The start of training camp was very different for the 2007 Seattle Seahawks, and not just because they were spending their August on the west side of the state for the first time in 10 seasons.
When the players showed up in late July, they carried a new, unofficial title that had been branded upon them sometime after the 2006 season.
Has-beens.
While the Seahawks have won three consecutive NFC West titles, there are many prognosticators who believe this is the year they will come down from the top of the hill.
Of the 16 so-called “experts” (their word, not ours) on the ESPN website, seven of them picked teams other than Seattle to win the West. The Sporting News predicted that the Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers would both finish 10-6, but that the Niners would win the West in a tiebreaker.
“Anytime you’ve been successful for a while,” safety Brian Russell said, “people are going to try (to) knock you down.”
It’s an unfamiliar spot for the NFC West’s mini-dynasty, but the Seahawks know they haven’t lost anything yet.
“I definitely hear about (the talk),” wide receiver Nate Burleson said. “I’m pretty sure everybody else in the locker room has heard about it. But I don’t really invest too much thought into teams improving.
“Regardless of what your record is, if you’re in the NFL, you’re a good team.”
That has been subject to debate in recent seasons, when the Seahawks have treated the NFC West kind of like Roger Federer treats the first round of Wimbledon. Since 2003, no team other than the Seahawks has finished above .500 in a given season. Seattle has gone 31-17 during that three-year span.
Rarely has one team had such a stronghold on the NFC West. Since the 49ers’ four-year reign atop the division ended in 1995, the NFC West had not had another back-to-back champion until the 2005 Seahawks.
So to win three in a row is quite an accomplishment.
“It’s very, very impressive,” said Russell, who joined the Seahawks this season after spending the past two with the Cleveland Browns. “It’s hard to win games in this league.
“To be able to win consistently and to continue to play at a high level is something special. It’s something that I was excited to come here and be a part of.”
This year’s NFC West, at the very least, should be more competitive.
San Francisco added several pieces to the mix after sweeping the Seahawks and finishing one game behind Seattle in the final standings in ‘06. Former Seahawk Darrell Jackson should give the receiving corps a boost, while the 49ers added one of the most coveted defensive free agents in former Buffalo Bills cornerback Nate Clements.
The Arizona Cardinals have quietly been building quite an arsenal on offense, with Edgerrin James and receivers Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald leading the way, and this year they should benefit from the experience that 24-year-old quarterback Matt Leinart endured last season. They’ve also got a new coach in former Pittsburgh assistant Ken Whisenhunt.
And then there are the Rams, who continue to have one of the most explosive offenses in the league and could benefit from the addition of Adam Carriker and a healthy Will Witherspoon on defense.
On paper, the other three teams in the NFC West finally look ready to make a serious challenge for the division title.
“Everybody always looks good on paper in the beginning,” Seahawks linebacker Julian Peterson said. “That’s how it always is. I remember when I was coming up (with the 49ers), everybody talked about the Washington Redskins, saying Washington was going to win the Super Bowl. But they didn’t.
“It doesn’t matter how much talent you bring aboard; it still takes chemistry and everybody believing in the system and carrying it out.”
For the past three years, the Seahawks have been the team with those elements in the NFC West.
“You hear about a lot of teams that have great talent and great athletes, but they don’t seem to mesh for whatever reason,” Burleson said. “Here, we don’t have that problem because everybody’s unselfish. Everybody wants to help each other.”
It’s been a recipe for success three years in a row. But some of those in the know think that the run will end in ‘07.
“It looks good on paper, but we’ll see when it comes to game time,” Peterson said. “We’re still the defending champs; we’ve won it three years in a row. They’re going to have to come take it from us.”,
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