Since the Seattle Seahawks are about to go to their 2nd straight Superbowl, I found it fitting to post my College English essay final I wrote in the 2013-2014 pre-season. Since then, we have gone to back to back Super Bowls having won one and seeking another. Its safe to say my paper is proving its worth! Its also worth mentioning my lifelong Seattle sports fan professor gave me 100%, making him a true Seahawks fan! #GoHawks #Repete #Dynasty #NoTime2Sleep #EmeraldCity Seattle Seahawks, The Next Great NFL Dynasty In the NFL there are a total of 32 teams. To have a winning football team, you must have either a high-scoring offense, tenacious defense, or an excellent head coach that motivates through strategic schemes. To have all of these key parts into one football organization, while rare, can result in consistent wins and even hoisting up the coveted Lombardy Trophy after winning the super bowl. There have been many powerhouse dynasty teams throughout NFL history: Chuck Noll’s Steelers in the 70’s, Bill Walsh’s 49ers in the 80’s, Jimmie Johnson’s Cowboys in the 90’s, and Bill Belichick’s Patriots in the 2000’s. While they all had their own recipes to success, they all had one thing in common, and that was a relentless pursuit of being the best team every given Sunday. There is more to an NFL organization than what casual fans see on Sunday afternoons. It all starts with the owner, who is the majority share owner of the particular team. He appoints many people to run his franchise that includes a Team President, CEO, and many other board members at the top of the pedestal. From there, the owner hires a General Manager. The GM is one of the most important people on the team, because he literally builds the team through signings, trades, and the NFL draft. The GM is also the one that hires the head coach as well as all of the other assistant coaches. To have a great team, one must have an excellent roster of NFL players at all positions. It doesn’t end with the team however, as fan support is huge. Selling out games every week gives the team more money to buy state of the art facilities, greater medical advancements, and gives the players extra motivation knowing the city has their back in every Sunday battle. Of all the current NFL teams, The Seattle Seahawks are the best. They are the team most likely to dominate the next decade due to great coaching, personal, and fan support. The Seahawks dominate in every aspect of Football and are the key favorites to not only win the Super Bowl this year, but to maintain success for the future as well. They have 11 pro bowl players all under the age of 30 this season (Bleacherreport). While being just the 4th youngest team in the NFL, all other teams that young are still in their rebuilding process (Bleacherreport). Most NFL teams have one, if not a few, key players that are “the face of the franchise”. The Seattle Seahawks however, have an entire team that could have that label. It all starts with their poised, young, quarterback in Russell Wilson. In only his second season, he leads the team with his extreme work-ethic that far exceeds even the veteran quarterbacks in the league. You then have depth at the running back position, highlighted around the relentless running style by “Beast Mode”, Marshawn Lynch, with starting caliber backups Robert Turbin and Christine Michael. The receiving core is one of the deepest in the league, with the core of Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, and All-Pro Percy Harvin. The offensive line is the weakest part of the team, and it boasts Pro Bowl Tackle Russell Okung and All-Pro Center Max Unger. Where the Seahawks dominate the most however, is on the defensive side of the ball. Their Defensive Line is so deep it has 7 players that all could be starting for another NFL team. With this, Seattle has versatility in any situation. They can stuff the run with Red Bryant, Brandon Mebane, and Tony McDaniel, or unleash Chris Clemons, Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, and Bruce Irvin to rush the passer. Next up is the linebackers. Middle Linebacker Bobby Wagner finished 2nd in the Defensive Rookie of the Year award last year, while they also have underrated, promising outside linebackers K.J. Wright and Malcolm Smith. The biggest strength of the team is their secondary, which without a doubt is the best in the entire NFL. They are nicknamed “The Legion of Boom”, because of their hard hitting capabilities and overall prowess. Consisting of All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, All-Pro Free Safety Earl Thomas, and Pro Bowlers cornerback Brandon Browner and strong safety Kam Chancellor, this elite core will simply shut the passing game down. It’s also no use throwing to our nicklebacks Walter Thurmond and Byron Maxwell, considering they could start on all 31 other NFL teams. To round out the team you have punter Jon Ryan and Kicker Steven Hauschka, who are both above average for their position in the league. To coach all of this talent is arguably the most positive motivation-based head coach Pete Carroll. Carroll formerly found success at USC, before having NFL head coaching stints with the Patriots and Jets (Bleacherreport). The man credited with building this incredible team is the Seattle Seahawks General Manager John Schneider, who in 2010 was hired by Owner Paul Allen, who built the team from the ground up executing great signing after signing through the draft, and free-agency. Last season, the Seattle Seahawks finished 11-5 in Russell Wilson’s rookie season. He was able to compile 26 passing touchdowns (which tied the NFL rookie record record) while only throwing 10 interceptions (Grantland). The first 5 games into the season, Carroll made sure Wilson had an easy transition into the league, by not giving Russell many chances to throw the ball deep. However, when opening up the playbook in the rest of the way Wilson had a 24:5 touchdown to interception ratio (Grantland). Seattle also allowed the fewest points in the league last year with only 245 the entire year (Bleacherreport). After a convincing come from behind victory of the Redskins in the Wildcard playoff round, The Seahawks fell to the Atlanta Falcons as time expired to end their season in the Divisional playoff matchup. This season being even better, the Seahawks added versatile all-pro receiver Percy Harvin to the mix by trade with the Minnesota Vikings, as well as signing additional pass rushers Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett from free agency (Bleacherreport). With expectations very high for this team, they are currently 10-1 so far into the season, and the number 1 seed in the NFC (Pro-Football-Reference). Their offense output has improved from averaging 25.8 points per game last year (8th in the NFL) to 27.8 per game this year (4th in the NFL) (Pro-Football-Reference). They are still yet to lose at home since Russell Wilson had burst onto the scene for the Seahawks, which is why locking up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs will be crucial for a Super Bowl berth (Bleacherreport). This season, Wilson had put up 19 touchdowns to only 6 interceptions so far (Pro-Football-Reference). After compiling 1500+ yards rushing last season, Lynch is in full “Beast mode” this season already having 9 touchdowns through only 11 games. A key note to mention is that new all-pro receiver Percy Harvin has been hurt all of this season, and has just now even joined the starting unit! With Earl Thomas already combing for 8 interceptions this season, the Seahawks are currently 1st in interceptions in the entire NFL (Pro-Football-Reference). The Seahawks also have key victories this season already over the Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers, and Arizona Cardinals, who are all in the NFC playoff picture. Their lone loss this season was to the Indianapolis Colts, which was only by 6 points (Pro-Football-Reference). Seattle has by far the best chance at not only winning the super bowl this year, but also in the future as well. Some may argue that other teams are just as well-built as the Seattle Seahawks. The New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers, and New Orleans Saints are just some of the teams that could make a claim for this. They all have built their own teams that have maintained a level of consistency winning in their own programs. All of these teams have great quarterbacks. Future Hall of Famers Tom Brady for New England, Peyton Manning for Denver, and Drew Brees for New Orleans, all have had record breaking careers while San Francisco has promising 3rd year pro Colin Kaepernick slinging the ball. All of the aforementioned teams also have great NFL coaches leading their squads. Bill Belichick for the Patriots has been to 5 SuperBowls in the last 11 years, while winning 3 of them. The Broncos and Saints have experienced head coaches in John Fox and Sean Payton. The 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has had success at the college level at Stanford, which has translated to the pros leading San Francisco to the NFC championship and SuperBowl in his first 2 years. While all of the other teams mentioned run great organizations, they still have flaws that the Seattle Seahawks just don’t have. For example, The New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady is on the downside of his career, and is expected to retire in the not so distant future. The same goes for Peyton Manning of the Broncos, who just came off of neck surgery that sidelined him a full season just 2 years ago. The New Orleans Saints Drew Brees is already 34 years old and is also on the downside of his career (Bleacherreport). Colin Kaepernick of the 49ers is still young and has struggled as a passer having to actually lead his team to a victory himself. The Seattle Seahawks are the most complete, well-rounded team in the NFL. With the players, coaches, and fans that they have, the sky is the limit for this team. The Emerald City boasts the team with the best chance at long-term success as well and from top to bottom have overwhelming talent. The only team that can stand in the Seahawks way is in their reflection as they should be able to carve their name into the history books as the next great NFL dynasty.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 03:27:40 +0000
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