Would it be too cocky when looking at Seahawks schedule

[bobk3333]

It certainly is optimistic.

There is nothing wrong with being optimistic. There's plenty of cause to be optimistic. With this team, there is every reason in the world to be optimistic.

Stop trying so hard to find reasons why the Seahawks are going to lose.
.

 

[hawker84]

:snack:

 

[FlyingGreg]

I understand your overall sentiment, but in an extremely tough division and Conference and with a very tough schedule, it's not ludicrous to expect a few losses. I'd personally be SHOCKED if we win more than 12 games; that doesn't make me negative or afraid to embrace greatness, it's just accouting for the fact that in today's NFL parity is the name of the game.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. To me, this is cowardice. It is closedmindedness. It is pessimism. It is fear.

There's no reason the Seahawks *have* to lose anything.

Again, it's hard to impossible to do anything unless you believe you can do it.

I am sick and tired of these people.

.

Greg is a negative nancy and you haven't been here long enough to get tired of him.

:lol:

I say at least 12-4 (and provide a train of thought why) and we are going to the Super Bowl and I'm a "negative nancy". LOL!

Now THAT's funny. It's a whole new world in Seahawks fandom these days.

 

[NinerBuff]

I expect the Hawks to win between 10-12 games, depending on their brutal 10am away games... I fully expect the Seahawks to go 8-0 at home (including winning against the 49ers in week 2).

As for the road schedule...

@ Panthers 10am, @ Texans 10am, @ Colts 10am, @ Cardinals TNF, @ Rams MNF, @ Falcons 10am, @ 49ers, @ NYG 10am

I see between 4 and 6 losses. The only gimme is the Cards, and that's even a tough one considering it's an away Thursday game. I think the Hawks will be favored against the Colts and Panthers, but wouldn't be surprised if they lost one of those games. And then there's the Texans, Rams, 49ers, Falcons, and Giants games, I see them winning 2 or 3 of those games...

Therefore (without an injury to Wilson), I see a 10-12 win season.

Sometimes a team gets some lucky wins. The 2011 Niners weren't better than the 2012 Niners, but they won 2 more games. They played bad teams as they were the 3rd seed the year before.

I wouldn't be surprised to see 3 teams above .500 (49ers, Seahawks, and Rams) when it's all said and done.

 

[Hawks46]

There is a lot of teams on our schedule that have a lot of talent. Teams like Carolina, Tampa Bay, Indy (to a lesser extent. I believe they will be better on offense, but they lack defensive talent still), the Giants, NO, Houston and ATL are all teams that have enough talent that if we make a few key mistakes, that is all it's going to take for us to lose that game, especially in their house. Some of these games are made much more difficult by scheduling, which did us no favors and made life harder.

Then you have SF and STL and to a smaller degree ARI. Our division is tough, and our rivals usually play us very tough. I honestly feel we need at least 12 wins to win the division, and that's with us hanging two on the Niners. It's going to be a dogfight, and I don't expect us to skate right through it.

Like BFS said, I wouldn't be surprised if we go out and thunderstomp the Panthers in week 1 as a sort of announcement. If our team takes all the accusations of hype to heart, and keeps that chip on their shoulder, we should have a lot of blow out games this year. But it's not pessimism, cowardice, or anything else that keeps me from expecting my Hawks to play almost perfect football week in and week out, on the road, with a brutal schedule. It's realism. And when you've been a Hawk fan long enough, you know there's just something about this organization that takes your expectations to the highest pinnacle. Then flushes them down the toilet.

This year just feels different.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

Seattle can hit 13 wins. But that road is going to be extremely difficult.

The 'love it or leave it' tone aside -- acknowledging how hard this feat will be doesn't diminish or indicate anything. There are several really significant hurdles that I see in the way of achieving those heights:

1. Expectations. This is a new element for Seattle. We are going to get significantly greater effort against us. All dynasties have to learn to win consistently when every team is giving you their very best. Not lip service best effort. But instead the kind of effort where their previous opponent enjoys trap game status. This is, in my opinion, the single greatest obstacle that 'almost dynasties' fail to overcome and are forced to settle on very good.

