Seattle Seahawks fans are feeling ultra confident about the upcoming season.
The 2020 NFL season commences this week. The season opened Thursday night when the Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Houston Texans, and the Seahawks’ opener is at 10 a.m. Sunday when they hit the road to play the Atlanta Falcons.
Therefore, this week’s Seattle Sidelines poll asked readers how many games they thought the Seahawks would win this season.
POLL: The NFL season kicks off this week. How many games do you think the Seattle Seahawks win this season? Full context, including a closer look at the team, here: https://t.co/B3Knx74gj6
— Nick Patterson (@NickHPatterson) September 7, 2020
Add together the votes in the Twitter poll and the one posted on the blog and it was a runaway, as 72% of the responders predicted Seattle to win between 10 and 12 of their 16 games this season. Another 14% said Seattle would win 13 or more, while 11% predicted 8-9 and a mere 3% said seven or fewer.
On one hand, this is a predictable result. Since Russell Wilson became Seattle’s quarterback in 2012 the Seahawks have only failed to reach double digits in wins once, when they went 9-7 in 2017. That goes a long way toward explaining why so few voters think Seattle will have a losing season. And last season the Seahawks went 11-5, were inches away from winning the NFC West on the season’s final day, and return largely intact. There’s no reason to think Seattle won’t be equally good this season.
On the other hand, this is supreme confidence in the Seahawks. Ten wins is a major feat in any season, and Seattle plays in what’s expected to be a tough division that includes the reigning NFC-champion San Francisco 49ers, a Los Angeles Rams team that was in the Super Bowl two years ago, and what’s expected to be an improved Arizona Cardinals squad — ESPN rates the Seahawks’s schedule as the league’s ninth toughest. The Las Vegas oddsmakers peg Seattle’s over/under for wins this season at 9.5. This poll suggests an astounding 86% of responders would take the over.
I also find it telling that 14% — a not insignificant amount — of voters predicted Seattle to win 13 or more games. The Seahawks, in their previous 44 seasons, won 13 or more games just twice, winning exactly 13 in both 2005 and 2013. Seattle went to the Super Bowl both years. Since 2005, the year the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl to the Pittsburgh Steelers, just four of the 15 Super Bowl winners managed to win 13 games during the regular season.
So what these poll results show is that Seahawks fans have high expectations for 2020, and there are a fair number who believe Seattle is in for something special this season.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
