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The Seahawks survived the stomach punch in Sunday’s opening minutes against the Carolina Panthers, took the contest a full 12 rounds, and in the end came up just short. After an emotional win last week against the Minnesota Vikings (a game Seattle shouldn’t have won), it feels okay to lose.  

Sort of. 

The season is over. The team as we know it will be different next year. There are already rumors that Marshawn Lynch has played his last game with the team. Other questions remain: Will the offense or defensive lines incur significant change? What’s Jimmy Graham’s future? Can Thomas Rawls and Tyler Lockett continue their ascension? 

Now that it’s the off season, the team can begin to focus on those questions. And it’s likely their answers will resemble the same philosophy and eye for talent the team has showed in this four-year run. 

All season the team carried itself with resiliency. Yes, they lost games in the 4th quarter, but the fact they were in all those games and hung on all season to make the playoffs, continued to prove what the ‘Hawks have that maybe no other team has: an undying passion to play football for each other. They never gave up. 

Down 31 points on the road, thousands of miles from home against the no. 1 seed, they came back to within a score, one possession, one fingertip grab by a special teams player to tie the game and force overtime. It would have been another historic moment in a string of them for the Seahawks. 

That’s what makes it okay to lose… sort of. The team exhibited the valiance it has made its name on. And with many excellent veterans, budding stars, stability at the coaching staff and the premier play of quarterback Russell Wilson, there is a lot to look forward to next season.