2. Pass rush. Central to Seattle's winning formula is to play great defense. Our offensive identity is predicated on that. Dominant defenses almost universally possess outstanding ability to collapse the pocket and force errors. Seattle has clearly demonstrated that we're still struggling at that. It's not unreasonable to think that it's the one aspect that could be our achilles heel. Teams don't repeat #1 rankings often. It's very unlikely that we duplicate that feat -- but we should still remain in the top 8.

3. Schedule. If we had San Francisco's schedule, I'd be much more bullish on making 12-13. But we don't. We have a lot of contests against closely matched opponents on the road. How many 'better teams' have come into Seattle where a league average home team sent them home on a quiet, long plane ride back? Well, the shoe is on the other foot now. Take for example, the fact that the Texans have already sold out the Seattle game and it's being anticipated as the biggest game of the year hands down. A possible Super Bowl preview. That's odd considering we're not in their division, much less their conference. Carolina? Same thing. Atlanta? I'm guessing they're going to be jacked up as well.

This team is great on paper. They are still however at the precipice. They have thus far answered the bell consistently week over week. But this is uncharted territory for this team. There are many pitfalls that this team must overcome that simply cannot be forecast. The fact we've been able to march through these milestones gives me optimism. But these milestones get harder the further a team ascends. And this schedule could nullify the effect of getting better as it reflects on the win total.

 

[Seahwkgal]

The Hawks have a BRUTAL schedule this year. If they come out with 12 wins, they can win it all.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

The Hawks have a BRUTAL schedule this year. If they come out with 12 wins, they can win it all.

Correct because unlike 2005 the division is nasty and we do have every out of division game we are not expected to win on the road (though I would watch it for Tampa Bay that secondary is going to be at least as good as ours in several respects). So each win will have more heft and we will be battle tested big time by the time the playoffs roll around.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't look any further than the first week for a surprise possible L. On the road in the heat and humidity, 10 am Pacific time in Carolina...

Aaaaah.... The game kick's off at 1:00pm eastern time. That's right after lunchtime. Everyone in the most-populated portion of the country will be wide awake, and will have already had the first three beers down the hatch. Y'all will just be crawling out of bed, hung-over, and feeling like it's juuuust a little too early to play football.

But in actuality...
The team will have already flown in on Friday evening and all in were in their rooms by 11:00pm. They'll have spent all day Saturday eating and working out together, as well as conducting walk-throughs at a local pasture procured ahead of time. They'll have had a nice dinner together and curfew will have them in bed once again by 11:00pm.

On Sunday morning, they'll all be up and at it by 8:00am and eating a nice breakfast. They'll have been tweeting, and talking to the wife and kiddies on the cell phone. Then, at 10:00am it's off to the stadium to suit up, eating power snacks provided by the strength and conditioning folks, and slirping sips of Gatorade. At about 11:30am-noon they will have been partially suited-up, any bumps and bruises and ankles taped up, and in position briefings before it's out onto the field for group stretching. About 12:30pm it's final uniforms and adjustments followed by a nice chat from the coach to rev them all up to rock and roll.

Yep. At 1:00pm the game will kick off after the team had all slept in that time zone twice. More than enough time to acclimate to the environment.

Just sayin...

I think the first game is definitely the spookiest for me as well. Not going to look past it at all.

 

[Ad Hawk]

The Hawks have a BRUTAL schedule this year. If they come out with 12 wins, they can win it all.

Correct because unlike 2005 the division is nasty and we do have every out of division game we are not expected to win on the road (though I would watch it for Tampa Bay that secondary is going to be at least as good as ours in several respects). So each win will have more heft and we will be battle tested big time by the time the playoffs roll around.

A high winning % will feel that much sweeter because of this schedule!

:th2thumbs:

 

[Sarlacc83]

I understand your overall sentiment, but in an extremely tough division and Conference and with a very tough schedule, it's not ludicrous to expect a few losses. I'd personally be SHOCKED if we win more than 12 games; that doesn't make me negative or afraid to embrace greatness, it's just accouting for the fact that in today's NFL parity is the name of the game.

Greg is a negative nancy and you haven't been here long enough to get tired of him.

:lol:

I say at least 12-4 (and provide a train of thought why) and we are going to the Super Bowl and I'm a "negative nancy". LOL!

Now THAT's funny. It's a whole new world in Seahawks fandom these days.

A) You said you'd be shocked if they won more than 12 games. Big difference between at least 12-4 and that statement.

B) I was defending you. Sort of.

