After a surprisingly remarkable season in 2012 and back-to-back Super Bowls in 2013 and 2014, the 12th Man is definitely accustomed to winning – even after the unfortunate end to Super Bowl XLIX. So, naturally, when the Seahawks stepped back on the field this season, the fans were prepared for another stellar year.
Unfortunately, our boys have stumbled a bit – don't worry, it's nothing we can't overcome. But still, it seems game day is likely to leave fans with nails bit down to the cuticle and high blood pressure.
Here are 12 thoughts all 12s have had this season.
1. “Who is this Lockett guy?”
Shortly followed by, “I like this Lockett guy! A lot!”
Tyler Lockett is a shining jewel in the Seattle crown. Even though Lockett’s father, Kevin Lockett, spent his fair share of time in the NFL, Tyler made a name for himself in college. He played for Kansas State and was selected in 2014 as second-team All-American as an all-purpose player and first-team All-Big 12. He was also a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist (nation's top wide receiver) and a two-time Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year (2014 and 2013). In 2013, selected first-team All-Big 12 as a wide receiver and kick returner. But, despite all this, Lockett still manages to shock and amaze the 12s with his impressive returns. He’s so good that it is actually underwhelming when he doesn’t make it to the 50.
The fact that his name rhymes with "rocket" isn't a coincidence, and his speed proves that. Even this early in the season, Seahawks fans know that they can expect a good show with Lockett on the field.
2. “What happened to the pocket? GUYS WE NEED A POCKET!”
Our offensive line is struggling this season, to say the least. They aren’t holding off the defense very well. Russell Wilson is important. Protect him. Otherwise, he does that thing where he “scrambles” and ends up 20 yards back from where we started, which looks silly and isn’t helping anyone.
3. “Kam, quit your whining and do your job.”
This can also be said for Marshawn last year. I know Kam ended his holdout, but honestly, the whole thing was really dumb. He went against his contract, managed to come out of his holdout costing himself more than $2 million in fines and lost salary, and didn’t even manage to get his contract changed. For someone who was looking to make double his salary, he sure hasn’t done much for us since returning to show that he’d be worth that price tag.
Kam...listen to your girl Jessie J; when the sale comes first, and the truth comes second, just stop for a minute and…realize that not one 12th man is smiling....not one.
4. “It’s fine. We’re a second-half team.”
In recent years, that’s just the way it has been. We struggle for the first 30 minutes and then come out guns blazing for the latter half. Sure, it made us nervous sometimes, but ultimately we always had faith that our Hawks would pull through.
5. “Okay guys, it’s the second half, this isn’t funny anymore.”
For a second-half team, we sure haven’t had that great of second halves this year.
6. “Guys it’s the fourth quarter what are you doing?”
A similar thought would be, “HOW DO YOU BLOW A 17-POINT LEAD IN THE FOURTH QUARTER?!” Because yeah, that has actually happened this year. In fact, the Hawks have let a fourth quarter lead go three times this season. If you don’t have a first half, and you don’t have a fourth quarter, then all you have is the third quarter…where we haven’t been doing so hot either.
7. “Thank you, Hauschka, for being the only consistent player on the whole team.”
Hauschka is one of the best kickers in the league. He has only missed one field goal attempt this season, and that’s because it was blocked. He consistently is able to make 50+ yard kicks. Statistically, Hauschka might technically be the second best in the NFL (right behind Stephen Gostkowski for New England), but we all know he’s No. 1 in our hearts.
8. “He’s not wrong, Kaepernick. You’re not Russell Wilson.”
In case you missed it, Clay Matthews spent plenty of time trolling Colin Kaepernick when Green Bay took on San Fran in early October.Not only did the Packers kick some serious Niner butt, sacking Kaepernick six times and coming away with a 17-3 win, but Clay Matthews was caught telling Kaepernick to, “run some real plays. You ain’t Russell Wilson, bro.”
Clay Matthews, everyone.
9. “Well, at least we beat the Niners.”
The rivalry has been around since roughly 2002, but intensified once long-time college coach rivals Carroll and Harbaugh took over the teams as the head coaches in 2010 and 2011. When the two teams faced off twice and split wins in 2013, it instilled a greater rivalry that came to a head during the 2013 NFC Championship game when a trip to Super Bowl XLVIII was on the line and the Seahawks prevailed. Both teams have hit a bit of a stumbling block since those glory days, but it’s pretty clear we still don’t like each other much.
Also, am I the only one that misses Harbaugh’s temper tantrums and khakis now that he has returned to his glory days of coaching college football?
10. “Jimmy, for someone who spent all this time at the beginning of the season whining about not getting the ball enough, you sure don’t catch very well.”
Jimmy Graham. When he’s on his game, he’s great. But lately, it seems like he drops the ball more often than he catches it. Obviously there are other factors that go into this, but as a player who spent time complaining he wasn’t getting the ball enough earlier this season, he should show he deserves those passes.
11. “Why don’t we throw to Luke Willson more often?”
When we go Wilson to Willson, we see good results, so can someone please explain to me why this isn’t something that happens more regularly?
12. "This is all too much for me."
*Actual photo taken after the game against Dallas*
I am fairly certain I am getting gray hair, thanks to this season. Being a second-half team was hard enough – regularly having nail-biter endings is simply too much to handle. After all these close calls and incredible losses, I am convinced that the time between games is not for the players to recover, but for the fans.
At this point, thanks to last week’s close call against Dallas, I am almost thankful that this is bye week – my heart rate has still not returned to normal.
But one thing is certain...
Despite the fact that this season is not yet what the fans were hoping for, one thing is for certain – win or lose, we love our team, and you can bet we'll be screaming in our seats week after week...even if the seats are in our living room.
