There is no doubt that the Seattle Seahawks are the gem of the Emerald City. The “12’s” have shown their die hard support over the last ten years in which the Hawks have had six playoff appearances, two Super Bowl trips, and one World Championship. Since the Pete Carroll era began in Seattle, the team has gone 79-48-1, with 5 straight playoff appearances. Although, with the past success over the last decade, the Hawks have finally hit a slump after missing this year’s 2017-18 playoffs. The Seahawks finished with a 9-7 record, placing second in the NFC West. This was the first non-ten win season in the last five years.

Due to last season’s disappointing outcome, the Hawks Organization took action and fired now former offensive coordinator, offensive line coordinator, and defensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell, Tom Cable, and Kris Richards. Cable and Bevell have been with the team since 2011, and were a big part of the back to back Super Bowl appearances. Since Bevell has taken over as OC, the Hawks’ offense was ranked in the top ten in total offense only twice out of his seven seasons. During the other five, the offense was ranked in the bottom half of the league.

Since the Marshawn Lynch departure after the 2015 season, the hawks’ never found a reliable replacement for the one and only “beast mode.” During the 2012-2015 seasons, the seahawks placed no worse than fourth in rushing, but since Lynch’s absence the team has dropped to 25th in rushing in 2016 and 23rd in 2017.

Seattle has slightly lost their “run first” offensive mentality over the last couple of seasons, and have relied on Russell Wilson and the 6’6” tight-end Jimmy Graham, and Doug Baldwin to make big plays. Russell Wilson had a 2017 MVP candidate year and took some heat off of the struggling running game. He finished the season with 3983 yards passing with a league’s best 34 touchdowns, 16 of which were thrown in the fourth-quarter (new NFL record). Russell also lead the team with 586 rushing yards. This was the first time that he has lead the team in rushing in his career. He was the highlight of the Seahawks offense and gave them a true shot for the playoffs, despite the continued downfall.

With the offensive struggles occurring over the last few years, the Hawks’ defense has bailed them out numerous times and has ranked in the top ten every year since 2012. During the back to back Super Bowl seasons, the defense held the number one spot, and was considered one of the best defenses of all time.

Since the firing of three important coaches, the Seahawks organization didn’t take long to fill the open positions and hire new coaches. They have recently hired former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Brian Schottenheimer as offensive coordinator, and have brought back former linebacker coach Ken Norton Jr. as the defensive coordinator. To replace Tom Cable, the Hawks brought in veteran offensive line coach Mike Solari.

Hopefully, with new coaching staff and a new outlook of the organization, the Seahawks will move back in the right direction after detireating in record ever since the last Super Bowl appearance of 2014. Head Coach Pete Carroll and team owner Paul Allen have a lot of work to do this offseason, and seek to return the Hawks to super-power competitors. What could have been a Patriots-like organization has slowly fell into a inconsistent group. But as long as the 12th man flag is flying, the Seahawks will still have the best fans in the world. Go Hawks’!