Sunday, December 26, 2010

SEAHAWKS: All in, 12th man

I'm not here to tell you how the Seahawks lost on Sunday. You probably already got that from the Seattle Times or some other mainstream news source. There's no point of me explaining how the Seahawks got beat in every phase of the game in a 38-15 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers if you already know. I'm writing for one reason.

To rally the troops.

The Seahawks are battered emotionally and physically. If you looked closely, you could see the Hawks' players walking off the field with their heads down. The energy wasn't there. No spark. The Seahawks just went through the motions of all of their losses, which is have energy early, but then for some reason get down on themselves when they start to lose. This team is just not built to come from behind.

To Continue...

People have been ratting on Matt Hasselbeck lately for his turnovers and bad play. I'm not here to tell you that he is still the answer, because he's not. He doesn't fit in with Pete Carroll's system, which requires the quarterback to throw it deep routinely... not exactly Hasselbeck's strength. This could be Matt's last year with his contract being up, which is good news to some fans.

The debate on whether Matt should be playing quarterback of the Seahawks has been the hottest debate among fans the last two seasons. Some argue he is too old and worn down, while some argue he still has a couple good years left. This argument has torn Seahawks fans apart, as evident by half the fans at Quest Field cheering when Hasselbeck was benched during the second half of the Falcons game a week ago.

Hasselbeck was replaced by Charlie Whitehurst when benched, and after Charlie made a couple good plays, the Quest Field crowd started chanting "CHAR-LIE!! CHAR-LIE!!!" By what I've seen, Whitehurst isn't even close to being at the level of a NFL starter. Hasselbeck still gives us the best chance to win, even if he's not the long term answer at this point.

But, as Seahawks fans, we can't let this quarterback debate tear us apart. We are Seahawks fans, not Whitehurst fans, nor Hasselbeck fans. The upcoming game against the Rams will determine the NFC West title. The game will be on National Television, and will be a rare chance for us to show how ear deafening we can truly be.

If we are split up in our Hasselbeck and Whitehurst camps, we won't be able to cheer as loud. At least for one game, all fans need to shove away their differences to give 100% support to the team, not individual players.

This team needs us, and we can't let them down. The Seahawks theme this year is "Earn Everything", and it's time for the 12th man to earn it's name.

All in, 12th man.

Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com