Vision Board: Sea(son) Finale
Seahawks-Cardinals vision board predictions: Seaside Joe 1770
The Seahawks play the Cardinals in Week 18. If they win and the Packers lose to the Bears, Seattle will face the winner of the NFC East in the wild card game. If the Seahawks lose, there will be no bonus scenes for this season.
For the last time in the regular season at least, here’s the vision board.
In last week’s vision board against the Steelers, I requested:
-Zach Charbonnet touchdown
-Geno Smith 75%, no turnovers, 110 rating
-Seahawks win penalty battle
Charbonnet had two carries, two yards, no touchdowns, but did have 39 receiving yards. Geno Smith lost a fumble, had a rating of 106.9 and went 23 of 33, so just under 70%. The Seahawks didn’t do too bad on penalties, four for 23 yards, but Pittsburgh had two for 10.
A rarity for the vision boards: 0-of-3. Fitting given the impact that the loss had on Seattle’s season.
Season Total: 22/48
So I need to go 3-of-3 to fall just under 50% on the year.
The Seahawks enter the regular season finale. Movies don’t have season or series finales like TV shows, but I think we can find clips that work for this week’s vision board focusing on “finale” scenes.
Walker to Walker
For reasons intended and unintended by the Fast and Furious franchise, I’ll never forget Paul Walker’s final scene.
Is it possible that another Walker could give us an ending to remember?
The Vision: Ken Walker III has 100 rushing yards, 2 TD
Ken Walker needs 173 rushing yards to get to 1,000, so we can probably rule out him eclipsing his rookie mark of 1,050. What he could do is score more touchdowns (he has 9 in each season) and he might get more yards from scrimmage if he adds 133 to his season total.
I think he can get there.
Though I am more worried about what James Conner is going to do to the Seahawks run defense, I’m hopeful that Walker saved the best for last; his only 100-yard rushing game this season came against the Cardinals in Week 7.
Arizona is 32nd in the NFL in rushing yards allowed.
Walker’s career-high is 167 yards, which he had against the Chargers last year. He’s had 97, 105, and 109 rushing yards in his three career games against the Cardinals. The opportunity is there to take it, so I hope to see the best of Ken Walker III when I see him again.
When I see you again (yeah, uh)
See you again (yeah, yeah, yeah)
When I see you again
Monty McFly
Part of the reason that the Back to the Future trilogy is so highly regarded is probably the willingness of the creators to stop at part 3 and ironically, to never look back. Michael J. Fox isn’t interested, creators/rights owners Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and Steven Spielberg won’t sign off on a reboot, remake, or sequel.
Said Gale, in one of the least-Hollywood quotes of all-time:
“As I’ve said many times, the characters in Back to the Future are my family, my children. You don’t sell your kids into prostitution.”
Whether you like the Back to the Future movies or not, you have to admit there’s something compelling about the rare sight of integrity when it comes to resisting the temptation to run a film franchise into the ground a million times over.
These days, even Marvel is finding out that you can dump an unprecedented amount of money into the franchise and not get the returns you expected.
Did somebody say Dre’Mont Jones?
The Vision: Dre’Mont Jones has 2 sacks
It’s been an okay first season for Jones after he signed a deal worth $17 million per year, but certainly things got better after the addition of Leonard Williams at the trade deadline. Jones has added two sacks to his resume in the last four games.
However, it is unlikely he’ll match the 6.5 sacks he had in 2022 with the Broncos (Jones has 4.5 now) and at this point Seattle’s mission is to re-sign Williams and see who else they can add to the defensive line in 2024. With Jones, Williams, Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, Cameron Young to begin, the future looks much brighter than the past.
Kyler Murray is not easy to sack, but he does have six fumbles in the last four games.
By the way…If you didn’t notice it, you gotta see it.
Return of the King (Pete Carroll)
Well, I wanted to embed a video here from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, but apparently they’re far more protective than any other production company in the world because in the entire time I’ve done the vision board series I’ve never gotten the “content blocked” message with literally any scene from the movie.
It’s only fitting that Return of the King has roughly 18 ending scenes; denouement? More like de-”no more!”, Peter Jackson.
Speaking of Peters, let’s see what we can do to make sure that Peter Carroll’s last game as the Seahawks head coach isn’t a loss to the Cardinals. I’m NOT saying that this is Carroll’s last game, only pointing out that it could be Seattle’s last game of the year and that Carroll’s future isn’t cut in stone.
In 226 regular season games as the Seahawks head coach, Carroll has made sure that Seattle has only been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in THREE of those contests. Even in three years with the Patriots, New England made the playoffs twice and unless I’m mistaken not eliminated until Week 16 in his final year. (After starting 6-2 in 1999, the Patriots lost six of the last eight and Carroll was fired. Seattle started 6-3 and a loss would mean the Seahawks had dropped six of the last eight.)
There is more on the line than staying alive for the playoffs.
Carroll could his 11th winning season with the Seahawks. He could tie Mike Shanahan and Tom Coughlin with 170 career wins for 14th most of all-time. The Seahawks need to avoid going 1-5 in the division, to prove that they’re not as bad of a road team as they’ve been lately, and most of all that a Pete Carroll team plays hard, physical, and fast.
Then fans can start to believe again that a Carroll Seahawks team can still be Sauron soarin’.
The Vision: Pete Carroll doesn’t lose to the Cardinals as a Seahawks career finale
In the history of the vision board, I’ve never asked the universe for a win. Some fans would argue that this is the WORST possible time to put a Seahawks win on the vision board. As I wrote on Friday, Seattle could win and miss the playoffs…which is not what I’m rooting for, but could be for the best.
Add your visions this week in the comments:
My vision is that Seaside Joe & Community continues upon a positive arc for quite some time.
The Seattle Seahawks continue to improve as a team 'n stay healthier for several years in the future.
My vision is that Tre Brown's heel settles down and that Jordan Brooks is able to play. If Devin Bush plays, the sixth-best ground game in the league -- the one that rushed for 234 yards against the 49ers -- will go at the Seahawk left hammer-and-tongs, just as Pittsburgh did. In the air, Kyler Murray and Trey McBride will pick on Jackson relentlessly.
Offense...no Abe Lucas and Charles Cross not at full strength...Let's hope that Evan Brown clears concussion protocol.
This is shaping up as a long game, although the idea circulating that Pete Carroll is coaching for his job is off-base. Any coach--I don't care if it's Vince Lombardi--can only do so much when the roster is exposed at two entire position groups.