The Seattle Seahawks were one of the most impressive teams in the NFL this season and despite losing to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, the franchise will enter next year as a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
The team was not expected to be one of the top teams in the NFC this season, but head coach Pete Carroll turned the Seahawks into a defensive powerhouse and turned their home stadium into an impossible place to win. Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson was better than anyone imagined and the team will still have players like Marshawn Lynch, Golden Tate and Russell Okung next year.
Sunday's game shows exactly why the Seahawks are dangerous and could be a sexy Super Bowl pick next season. The team was down 27-7 entering the final quarter and faced a 20-0 deficit earlier in the game, but never gave up and eventually took a 28-27 lead before losing the game on a kick by Matt Bryant with little time left in the fourth quarter.
Had the Seahawks won the game, it would have been greatest fourth-quarter comeback in NFL playoff history, according to STATS Inc.
"We had high, high hopes for the rest of the season," Wilson said to the Associated Press. "When the game was over, I was very disappointed. But walking back into the tunnel, I got so excited about next year. The resilience we showed was unbelievable."
Wilson has been the most surprising and dynamic player for the Seahawks all season and he continued that play on Sunday. He passed for 385 yards and two touchdowns with one interception while completing 24-of-36 passes.
The Falcons jumped out to an early 20-0 lead in the first half after a 47-uyard touchdown pass to Roddy White, leaving the Seahawks to wonder what had happened. Travelling to the East coast twice in two weeks could have been a reason for the slow start, but head coach Pete Carroll knew the team went down 14-0 against the Redskins just one week before and could come back again.
"At halftime, we talked about how we can't get ahead right away. It's going to take a while," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. "It was an exquisite job of refocusing to a football game after being down like that."
Seattle started with a 29-yard pass to Golden Tate from Wilson in the third quarter to cut it to 20-7, but the Falcons stormed back and scored another touchdown to go up 27-7 entering the final frame. That's when the Seahawks started to go wild.
Russell Wilson scored on a perfect scramble on the first drive of the quarter before connecting with tight end Zach Miller, who was wide open in the end zone, to cut the lead to 27-21. The team then took the lead on a two-yard run by Lynch with just 30 seconds to go. Then the Falcons went to work, driving down the field to set up a chance at a game-winning kick. Bryant connected and the Falcons advanced after winning 30-28.
The Seahawks were fantastic in the fourth quarter and if they could have stopped Matt Ryan from driving down the field at the end of the game, they would be heading to San Francisco for the NFC Championship game.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Seahawks are just the sixth team in the Super Bowl era to score 21 fourth-quarter points in a playoff game to take the lead, only to lose the game, joining themselves in 2010 against the Bears and the Packers from 2009 as the most recent two teams to do it.
The loss was demoralizing, but don't tell that to Wilson or the Seahawks. After the game he sounded ready for the next challenge and the 2013 season.
"When the game was over, I was very disappointed, but right before I got back to the tunnel, walking off the field, I got so excited for the next opportunity, next year. Looking forward what we have in the future. We have a great football team," Wilson said.
The Seahawks have a lot to look forward to for next year as well. The Seattle secondary is one of the best in the league and will be able to matchup against anyone with skilled cornerbacks Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman, who was tied for second in the NFL with eight interceptions.
Seattle will have a distinct home advantage after going 8-0 at home this season. The team was just 3-5 on the road, but each of those losses was to conference opponents during the early stages of the season when Seattle looked like a different team. During the second half of the season, no team was better in the NFL than the Seahawks, who allowed 17 points or less in each of its last five games, including in a 42-13 win over the NFC West division champion 49ers.
Wilson has transformed this team since being named the starter in training camp, making plays with both his arm and his legs. He has thrown for 3,118 yards and tied the rookie record with 26 touchdown passes and also ranks second on the team in rushing with 489 yards and four touchdowns.
Wilson was stellar against the 49ers in Week 16, throwing for 171 yards and four interceptions in the blowout win and hasn't has thrown for 16 touchdowns and just two interceptions over the final eight games of the year. He has been excellent on the road this season, ranking third in the NFL with a 107.2 passer rating, behind players like Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan.
Wilson has been helped along all season by running back Marshawn Lynch, who ranked third in the NFL in rushing (one spot behind Washington's Alfred Morris) with 1,590 yards and 11 touchdowns. Lynch has rushed for at least 100 yards in each of the last four games and has scored six touchdowns during that span.
The Seahawks have come a long way since winning that controversial game against the Packers in Week 3 that saw the end of the replacement referees. Back then, the Seahawks were seen as a team that stole a win from a more talented Green Bay team. Looking back on that game now and pushing it ahead to the future, it remains to be seen whether the Packers would even win another matchup against this Seahawks team.
Brian Billick echoed the sentiment of many in the NFL about the Seahawks following the loss, although he actually was talking about the Falcons and got confused in the moment: "That win, this win right here, legitimizes the Seattle Seahawks as the No.1 seed and makes them the team to beat," he said while scenes of Falcons players and coaches celebrating were shown on Fox.
Even though he meant to be talking about the Falcons, one thing is clear: after the playoff run and the impressive play from the Seahawks this season, there is no doubt they will be a force to be reckoned with next year in the NFC West.
