Hawks-Bears recap: Am I okay?

Within minutes of the final outcome Sunday afternoon, I received this text from my girlfriend:

“Are you okay?”

Normally, I take Seattle sports losses pretty hard. When the Seahawks lose on Sundays, it usually ruins my day and sours my week. Then on Friday and Saturday I start building up hope that the Seahawks will finally prove my unwavering support is worth the heartache, and that my wish for a win-streak-inducing victory will come true.

The late, great Dave Neihaus was once asked how he managed to come to work every day with a smile on his face while the Mariners suffered through horrendous season after horrendous season. Neihaus, the diehard baseball enthusiast, said that each day he believed the Mariners were going to kick-start their season and turn the horrible losses into wonderful wins.

No matter how horrible the Seahawks performed on any given Sunday they always had a chance at redemption seven days later.

As I pondered my response to the ‘Are you okay?’ text message, I noticed something odd. I wasn’t mad and I wasn’t frustrated. I was, in fact, okay with the Seahawks loss to the Bears that ended this often-painful, yet somehow-glorious 2010-2011 season.

The Hawks were never supposed to be in this position. We weren’t supposed to win our division, let alone make the playoffs. And we definitely weren’t supposed to beat the Saints last weekend. Why then am I at peace after such a painful loss?

Because, compared to other teams’ fan bases this year, the Seahawks fans were treated to a five-course meal in a luxury hotel. Other fans were forced out of their rooms at the Four Seasons in the middle of the night and given nothing but room service leftovers to tide them over.

Not following? Let me explain.

This post season, the Seahawks won one more playoff game than the Saints and Colts (Super Bowl teams a year ago), the Patriots and Falcons (no. 1 seeds), and the Chiefs and Eagles (division winners, winning regular season records, hosted playoff games) combined. Entering the post season, Seahawks fans felt honored just to have a team to cheer for, while fans of these six one-and-done franchises watched their Super Bowl aspirations fall apart without a taste of playoff victory.

However, the pain of Sunday’s loss was numbed not just by last week’s victory over the Saints, but by the Seahawks performance in the second half and the ‘never-give-up’ attitude I saw from most of the players on the field.

Down 28-0 at halftime, the Hawks could have easily given up; thrown in the towel; raised the white flag in surrender to the Bears. Instead, the Hawks showed a resiliency I hadn’t seen all season; we never panicked. Hasselbeck, who proved to me he deserves one final year at the helm, didn’t force throws into triple-coverage just to try and make a play. He played a mistake-free game and actually had us in a position for a miraculous comeback late in the second half.

Late in the third quarter, many tweeting media-members mocked the Seahawks decision to kick a field goal, but not I. The Hawks needed points--needed to prove that they could put something on the scoreboard against the vaunted Bears defense. So the Hawks took the three points. Then, when the Hawks got the ball back, they marched down the field and put another seven on the board. Suddenly, they were attempting an onside kick with just over 11 minutes to play. Memories of Eagles-Giants from earlier this year started to creep into my head.

I could speak all day about the what-ifs in this game. What if Carlson didn’t get injured on the first drive? What if Babineaux came up with that second-quarter interception? What if our receivers didn’t drop crucial passes and Lawyer Milloy anticipated Greg Olsen’s third-and-two seam route? But, the biggest ‘what-if’ of them all: What if the Hawks had recovered that onside kick?

Three Seahawks had a chance at a recovery but all three whiffed. Had any of them recovered that kick, the Hawks would have been looking at a short field with an opportunity to turn this potential blow-out into a two-score game with plenty of time remaining. I know, playing the ‘what-if’ game is simply a way to drum up excuses to ease the pain of another defeat.

Yet, looking at the box score, the Seahawks scored 21 points in the fourth quarter. No matter what the deficit, the Seahawks kept fighting. If that Eagles-Giants game earlier this season proved anything, it’s that as long as there is time left on the clock, there is an opportunity for a comeback. Even as the final buzzer sounded, I was proud of my Seahawks for playing hard until the clock hit triple zeroes, no matter what adversity was thrown their way.

Sitting here, pondering the future for the Seahawks (if there even is an NFL season next year), I feel much better about the potential for success then I did a year ago. Hell, last year the Hawks had no coach, no general manager, had just wrapped up one of the worst seasons in franchise history and had a myriad of roster holes to fill.

This year, they’ve clearly found the coach and general manager to bring us back to the top of the NFC West and have slowly but surely started filling out their roster with quality, competitive players. Of the 283 roster moves made this year, none are bigger for the Seahawks’ future than the acquisitions of Leon Washington, Mike Williams and Marshawn Lynch. Now, all we need is for Pete Carroll to continue his roster-shaping magic so the Hawks can repeat as NFC West champs.

So, in response to my girlfriend’s question: Am I okay? Well, is Colt Luger gun-happy? The answer: of course. Besides, we are only 32 weeks away from the start of the 2011 NFL regular season.