, UDFAs, etc.) this year's preseason games will offer insight about the quality of our depth and potential future starters. Plus we start off against the Broncos, which will make for much SB conversation in the lead-up.

4. A new era in the Seahawks WR corps. While somewhat tempered by the reality that it takes time, reps, and sturdy ligaments to develop, I have high hopes for what could be accomplished by a healthy Percy, seasoned Doug and Jermaine, healthy Sidney, and the infusion of new, high-flying, sure-handed talent in Richardson and Norwood.

3. Improved O-line health & consistency. At this point it's more wishful thinking than anything, but if this group makes it through preseason and the first few games intact, I'll be very excited and hopeful moving forward. Improved play at LG and RT will do wonders for our offense (duh). If Okung stays on the field, that'll be huge (double duh).

2. The turnover battle. Last season we took the ball 39 times and gave it 19, for a league-leading +20 margin. I'm excited to see more QB pressure lead to more takeaways and offensive fine-tuning lead to fewer giveaways. I think we can take 48 and keep the freebies below 15. Obviously it would be awesome to hit the +30 mark.

1. The NFC West battles. We don't meet SF until week 13?! The buildup to that Thanksgiving game is going to be mental and it happens just 4 days after our first conflict with the Cardinals. Then we match up again two weeks later! That 2nd game kicks off a 3-week divisional slate to close the regular season. A lot will happen before then, but the potential is that of a playoff-before-the-playoffs scenario. During that stretch, we're at home twice and don't have to leave the time zone. We could witness the best and toughest football of the year before the postseason even begins. I feel like it will be an epic month for us 12s.