Seattle Seahawks: 5 Reasons they can win Super Bowl 53
By Samuel Teets
The Seattle Seahawks have gone farther than most people anticipated before the season started. Now the team has a shot at the Super Bowl.
The Seattle Seahawks are long shots to win Super Bowl 53. That should be obvious. There are a couple of juggernauts standing in their way, mainly the New Orleans Saints or Los Angeles Rams, depending on how the games unfold this postseason.
The Chicago Bears shouldn’t be underestimated either, especially since their defense is so loaded with Pro Bowl caliber talent. That being said, the Seahawks drew the best matchup for Wild Card Weekend and have a couple factors working for them that might get the team to Atlanta in February.
The Seahawks have been an up and down team this year, but they’ve flashed some of their championship caliber qualities in games this season. If you’re not convinced, just look back at Weeks 3, 10, 14, and 16. Those games say a lot about this team. Seattle beat the Dallas Cowboys, who they play this week, almost kept pace with the Rams, squashed the Minnesota Vikings, and then outgunned the Kansas City Chiefs.
So, I have something to say to anyone writing off the Seahawks. Read this article, and then go back and take a good, long look at those games. I think you’ll realize just how much of a threat Seattle can be. But, if the Seahawks wants to compete for a championship this year, they’ll need to stay true to these factors that have got them this far.
Return of the run game
The last time the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl they led the league in rushing yards per game. Guess what they did this season? The Seahawks ran for an even 160 yards per game this season, which led the league. That’s slightly less than the 172.6 rushing yards per game the team averaged in 2014 when they led the league in rushing and went to Super Bowl XLIX.
Even so, this season’s mark beats out the 136.8 rushing yards per game the team posted in 2013, the season they won the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
The Seahawks have a recent history of winning when they run the ball well. The team was never the same when Marshawn Lynch retired following an injury-marred the 2015 season. Lynch was the quiet heart of the Seahawks. The team needed him because he was their key to success. It was Lynch’s running that allowed Russell Wilson to develop as a quarterback and have room for mistakes. And it was not running the ball with Lynch that cost Seattle Super Bowl XLIX.
When Seattle doesn’t run the ball well, they struggle. Just look back at last season when the team ran for just 101.8 yards per game. That number meant the team finished 23rd in rushing. The Seahawks also only ran for four touchdowns in 2017, which was tied for the lowest number in the league.
The team missed the playoffs for the first time in years and the whole organization was going through a period of change and potential upheaval. A year later, the run game has returned and writers are claiming this is Pete Carroll‘s best coaching job ever.
Hopefully, Carroll has learned that when the team needs a yard or two the ball should be in the hands of the running back. Chris Carson, Mike Davis, and Rashaad Penny will determine how successful the Seahawks will be this postseason, and I’m betting the best triple-threat backfield in football is up to the challenge.