12 NFL teams who will be playoff contenders in 2015-16
By Will Osgood
2) Seattle Seahawks
We all remember the Seahawks coming up one questionable play call short of a second consecutive Super Bowl victory (MARSHAWN LYNCH AAAAAAARRRGHHH!!!).
Our second memory is probably of them looking like toast, surprisingly at home, in the NFC Championship Game only to pull a rabbit out of a hat and earn a spot in back-to-back Super Bowls.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with those being our preeminent memories of Pete Carroll’s team in 2014. They were, after all, among the most noteworthy moments of the entire season, no matter the team.
However, we can’t just limit ourselves to those two moments. After all, the ‘Hawks had another great regular season, and overcame a blazing hot start by NFC West rival Arizona Cardinals to capture the division crown. The “Legion of Boom” found its grip late in the year, and Marshawn Lynch looked like the best running back in the second half of the season.
To sum it all up, the ‘Hawks played the best football of any team late in the year. They went 7-1 at home, something which can easily be duplicated, if not bettered, by this year’s squad.
They added speedy wide receiver Tyler Lockett to help improve their quickness at the receiver position. But more importantly they added Jimmy Graham, thus giving them a go-to guy in the red zone and on possession downs (as long as Russell Wilson realizes the tight end requires a perfect pass and will not fight for the football). Graham’s presence alone will open more space for the Seahawks receivers.
There’s little reason to believe the defense will regress, even with the loss of Byron Maxwell to Philadelphia, as they added the somewhat underrated Cary Williams to play alongside Jeremy Lane and Tharold Simon in the secondary.
Once again the Hawks look to be among the best teams in the league. And they’ve proved the ability to handle such pressure in the last few years.
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