So it turns out all it took for the Cliche Machine to start revving was a pair of losses that represented the Seattle Seahawks’ first losing streak in 23 months.
Stay the course.
The sky isn’t falling.
We’ll get through this.
Time to roll up the sleeves and get to work.
All may or may not be appropriate right about now, but we can say with some certainty that there’s at least one cliche that fits the bill.
Ladies and gentlemen … The worst part is over.
Yes, Seahawks fans, that obtuse, five-word sentence is the best way to summarize what’s been and what will be.
It’s no secret that the season has taken a bad turn, and not just because of back-to-back losses to Minnesota and Kansas City. The defense has been exposed as a fraud, Shaun Alexander’s return keeps getting delayed and the team can’t even find a way to win when backup quarterback Seneca Wallace actually plays well.
So what’s there to be so darned jovial about?
Qwest Field, for starters, which plays host to the Seahawks’ next two games and three of their next four. While playing at home isn’t quite the slam dunk it once was – the 31-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings two weeks ago ended Seattle’s 12-game winning streak at Qwest – the Seahawks are a much better team in this part of the country than they are anywhere else.
With five of their final nine games at home, the Seahawks should benefit from some home cooking.
In addition to venue, the Seahawks should benefit from a little thing called competition … or lack thereof. Six of Seattle’s final nine opponents have losing records, and five of those have two wins or less. The remaining schedule comes against opposing teams with an aggregate record of 26-38.
The next four weeks could provide an excellent opportunity for the Seahawks to get well quickly. Three home games against inferior opponents – Oakland, St. Louis and Green Bay – are wrapped around a road game that shouldn’t be too daunting (Seattle has won its past three games at San Francisco, which will play host to the Seahawks on Nov. 19). Realistically, the Seahawks could come out of that stretch with a 7-4 record, or maybe even 8-3.
The Dec. 3 game at Denver will provide quite a challenge, and the home game against San Diego on Christmas Eve should also be a test, but every other game on Seattle’s schedule is winnable.
We haven’t even broached the most important factor, which would be the return of an MVP running back and a Pro Bowl quarterback – among others. Alexander should be back (write this in pencil, just so you don’t get your heart broken again) next week, while quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s target return date is the Nov. 19 game against the 49ers.
It’s hard to argue that either player would have been the difference in winning the games he missed – Seattle has gone 1-3 without Alexander and 0-1 without Hasselbeck, due more to the defensive mishaps than anything going on offensively – but the Pro Bowlers are as important to this team as anyone else in the league who isn’t named Peyton.
Don’t get us wrong. There are plenty reasons for concern. It starts with the new-problem-every-week defense and extends to an offensive line that’s not playing up to its usual standards. Injuries have taken some of the team’s best players out of the lineup, and whatever mojo there was during the historic run to Super Bowl XL has been left in Detroit.
But things are going to turn around pretty soon. Really, they will.
It might not be another Super year, but it’ll be another memorable one.
So enjoy the ride.
Because it’s not a marathon, it’s a sprint.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
And, as hard as it is to believe, there are a few more clichs to be spewed.
Scott M. Johnson is The Herald’s pro football writer
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