Remember a few years ago when the Seattle Seahawks stormed into Foxboro to beat the Patriots? It was a statement to the rest of the league that everyone should fear them. It was a game preceded by an explosive performance on Monday Night Football, and followed by a suffocation of the Philadelphia Eagles. What a team that was!

Wait, you’re telling me that wasn’t a few years ago? That was only a month and a half? Please excuse my mistake, it’s hard to recall because nothing about this Seahawk team resembles anything like that one. The Seattle Seahawks are in an identity crisis. Who are they?

For the last couple of NFL seasons there have been a few things that came with such regular certainty that you could set your watch to: the Patriots winning at least 12 games, the Browns finding new ways to disappoint, Cowboys fans growing more obnoxious regardless of how their team was performing, and a late season surge from the Seattle Seahawks. In 2012, the Seahawks were a mediocre 6-5. They rattled off 5 straight wins, won their first road playoff game since 1983, and nearly topped the 13 win Falcons in Atlanta. In 2014, Seattle ran the table after a 6-4 start to earn home field advantage yet again and advance to a second straight Super Bowl. Just last year, the Seahawks turned a disappointing 5-5 record into 10-6 with several dominate wins and returned to the divisional round of the post season. Like Green Bay and New England, Seattle was considered to be nigh invincible, having lost only three games during the Russell Wilson era.

This December, the Seahawks are ice cold and are merely mortal. In what should have been the time they find themselves and shore up any shortcomings, Seattle enters the postseason with far more questions than answers to their season long lingering flaws. Instead of cementing their fate with a first round bye, Seattle limps to the playoffs having gone 2-2 in December and an alarming 4-3 over the final stretch of the regular season. The Seahawks alternated wins and losses, dominating one week to being outclassed in the next. That is not a recipe for a Super Bowl caliber team. The inability to beat an 8 loss Cardinal team at home or easily put away the two win 49ers should be concerning to everyone. Not to mention a 28 point throttling at the hands of a Packers team many had written off two months ago. Only two of the five teams to beat the Seahawks finished with a winning record, and only one even made the playoffs. It seems that the trend of slow starts followed by an explosive finish has reversed itself. Currently, this team looks closer to the beginning of the 2015 edition rather than 2013, 2014 or maybe even the 2012 squad. What happened? A few theories:

1.) Management’s experiment on the offensive line has failed spectacularly. The theory was that in order to keep the core of the defense intact, they could go cheap at offensive line by finding raw and inexpensive talent regardless of their knowledge or skill at the position. Through coaching alone, Seattle believed they could field a young unit that could keep Wilson upright and open lanes for the backs. This is easily the worst line in all of football, anyone who says differently has never watched a Seahawks game. Even though Coach Tom Cable’s specialty is in developing a run-blocking unit, the Seahawks rank in the bottom third of the League in rushing. A far cry from being a top three unit in 2012, ‘13 and ‘14. Each season the line somehow manages to get worse, leaving the 12’s longing for the previous year’s line. Almost every game the network broadcasting the Seattle game always brings up the statistic that in 2013, the Super Bowl year, the Seahawks had the highest paid line in the NFL at $28 million for the whole group. It wasn’t even great then, but it is certainly superior to what is on the field today. Now, Seattle spends only $6 million on the line, easily the lowest in the league. The second lowest paid line is at $12 million. You clearly get what you pay for.

2.) Offensive coaching. Yup, it’s time for another “lets-bash-on-Darrell-Bevell” moment, but he’s worth it. How Bevell is still employed is beyond me. His approach to the offense is rudimentary, something akin to what you might see for a high school team. The one bit of consistency is that the Seahawks offense is at its best when they are in an up-tempo, quick passing style. For whatever reason, they never start with that to build an early lead. They seem to only break it out when they’ve succumbed to yet another slow start and need to score in a hurry. For a second consecutive week, the Seahawks found themselves down 14-3 to a division rival that won’t be playing playoff football. They also were down 14-3 against the Packers. If it weren’t for three fumbles from the 49ers, Seattle might have been buried in that game too. The Seahawks find themselves starting slow far too often early in games, against quality opponents it is their undoing. That is firmly on coaching.

3.) No Earl Thomas. It is painfully evident that a little bit of the Boom from the Legion has been lost ever since Earl Thomas broke his leg. During this stretch without him, two quarterbacks intentionally tested the safeties deep. Jared Goff and Carson Palmer. If the rookie Goff could deliver accurately down field, or had receivers who could catch, the 24-3 blowout might have looked a little differently. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, Carson Palmer could and did throw deep to receivers who could and did catch. Palmer led the offense to 34 points on Christmas Eve. Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger are salivating at the opportunity to test this defense.

4.) The culture. Pete Carroll is an excellent coach, and his player-friendly approach has generated incredible success. However, the Seahawks do not feel like a cohesive unit. They feel loose, unfocused and undisciplined. Maybe that is on the culture that has been created. We have seen players openly criticizing the coaching staff, and we saw two players having to be held back from each other on the sideline because they became too emotional. Perhaps this strategy needs to be reassessed in the coming offseason.

The optimist in me is still holding out hope that Seattle finds themselves, and that the team who beat New England still exists somewhere. The realist in me could very well be mistaken for a pessimist. The road ahead for the Seahawks is arduous. Had Seattle earned a first round bye, I could easily see a Super Bowl appearance. It would have only taken one win to make it to the NFC title game. I believe that the Seahawks have the personnel to beat the Cowboys had they made it to Dallas, and I believe they could have won another home NFC Championship. Now they have to win two back-to-back road games, something they were incapable of doing this season. Seattle earned a dismal 3-4-1 road record, no team has ever won a Super Bowl with a losing record away from home. Seattle would also have to find some consistency to string together three straight wins to reach Super Bowl LI. Given the fact that they finished the season only winning every other game, that also seems unlikely as of right now. The Seahawks should be thankful they drew the 9-7 Lions in the first round, because if it weren’t for them Seattle would easily be considered the weakest team in the NFC. What other team is truly scared of the Seahawks? I know the Packers are eager to gain a couple more lucky tipped interceptions from Russell Wilson, and the Falcons are praying for a revenge-filled rematch.

Looking Ahead – The Seahawks play this Saturday night against the 6^th seed Detroit Lions. Once upon a time the Lions were 9-4 and looked line one of the top tier squads in the NFC. They blew their shot at a first round bye, a home playoff game, and their first division title since 1993 by losing their final three games. A win would create a rematch against the Falcons at the Georgia Dome. Even though the Seahawks should be considered the favorite, and have won ten straight home playoff games, I would advise holding off on buying Delta tickets for Atlanta just yet. Last year it took a goal line fumble for the Seahawks to escape with a 13-10 victory over the winless Lions. Detroit has a lethal pass rush, and was able to sack Russell Wilson 6 times last year. Two of those sacks resulted in fumbles, one for a touchdown.

I’m not saying it is impossible for the Seahawks, but to reach a Super Bowl it will take a monumental effort. An effort I’m not so sure Seattle is capable of creating as of right now. Although, crazier things have happened in the NFL. It all depends on what Seattle team shows up.