A year after going 12-4, the Seahawks stand at 3-6. And the 8-2 Cardinals are coming to town.
On Thursday, reporters asked quarterback Russell Wilson about the level of urgency in the locker room to avoid falling to 3-7.
“I think the urgency is high,” Wilson said. “I think the urgency is high, but it’s also poised. At the end of the day, you play one game at a time. You match up, you get ready to roll. You can’t worry about anything else. Tomorrow is going to come, and you’ve just got to focus on today. I think the best thing we can do is just continue to grow as players, continue to grow as a team, continue to grow in the midst of the little things, and then just focus on the fundamentals throughout the game, throughout the week, and just do that. The rest will handle itself.
“We have great confidence, a lot of great players. If we can make all three parts click at the same time. Sometimes we’re on, on offense in the first quarter maybe and off in the second or vice versa. Defense has been rolling the past few weeks. If we can marry all that up together, special teams has been doing really good throughout the year. We’ve got great players on that side of the ball. We can do it. We really believe that. We know what we’re capable of, now we’ve got to show it and make it happen. We can’t hope and wish, we’ve got to do. I think that’s the thing we’re looking forward to.”
NFL players thrive on confidence and optimism. But reality eventually sets in. The Seahawks have struggled more often than not this season, both without and with Wilson playing. It’s not over yet, but it’s getting closer. If they pick up a seventh loss on Sunday, they’ll be teetering closer on the brink of not returning to the postseason.
And then the question will become whether Wilson will once again look for a new place where he has a better chance of winning his second Super Bowl.