I strongly considered writing a string of expletives, copy/pasting those several times, and calling it good for this article because, quite frankly, there isn’t much else I can say that would truly reflect my opinion on how I felt watching the nightmare on Sunday.

Besides the Steelers, there is not a team out there that I have such visceral loathing toward like I do for the Rams. Every time I think of this pathetic excuse for a franchise I have a little bit of acid reflux. Now that they are actually a competitive team this year, just about every Sunday I’m practically vomiting.

For years, the Rams have always been a thorn in Seattle’s side. Delivering the Seahawks a painfully frustrating loss early on in the season was starting to become the norm of each NFL season. But in 2017, the Hawks seemed to flip the script with a rare road win over the Rams back in October. The 16-10 slugfest gave all Seattle fans a slight glimmer of hope that perhaps a sweep over the Rams might be possible. That hopes for winning the division title still had not dissipated.

That hope, however slight it may have been, was obliterated into a quintillion pieces last Sunday. The Los Angeles Rams were on a revenge tour and delivered Seattle the first-rate ass-kicking the likes of which I have scarcely seen before. Instead of feeling the frustration that usually follows a loss to the Rams, we were left with an aneurysm-inducing heartbreak. I’m not sure that sentence even makes medical sense, but like I said earlier, I’m sort of at a loss for coherent thought.

I understand that the Rams are really good and were playing for national respect. I understand that the Seahawks are depleted due to one of the worst string of injuries I have seen a team suffer. I understand all of that, believe me, I do. But losing 42-7 AT HOME is the very definition of inexcusable. I don’t care if the home team are the Cleveland Browns and the visitors are the 2007 Patriots, that margin should never be seen.

It’s hard to imagine a scenario where the MVP candidacy of a quarterback, the Defensive Player of the Year candidacy of a middle linebacker, and hopes of winning a division could all be wiped out from one half of football, but here we are.

Losing 42-7 is not only the worst loss in Russell Wilson’s career, or the worst in the Pete Carroll era, but the worst Seattle loss in the history of CenturyLink Field. This is the first time since December 12^th, 2010 that Seattle has allowed an opponent to score 40+ points in a game. Trailing 34-0 at the half was the second-worst home halftime deficit the Seahawks have ever faced, the first being in 2010 when they trailed 35-0 to the New York Giants. This is also the third worst halftime deficit the franchise’s history, with a 38-0 margin at the hands of John Elway in Denver, 1989.

Anything the Rams wanted to do, they got it. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen people who were being mauled by Grizzly Bears put up more of a fight than Seattle did on Sunday. Superstar running back Todd Gurley did his best wrecking ball impression as he gashed the Seahawks with every touch he received.

According to The Ringer: “Thirty years ago, Bo Jackson set the record for most rushing yards against the Seahawks with 221 yards. Todd Gurley has 144 yards at halftime.” Yeesh. Gurley joins LeGarrette Blount as the only running backs to have scored three rushing touchdowns against a Pete Carroll-led team.

There was a multitude of reasons why the Rams prevailed on Sunday, but perhaps their biggest advantage was that they started 7 of their first 8 drives in Seattle territory. Forcing the broken Seattle defense to defend against the arsenal of weaponry Los Angeles has was just not going to happen.

The implications of this loss go far beyond the miserable knowledge that we will always remember the time Seattle lost 42-7. There are some very harsh realities that the Seahawks, and all of us fans, need to realize.

I would start off discussing how we lost the division title, but I think we all accepted that somewhere in the second quarter. Unfortunately, our playoff hopes might have flown out of the nest as well. Following the upset of the Eagles two weeks ago, Seattle was sitting in the 6^th and final playoff spot. Such a precarious perch meant little room for mistakes. After getting kicked in the teeth by Jacksonville last week, I wrote that the Seahawks would absolutely have to run the table over the last three weeks and get help to make the postseason.

Losing to the Rams immediately sort of puts a major dent in the whole “run the table” thing.

Falling to 8-6 means that the road to the postseason is even more difficult than it has ever been before, and the possibility of missing the playoffs entirely is a very real scenario. Much more likely than actually making it at this point. Not only does Seattle have to win their final two games, but hope that the Falcons finish no better than 9-7 since they hold the tie-breaker over Seattle due to their MNF win over them.

Winning out will still be a challenge as the Hawks travel to Dallas. The Cowboys have done their best to weather the storm of losing the centerpiece to their offense, Ezekiel Elliott. Going 3-3 during his six-game suspension means the Cowboys are also playing for a slight hope of making the playoffs. Also sitting at 8-6, Big D will be especially motivated to get a leg up on Seattle in the Wild Card hunt. Elliott will be returning pissed off and with fresh legs. Considering how Gurley ran all over the defense, Sunday’s game with Dallas might be just as gnarly.

There is also another daunting reality. Seattle’s defensive roster is filled with old, injury-prone, and expensive players. When they are all healthy, this is still one of the best defenses in the NFL.

However, the flaw in the strategy of signing an entire core of players to huge extensions rears its ugly head when injuries start to happen. The price a team must pay is that keeping an expensive core means your defense is top heavy.

Quality depth is sacrificed, the kind of depth that helped propel Seattle to two Super Bowls. The kind of depth that allows for talented special teams, ones that don’t allow players like Pharoh Cooper over 150 punt return yards.

All the Seahawks can afford are inexpensive backup players, and there is a reason they are coming cheap. Yes, there may be an occasional steal of a player that has been overlooked, but a lot of times they’re players like Byron Maxwell.

NFL Analyst Michael Silver wrote an excellent, albeit depressing, piece about the reality of a near-rebuild the Seahawks might have to undergo this offseason. When he tweeted out the link, he warned that Seattle fans might want to pour themselves a stiff one before reading. I would reiterate that sentiment. I’ll copy the link at the bottom of this article, but I warn you that if you’re brave enough to read, it won’t be fun.

Although the Seahawks face an uncertain, and perhaps unsettling, future, that is still yet to come. What matters now is that 2017 is not truly over until it is over. I am still holding on to the dying hope that the very slim possibility that a postseason berth has not been mathematically eliminated. I will be rooting for the Hawks until the bitter end, and let the chips fall where they may.