Above all the noise that this season generated, there are only two words that I will use to sum it all up:

Thank you.

Thank you from all the 12’s out there. Thank you, Seahawks for another memory filled season. Thank you for making the NFL season a little more enjoyable here in the Pacific Northwest. Thank you for being a team worth rooting for until the bitter end. Thank you for staying relevant and not throwing in the towel after losing plenty of stars and leaders.

So the Seahawks had an “off” (by their standards) year. It happens. Sometimes the injury bug bites. Sometimes the ball doesn’t land the way you want it to. Sometimes things that
“should” happen don’t. Sometimes the luckiest of teams face some bad luck more than they’re used to. Seattle isn’t the first team to experience this, and they won’t be the last. They weren’t even the only team this season to suffer similar setbacks.

No, they were far from perfect. There were plenty of glaring flaws that absolutely must be addressed this coming offseason. Flaws that will be painful to solve. Flaws that I will be writing about in the days and weeks to come. But now is not that time. Now is the time to look back on the positives and context.

As disappointing as 2017 may have seemed to all of us, including yours truly, there is one truth we must all recognize: it was far from a complete nightmarish disaster of a season. At no point did the wheels ever completely fall off the way it did in Green Bay, Denver, Tampa, Miami, or Houston. We as fans weren’t even the most distraught in week 17.

I'm pretty sure Ravens fans watching their team give up a game-winning touchdown on 4^th and 12 with 0:53 left to the Bengals, completely blowing their "win-and-in" shot at the postseason, was a harder pill to swallow than another comically awful Blair Walsh miss with nothing to play for.

The Seahawks still finished with a winning record, were competitive in all but one of their losses, and were still in the playoff picture in the final week of the regular season. All that with an injury ravished defense, the worst offensive line in football, and the least existent running game in the League.

Realistically in the NFL, the difference between a legitimate contender versus one that's watching the playoffs from their couch comes down to a few feet and some ligaments. Such was the case in Seattle. Let's compare the Seahawks to... let's say for grins... Atlanta. The Falcons were the happy beneficiaries of two narrowly missed game-tying field goals on two separate Monday Night Football games. Two misses that sealed two extra victories, lifting them to 10-6 and a Wild Card berth instead of 8-8. Whereas in Seattle's case, missed kicks against the Redskins and Cardinals were major differences between missing the playoffs at 9-7 and winning the NFC West at 11-5.

Atlanta also stayed healthy on defense, while Seattle couldn't. Maybe a full compliment for the Legion of Boom allows Seattle to stop Jacksonville from running out the clock. Maybe a healthy defense slows the Rams down enough to keep them from snowballing. I know we're playing the "what if" game a little bit here, but the point is that the gap between "competing for a Super Bowl" and "time to totally rebuild" isn't as wide as it's made out to be.

Ultimately that is all hearsay. What matters is what actually transpired. Even with some heartbreak, this year still was not without some truly outstanding moments, and that is what we are here to remember. The 41-38 shootout with Houston was easily the best game of the season, an instant classic that will be remembered for years to come. That vintage Seattle beatdown of the Eagles on Sunday Night Football was about as classic Pete Carroll-era as you could get. Although the rematch was not all that great, being able to steal a win from the Rams on the road was a nice treat that we’ve been waiting years for.

Perhaps the best aspect of this season is one that gives me the most hope for the next season: the fact that Russell Wilson was finally able to put his detractors to rest by showing he could absolutely carry a team and inarguably prove he is a franchise quarterback. Those of us who have been following Seattle have known this for years, but now the rest of the country recognizes it too. No other quarterback had to carry an offense quite like Russ, and he completely put the team on his back. Wilson has shown that the Seahawks are now undoubtedly his squad. That alone is worth some positivity going forward.

In the meantime, we wait patiently for the next season. Yes, I would have loved to see the Hawks back in the tournament for a sixth straight season. Who of us wouldn’t? If there is any silver lining, it is the hope that the extra few weeks off will allow Seattle to heal some wounds and let them begin the retooling process. There is plenty of work to do.

But for now, as I mentioned earlier, there is only one thing to say above all else:

Thank you.