RENTON — There was an understandably somber mood in the Seattle Seahawks’ locker room Sunday afternoon at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
This was exit day for Seattle’s players following Saturday’s season-ending 36-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional playoffs. The Seahawks spent the day attending final team meetings, cleaning out their lockers and turning in team iPads.
The players were mostly quiet and reflective Sunday, but there was a range of emotions they were feeling.
“I was sore,” defensive end Cliff Avril said when asked about his thoughts when he woke up Sunday morning. “I was sore, I was tired, that was what I was thinking about at the moment.”
Said center Justin Britt: “It sucks that our season ended, but you really can’t control it now. You can’t go back and appeal for a win. We just have to suck it up and look at the positives and keep our heads up and look ahead.”
By most measures the Seahawks had another good season. Seattle finished 10-5-1 during the regular season and won its third NFC West division title in the past four years. It was the fifth straight season in which the Seahawks reached double-digit wins, as well as the fifth straight year Seattle advanced at least as far as the divisional playoffs.
Yet for a franchise with such lofty expectations, there was the sense of falling short of what the team was capable of achieving. Seattle’s offense was inconsistent throughout the season, and the Seahawks’ defense was unable to maintain its elite level of play from start to finish. After reaching the Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons in 2013-14, two straight exits in the divisional round represent something of a disappointment.
“I was up at 3:30 this morning playing Madden,” wide receiver Doug Baldwin said. “The reason why I play Madden is because in Madden I can control everything, and in the game of life and the game of football you can’t.
“It’s kind of like mourning right now,” Baldwin added. “We’ll get through it. Obviously I’m going to cheer on the Falcons and their attempt to get to the Super Bowl, I think they have a great chance of winning it. But once that ends, once football dissolves away, then we can start putting ourselves back together again as players.”
Injuries were part of Seattle’s problem. Free safety Earl Thomas, arguably the team’s most important player on defense, was lost for the season because of a broken leg. So was receiver Tyler Lockett, the team’s best deep threat and return specialist. Running back Thomas Rawls and defensive end Michael Bennett missed substantial chunks of the season because of injuries.
Then there was quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson never missed any games, but he was clearly affected by the sprained right ankle and sprained left knee he suffered during the first three weeks of the season. The injuries largely eliminated Wilson as a threat in the running game.
The injuries made it that much more difficult for the Seahawks to find a groove.
“I definitely think (injuries) were a factor,” Wilson said. “I don’t want to say it was the main factor or only factor. We had a lot of guys battle through some stuff, from me to Tyler Lockett to Michael Bennett to all the way across the board. This game you’re going to face some tough situations and some tough times, but we were able to overcome them. I know for me, just to be able to play in every game meant a lot to me, every practice as well. Mission was accomplished there. There’s a few more things we want to have, and that’s to be able to play two more games and win two more games. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that.”
Yet despite the injuries, the Seahawks recognize they missed an opportunity. There were times when Seattle appeared to be a Super Bowl favorite, such as when the Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots on the road to improve to 6-2-1. But inconsistencies both on the road (Seattle won just three of its nine games away from CenturyLink Field) and down the stretch (Seattle went 4-4 over its final eight) prevented the Seahawks from reaching their third Super Bowl in four years.
“(It was difficult) for the team in general because we’ve been here so many times,” Baldwin said. “The older guys, we all feel it now. It’s like, ‘All right, we’ve been successful in terms of putting ourselves in a position to peak, but it’s so hard to do that’. It’s going to be difficult for the fans and media to understand that and realize how difficult that is. But for us in there, it’s an overwhelming, unbelievable, emotional part that goes into getting to this point, and I think all of us felt it this time, just the gravity of not being able to finish.”
There are some who question whether Seattle’s window to compete for a championship is closing, given the team is not as as young as it was five years ago. However, even in the shadow of Saturday’s loss, the Seahawks were optimistic about the future.
“I’m very excited,” Avril said. “Our potential to be great is at an all-time high, I think. I think being able to experience the Super Bowl and being able to experience not making it there, we know what it takes to get there. Our core foundation of guys, on defense and on offense, the sky is the limit for us as long as we continue to keep getting better.”
For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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