C) Your reputation for the negative is not based one post. :thirishdrinkers:

 

[niveky]

thanks to everyone for your thoughts. anything to burn a bit of time in one of the most maddening portions of the offseason. I wouldn't be surprised with anything between 10-6 to 16-0......but I do think it will take 12 games to win the division

 

[jammerhawk]

Here is a hth comparison of our schedule and the Niner's schedule.

http://www.fieldgulls.com/2013-nfl-offs ... edule-2013

The 1st four games are going to be quite important to the overall result and I'm not prepared to take anything for granted. One game at a time until the end of the season and then I'll count up the W's or at least after the W's happen.

Sure it's possible that the team will go 12-4 or so, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I think prediciting 12-4 0r 13-3 results with as many 10 am eastern time zone games as the Hawks have this year is getting a tad overconfident.

:141847_bnono:

If you are right, "Whoopee!!!"

I'll be happy to get to the playoffs, really happy if the team gets the Divisional win and homefield for the playoffs, overjoyed if the team gets a playoff bye and has homefield for the playoffs after that. I'd be really really over the moon to go to a game in NewYork (actually Jersey) in February. Until then one game at a time a screw the overconfidence.

 

[The Radish]

It certainly is optimistic.

There is nothing wrong with being optimistic. There's plenty of cause to be optimistic. With this team, there is every reason in the world to be optimistic.

Stop trying so hard to find reasons why the Seahawks are going to lose.
.

and perhaps my friend you shoud stop trying so hard to blast anyone that disagrees with you.

Your opinion is not worth a bit more than anyone elses.

Radish
:141847_bnono:

And others in this string need to remember the attack posts and not posters rule.

 

[RichNhansom]

Here is a hth comparison of our schedule and the Niner's schedule.

http://www.fieldgulls.com/2013-nfl-offs ... edule-2013

This is a joke right?

10AM STARTS:
SEA five 10:00am games - CAR, HOU, IND, ATL, NYG
SFO two 10:00am games - JAX, TBB

You either believe this is a real issue or you don't. I don't want to get into it here, but Seattle has five 10:00AM road games to San Francisco's two. That's a distinct advantage or it's not an advantage, depending on where you stand on that factor.

Ignoring that west coast teams have 22% win record at early starts (or 10:00am west cost start times) pretty much puts the punctuation mark on his break down.

Last year the Niners were protected from playing any playoff caliber teams (playoff caliber expectations based on the time of scheduling) and still went 1-2 in early starts and that was against the Vikings, Rams and Jets of which the only team they could beat was the Jets. How do you look at the NFL protecting them again and not at least understand that it is no coincidence that the Niners have the easiest road schedule in the whole division?

Does anyone think they win the division last year if they play GB and/or NE at 10:00am? If you can't beat the Rams and Vikings, you are not beating the Packers or Patriots, sorry.

The NFL cannot dictate who each team plays or where they play them. The only thing they can do to influence the difficulty of the schedule is to move the starting time to one with a better win percentage and in the Niners case they have done it two years in a row now.

The Niners are the leagues most profitable franchise right now and Seattle bumping them off means a loss of revenue for the NFL. That is all it is.

You have to be a little dense to look at the Niners schedule this year and last and not understand they are purposely trying to push their brand.

Why do I bring this up? Because we will have to overcome a major obstacle to win this division and if we do, it should be recognized as such. If we don't, no one will be saying it was because of our schedule. That will get forgotten real quick. I for one will be ripping my eye's out if we end up a half game back again because I believe we are the better team. The only question is how much better. Are we good enough to over come the NFL's obstacle course?

One thing is for sure. The NFL has done absolutely everything in it's power to tilt the field in the Niners favor.

 

[FlyingGreg]

Don't look any further than the first week for a surprise possible L. On the road in the heat and humidity, 10 am Pacific time in Carolina...

Aaaaah.... The game kick's off at 1:00pm eastern time. That's right after lunchtime. Everyone in the most-populated portion of the country will be wide awake, and will have already had the first three beers down the hatch. Y'all will just be crawling out of bed, hung-over, and feeling like it's juuuust a little too early to play football.

But in actuality...
The team will have already flown in on Friday evening and all in were in their rooms by 11:00pm. They'll have spent all day Saturday eating and working out together, as well as conducting walk-throughs at a local pasture procured ahead of time. They'll have had a nice dinner together and curfew will have them in bed once again by 11:00pm.

