What if Seahawks Fans Stop Thinking "What If?"

Paul Taylor — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:02:49 -0500

Seahawks fans will be in a good mood this week for a change, something that hasn’t happened nearly enough this season.

With a road win at the sixth attempt, supporters are still holding out hope of a run at a .500 record with five games to go.

Combined with the last-second loss by the Arizona Cardinals, people have even started to play that well known game of "what if?"

What if Olindo Mare hadn’t missed his only two field goals of the season against Chicago?

What if Seattle hadn’t continually stalled once they got to the Bears 30-yard line?

What if the team hadn’t gone flat after building a 14-0 lead against the Cardinals in Arizona?

What if they hadn’t had to settle for a field goal after a first down at the Cardinals one-yard line in the fourth quarter?

(We could go on all day with the "what if's." What if Matt Hasselbeck hadn’t been injured during these last two seasons? What if Walter Jones was fit? What if Tim Ruskell had left instead of Mike Holmgren? What if Steve Hutchinson hadn’t accepted the "poison pill?" You get the idea.)

Suddenly, the team from the Emerald City could potentially be level with Arizona at 6-5, heading into the home stretch.

Don’t get me wrong, this would be a welcome scenario in most cases. However, on this occasion it would have masked the problems within the Seahawks organization and given a false impression of how far along the team was in their attempt to return to the Super Bowl.

This could have resulted in the team sitting back and not attempting to make the necessary moves to improve the franchise. Look no further than the rest of this season as evidence.

First, three of the four wins in 2009 have come against two of the worst teams in the NFL (Lions and Rams.) The only victory that carries any weight is the 41-0 beat down of a Jacksonville Jaguars team (6-5) in the middle of the playoff hunt.

Second, and more importantly, look to the losses, especially those against teams in the upper echelon of the league. The results against Indianapolis, Dallas, and Minnesota were particularly disturbing.

Anyone thinking "come on, they’re three of the best teams in the entire NFL," that is exactly the point. The fact that they got severely embarrassed in each of these three games shows how much work still has to be done before Seattle can be in a position to challenge the top teams in the league.

In fact, the final scores would have been even worse if the opposing teams hadn’t taken their foot off the pedal and put their back-ups into the game, allowing Seattle to add points in garbage time.

Although we want the Seahawks to win, in a bizarre kind of way, it might be better if they don’t win too many more games.

As we all know, the team needs strengthening in certain areas (offensive line, running back, secondary, etc.) and one thing that would help is a high draft pick. Combine this with the hope of a dramatic collapse by the Denver Broncos, and the Seahawks could have two picks in the top half of the first round.

It may take more than a couple of high draft picks to turn this thing around (a healthy roster for a whole season would be nice), but at least it would be a good start.

Rest assured though, the team will get this thing turned around. It's just a question of when.

Read more Matt Hasselbeck news on BleacherReport.com

Bleacher Report - Matt Hasselbeck

What if Seahawks Fans Stop Thinking "What If?"