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All together now ... throw the slant, Bill.

SEATTLE – When Bill Belichick replaced Pete Carroll as head coach in New England 20 years ago, neither could have guessed two decades later they’d be viewed as two of the better coaches during that span.

SEATTLE – Nights like this built CenturyLink Field’s reputation as one of the NFL’s loudest and most hostile environments, when 67,000 rabid fans would huddle in tight for a game such as the prime-time showdown between the Seahawks and New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football.

Imagine a man bench-pressing 1,000 pounds at an LA Fitness, but all the members care about is the dude running eight-minute miles on the treadmill. Picture Whitney Houston giving her iconic “Star Spangled Banner” performance at the Super Bowl, and in the immediate aftermath, all people want to know about is the violinists.

Season openers in the Pete Carroll era have rarely been comfortable for the Seattle Seahawks – they’d lost three of their past five before Sunday.

SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks’ new season is dawning with an air of mystery surrounding it – more so than even the typical opener.

K.J. Wright might be one of the biggest surprises in Seattle’s starting lineup for Sunday’s opener against Atlanta, which is saying something considering he’s currently the longest-tenured Seahawks player and about to begin his 10th NFL season.

ATLANTA – The offseason program was virtual. There were no preseason games to work out the kinks or gauge the opposition. Any familiarity will be welcomed in Week 1 of the NFL season.

RENTON, Wash. – While football was the primary focus of their offseason workouts, DK Metcalf picked up a new skill during his time hanging out with Russell Wilson.

One of those narrow moral contexts in which the ends truly do justify the means is the building of a football team.

If not an insult, it was at least an indignity – not that Pete Carroll would necessarily cop to personalizing it in such a way.