On Sunday morning, they'll all be up and at it by 8:00am and eating a nice breakfast. They'll have been tweeting, and talking to the wife and kiddies on the cell phone. Then, at 10:00am it's off to the stadium to suit up, eating power snacks provided by the strength and conditioning folks, and slirping sips of Gatorade. At about 11:30am-noon they will have been partially suited-up, any bumps and bruises and ankles taped up, and in position briefings before it's out onto the field for group stretching. About 12:30pm it's final uniforms and adjustments followed by a nice chat from the coach to rev them all up to rock and roll.

Yep. At 1:00pm the game will kick off after the team had all slept in that time zone twice. More than enough time to acclimate to the environment.

Just sayin...

I think the first game is definitely the spookiest for me as well. Not going to look past it at all.

It would seem like that all makes sense (and it does), but it's still an earlier start than normal... and we have had tough times in that time zone, for whatever reason (most recently see St. Louis, Detroit and Miami games from last season as evidence).

I think they are good enough for it not to be an issue anymore, but that opening game can still be a snake biter.

 

[RichNhansom]

It certainly is optimistic.

There is nothing wrong with being optimistic. There's plenty of cause to be optimistic. With this team, there is every reason in the world to be optimistic.

Stop trying so hard to find reasons why the Seahawks are going to lose.
.

I gotta say Bob you sound alot like the members of the Niners Webzone. That is the only place I have seen folks so ridiculously over the top the way you are here.

I hope I am wrong but I have to say your post's are kind of trollish.

 

[FlyingGreg]

A) You said you'd be shocked if they won more than 12 games. Big difference between at least 12-4 and that statement.

B) I was defending you. Sort of.

C) Your reputation for the negative is not based one post. :thirishdrinkers:

A. You are making something out of nothing (again) . . . it simply means I think they will win 12 games. "Shocked if they win more than 12" = 12. Period. But I think you knew that and are just being confrontational. Look back in our history and let me know how many times this franchise has won more than 12 games. It is NOT easy to win 13 in a season. Saying I think we will win 12 is not negative. Not even close. You are reaching...

B. No, you weren't. Defending would have been comments directed at the content of what I posted about the possibility we might lose a few games (all legitimate points, BTW) instead of labeling.

C. Hey, I told my high school guidance counselor it was life goal to one day have a reputation. I guess I've achieved it!

*** I also said they would get to the Super Bowl, which you conveniently glossed over. That's what happens when you go after the poster and not the content. Tsk tsk. ***

And stop backpedaling, lol ... you made your point labeling me a "negative Nancy". I'll keep being honest with myself, regardless of labeling and "reputation" (whatever that means in an Internet forum). :th2thumbs:

What I don't get with .Net is why any of this has to be so black and white. I guess it's a reflection of society now, at least in the digital domain - people are hard core on one side or the other and there is no middle ground. To me, it's ok to be a Pollyanna and think the team will go 16-0 and everything is awesome. It should also be ok to be more grounded and critical, and want to see the concerns we have fleshed out. Negative, to me, is someone that just says "this team sucks" and doesn't provide anything substantive to back it up. Neither opinion, feast or famine, defines the quality of the fan or the blue and green that we all bleed. We are all wired differently, and I understand and respect both ends of the spectrum as long as their is something other than raw fan boy wanderlust or just complete unmitigated disdain without ANY positivity.

I get that people don't like the 'negative', but there's far too much pissing and moaning about it on this board. Some of us have been with this team since the beginning and cast a weary eye after so many years of struggle. It's ok to be excited and expecting huge things (which I am) - and also harboring some concerns. I just can't dismiss some things that absolutely need to get fixed from last season (primarily 3rd down defense, pass rush, the offense getting going sooner in games, and late game defense). TONS of people on this board share those concerns, because they are valid. That's not negative, it's reality - unbridled and honest.

I probably spent more than my two cents there . . . :3:

 

[Trenchbroom]

It certainly is optimistic.

There is nothing wrong with being optimistic. There's plenty of cause to be optimistic. With this team, there is every reason in the world to be optimistic.

Stop trying so hard to find reasons why the Seahawks are going to lose.
.

Yes, but the higher your expectations fly, the further the fall. Been my experience with this team anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

One thing is for sure, it is going to be exciting watching the games.

Makes me want to buy a better TV.