Whether or not their devastating loss in the Super Bowl has left a mental scar, the Seattle Seahawks have had a flat start to the season.
The two-time NFC champions sit winless at 0-2 after their 27-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, looking unlike the team that reached the Super Bowl the past two years.
After entering the season as a title contender, the Seahawks will now be challenged to climb out of the hole and reach the playoffs.
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Teams that have started 0-2 since 1990 have gone on to reach the postseason just 12 per cent of the time, compared to 41 per cent for 1-1 teams and 63 per cent for 2-0 teams.
Seattle’s troubling start will only add pressure, but that’s something they also dealt with in 2014, when they reeled off nine wins in their
final 10 games following a pedestrian 3-3 record.
Seattle’s result against Green Bay marked the first double-digit loss in 58 games with Russell Wilson at quarterback, but it came at the hands of a Packers team that won all nine of their contests at home last season under Aaron Rodgers, who has now thrown 545 pass attempts at Lambeau without an interception.
Kam Chancellor’s absence in the lineup hasn’t helped the cause, with the Pro Bowl safety holding out over a contract dispute.
Despite stumbling out of the gates and heading into their home opener next week without a win, the Seahawks aren’t planning to back down and negotiate with Chancellor, who’s forfeiting upwards of $267,000 (Dh980,517) per week by sitting out.
A bounce-back game could be in store for Seattle in Week 3, however, when they host the Chicago Bears, who are winless themselves.
“It’s nothing to panic about,” wide receiver Doug Baldwin said. “The mistakes that we’re making are easily correctable.”
“It’s not like we need new personnel or it’s something that needs to be revamped completely. This team is the most resilient team that I’ve ever been a part of. We’ve been through adversity before, and we’ve overcome it.”
