Blanchette: Seahawks’ desperation converts to excitement

SEATTLE – Has failure spoiled the Seattle Seahawks?

Hardly.

America may have written them off – gleefully, if prematurely – but there is no sense that their self-esteem has suffered. Doug Baldwin might have gone a month earlier this season without catching a touchdown pass, but his old pal Richard Sherman is still blustering that “people are finally starting to notice how good of a receiver he is.” And even a relative nobody like defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin, reacting to the thrill of his rare fat-guy interception of a quarterbacking legend like Ben Roethlisberger, can’t help but get caught up in the swagger.

“That guy deserves to get picked,” Rubin said.

OK, maybe something was lost in the translation.

But there is this: The potholes and pratfalls that left the Seahawks to scramble out of the NFL’s discard pile may have actually made them more fun.

Entertainments rarely come along more satisfying than Seattle’s 39-30 wingding over the Pittsburgh Steelers – seven lead changes, nearly 1,000 yards, fake field goals turning into exploding cigars, near-abandonment of the PAT kick and four touchdowns in the fourth quarter, a couple covering the length of Lincoln County. It didn’t get NFC championship-level seismic at CenturyLink Field, but the press box moved, if not the earth.

And, yes, there was even a little humility.

“Being above .500 for once,” said Baldwin, “is a relief.”

Above .500. Quite the goal.

As it happens, only one team – Green Bay – perches above the Seahawks in the NFC wild-card tree. And though there be dragons ahead – Minnesota next week, Arizona after New Year’s – at least the Seahawks have manufactured a little momentum.

“We definitely feel it’s happening,” said coach Pete Carroll – who, of course, nearly always feels that way.

But what’s happened mostly in the last two weeks is the rebirth of Russell Wilson – a rediscovery of the kind of play that made him a rich man in the offseason. In victories over the 49ers and Steelers, Wilson has completed 45 of 59 passes for 605 yards and eight touchdowns – a 147.9 rating, or well above the good-beat-easy-to-dance-to standard on the old “American Bandstand.”

In this one, Wilson even managed more TD passes (five) than IVs on sideline (three) to combat the flu (his diagnosis) or “the sniffles” (Baldwin’s call).

“You could see in his eyes he had the killer instinct – ‘I am going to go out there and do what I’ve got to do,’ ” Baldwin said. “That’s Russell Wilson. Whenever his back is against the wall is when he plays his best.”

Angry Doug wasn’t too bad himself – a career-high 145-yard, three-touchdown day, including the 80-yard clincher that included snagging a low, early delivery from Wilson and a Beast-style stiff-arm. That was the last of five – five – conversions on third-and-10 or longer for Seattle (”Crazy,” said Carroll).

“When you’re third-and-10-plus, multiple times, you can’t check out,” Wilson said. “You have to believe that you can make the first down and find a way.”

Often as not this season, the Seahawks have found a way to lose – whether via the fourth-quarter defensive meltdown, or the diesel offense running on regular unleaded.

Two weeks ago, as the Seahawks were frittering away a potential season-turner against Arizona, running back Marshawn Lynch – soon to be sidelined with a hernia – absorbed a couple of three-and-outs and gathered the offense together on the sideline.

“First time he’s done this in public, so to speak,” Baldwin recalled, “and he told us we were real ‘unfamiliar’ – that he didn’t recognize this offense or the players.

“That really bothered me. So before the 49ers game I went back and watched the NFL championship game three years ago. And we did look unfamiliar. We’ve got the same guys in the room, and guys like Jimmy Graham who’re supposed to come in and make us better. Why are we looking so unfamiliar?”

His conclusion was some mumbo-jumbo about not “playing Seahawks football” and “having fun,” but he was moved to address the team before the 49ers game. More tangibly, the changes Sunday were improved play from the maligned offensive line, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell seemingly liberated from managing touches with Lynch out and Wilson’s lights-out play. It was the first Seattle win in his time over an opponent scoring more than 24 points.

The report card was hardly all smileys. Graham’s season came to an end with a patellar tendon injury on a pass to the end zone. And the proud defense surrendered a franchise-worst 456 yards passing – but after becoming the Legion of Break in the fourth quarter this season, they at least improved to the Legion of Bend and even the Legion of Takeaway, turning over the Steelers four times.

And the Seahawks needed every one of them just to peek over the .500 mark.

Who would have thought it would rival the view from Mt. Rainier?