Thanks to Dr. Pigskin for doing the leg work for me. This video is filled with a ton of nuggets, and totally worth the watch on youtube. Seize the day > The Steeler way--is rammed home perfectly, and explains very plainly how teams in recent history are being built to win Championships. Debunking the antiquated notion of how a stunning amount of people seem to think teams are being built, or should be built.
"There isn't a magical [incubating] period to become a good team." -Dr. Pigskin
"The most aggressive, savvy teams get the Lombardi's" -Dr. Pigskin
For those that didn't get the memo and think teams have a nice long 5-8 yr process to construct a dynasty--Teams are simply not built that way in the NFL now. I've been trying to explain it on here for a while, continuously falling on def ears of course. Roster turnover is too high to ever be able to build it in the way people on this site like to frequently talk, or make excuses for their teams coming up short due to youth.
There is no correlation between age and winning the super bowl in the last 10 years. All that matters is your team is good enough to win. The youngest team in the league will be around 25 avg.--the oldest will be around 27 avg.
Younger teams win the Super Bowl, older teams win the Super Bowl, teams somewhere in the middle win the Super Bowl, there is no correlation with age and winning in the modern NFL.
"Being young isn't a valid excuse for teams coming up short anymore." -Dr. Pigskin
And in the Seahawks case, they are actually younger in '23 than they were in '22. In spite of this, expectations are higher than last year. Proving mine and Dr. Pigskin's point.
"When you realize the team you've built won't stay together for [long] that only raises the stakes." -Dr. Pigskin
How ever this upcoming season plays out, (this season is kind of the trial run.) As long as Geno plays great (this is the key). They have to strike while the iron is hot and "seize the day" next offseason-- fire coaches that aren't performing *cough* *hurtt* *cough* And aggressively go get the pieces they need on the roster to fill their holes and win the whole damn thing next season.
Otherwise, they will be what they've been since 2016… a pretender. Good enough to make the playoffs, but that is it. They will squander this young core and their QB in his prime. They kinda squandered it last year. They started 6-3, and proceeded to lose a buncha winnable games going 3-5 in the 2nd half, with one of the most under performing defenses I have ever seen.
The one thing Dr. Pigskin didn't point out, which he should have - is the power of the Franchise QB. The best QBs consistently make the playoffs, always keeping you in it, year in and year out. However, the most complete and well coached teams actually end up winning in the playoffs. This dichotomy is hard for some to distinguish for some reason.
Geno Smith playing out of his mind the first half of the season is the reason why the Seahawks weren't a disaster record wise and made the playoffs. As much of a feel good story as it was. If Geno was just merely a TJack bridge style QB, the Seahawks finish with 5 wins, fans would be talking about gutting the team and cleaning house up top, even if the roster was exactly the same (exciting an young). That is the power of a quality QB. Some are calling Bill Belichick overrated without Brady (they're wrong) but does illustrate once again the power of a quality QB and correlation of regular season record.
The QB is the hardest piece to find, the job is to then surround him with as much talent as you can by making savvy moves. Not sit around and do the bare minimum because they paid the QB $35M APY and you just don't have the cap space. The Rams and the Chiefs have put that to bed in recent years. And Brady w/the Buccs cap hit in the year they won the Super Bowl was only $3M less than Russell Wilson that season. ($3M wouldn't be enough to bridge the roster talent gap between the Seahawks and Buccs that year.)
Reminder, quality QB seasons only get you to the playoffs, otherwise Rodgers would have 8+ championships by now, instead of only 1. By hitting on journeyman career backup Geno Smith (which hasn't been done since Rich Gannon) And stacking these last 2 drafts, the window is now, and it will close faster than you think.
Seattle's plan since the Wilson trade has worked out near perfectly, and not going all in this season was also wise, choosing to cash in on the draft capital filling as many starters as you can with rookie contracts. This year can be used as their measuring stick of sorts, see where they stack up in the NFC, confirm Geno isn't a fluke (I don't think he is, but you never know.) Giving Seattle a 3-4 yr window with as many starters on rookie contracts as possible, paired with some aggressive, savvy moves to round out the roster in '24. That will give them 3 yr window before those rookies start getting paid, and Geno will be entering his late 30s. Quickly it will be over at that point, and drastic changes will need to be made to create a new window, which is too far out to project, but is the nuclear truth.
If it goes how it should this season, they will make the playoffs, maybe win 1 game. At this juncture it will be time to have an aggressive off-season, and most importantly, get an NFL DC that has an actual track record of success at the position. Hurtt like, Richard, and Norton before him, would not/have not been DCs anywhere else in the league after holding the position with the Seahawks for good reason. This is one of the key factors as to why the Seahawks consistently underwhelm on defense since 2016, and if they had a time machine and could do it over again, they would've chose to do it much different, at least I hope.
The division is ripe for the taking, the 49ers are a Brock Purdy injury away from being in "blow it up" mode, or "enjoy the decline denial mode." As their key pieces that are very expensive age out. Kyle gets his QBs injured every year, so…
