RENTON — The Seattle Seahawks have become rooted in being average.
This was the season Seattle expected to become more of a threat in the NFC West. The Seahawks believed they made enough moves in the offseason and their talent was to the point that they could close the gap with San Francisco in the division.
Instead, the Seahawks finished in third place at 9-8, missed the playoffs for the second time in three years and spent part of locker clean-out on Monday explaining why they were smoking cigars in the locker room after Sunday’s 21-20 win over Arizona despite being eliminated from the postseason.
The cigars were a minor blip and ultimately an innocent gesture in celebration of Pro Bowl safety Julian Love becoming a father.
“That was the last moment I can be with everyone that’s guaranteed. Everyone’s on flights. It turns over pretty quickly. I just wanted to clear it up,” Love said Monday.
But there were bigger issues for this group of Seahawks — the run game and run defense specifically — in a season that could have turned out much worse.
