RENTON — The Seattle Seahawks’ season didn’t begin the way they would have liked.
But now they can treat it like a video game. This week the Seahawks get their opportunity to hit the reset button.
Seattle is hoping to jumpstart its season when it plays its home opener Sunday afternoon against the Chicago Bears.
“This is a huge opportunity for us to get moving forward,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “This is like starting again for us. It feels like the chance to come home and get in front of the 12s, that the whole week’s preparations are knowing that we are here at CenturyLink. It’s an exciting thing for us.”
Seattle suffered a stuttering start to the season. The Seahawks dropped their opener 34-31 in overtime to the St. Louis Rams, then fell 27-17 to the Green Bay Packers last week.
But the atmosphere changed this week. Seattle is coming home for the first time this season, and the Seahawks have been buoyed by the return of strong safety Kam Chancellor from his holdout.
Therefore, Seattle is hoping this will be the week that, when all is said and done, is looked back upon as the one where the Seahawks’ season started for real.
“That’s kind of been our talk throughout the locker room in terms of meetings and all that,” Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson said. “It’s a new season, the season is 0-0 and we’re trying to go 1-0 every week. That’s kind of the same words we always use, though. It hasn’t really changed too much, and I think that’s the right mentality to have. We played two tough football teams on the road, unfortunately we came up short right at the end there. But we’re looking forward to coming back home. Playing at CenturyLink doesn’t get any better. We know the 12s will be ready to go and we’re pumped to be here.”
So much about this week’s game gives Seattle the chance for a fresh start.
First, Sunday’s game against Chicago is the first home game of the season. Seattle may have started the season 0-2, but those were high-degree-of-difficulty games. The Seahawks opened the season on the road against a St. Louis team many consider on the rise, and the Rams’ strength (the defensive line) happened to match up against Seattle’s most inexperienced unit (the offensive line). Then in Week 2 the Seahawks traveled to face a Green Bay team that was 9-0 at home last season and was still smarting from last season’s loss to Seattle in the NFC Championship Game.
So being back within the friendly confines of CenturyLink Field, where Seattle has won 26 of its 28 games during the past three seasons and playoffs, will be a welcome feeling for the Seahawks.
“The noise is the most important thing, that’s what the fans bring, they bring tons of noise,” Wilson said about the advantages of playing at home. “I just think being kind of in your own home shelter area, life’s a little bit easier that way. You don’t have to travel on the road, you don’t have a long flight. Most of our flights are four, five hours minimum most of the places we have to go.”
Second, the Seahawks now have Chancellor back. The team’s Pro Bowl strong safety ended his holdout Wednesday following a 55-day absence. His return has added a little extra juice to the locker room, and if he plays Sunday it will undoubtedly provide a boost to the defense.
“I don’t know if [Chancellor’s return] helps as far as a refreshing feeling,” free safety Earl Thomas said. “I think the refreshing feeling is we get another opportunity. It’s still early in the season and we still can do everything we want to do. With Kam coming back we definitely have a better fighting chance to do what we want to do.”
Finally, the Seahawks have finally caught a break in the schedule. After two tough opponents Seattle gets a Bears team that looks vulnerable. Chicago, like Seattle, is 0-2. But unlike the Seahawks, that’s not a surprise to anyone because the Bears are in a rebuild behind new head coach in John Fox.
In addition, Chicago is wounded. Starting quarterback Jay Cutler is out after suffering a hamstring injury in last week’s 48-23 home loss to Arizona. Therefore, backup Jimmy Clausen, he of the 1-10 career record as a starter in the NFL, will be at the reins. And he won’t have Chicago’s top receiver at his service as Alshon Jeffrey is also out with a hamstring ailment.
But while it looks like everything is in line for a Seahawks reset Sunday, Seattle still needs to make it happen.
“We have a lot of work to do, and we have a lot of things to clean up,” Carroll said. “We’ve got to get really sharp and we have no more time. We have to get at it right now. We can’t afford to be into issues and concerns and stuff like that about other things. We have to get our minds right and focused with that’s at hand. It’ll take all of that to put together a good plan and get ready to play Chicago.”
That, along with a long enough finger to make sure that reset button on the console gets pushed.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
