What do I think of the Seahawks?

Is Geno Smith capable of winning a playoff game this year? What about four in a row? Today on Seaside Joe 1354

If you don’t watch reality dating shows, let me pitch them to you like this: What you’re seeing in shows like Love is Blind is not two people falling in love. What I’m watching when I put on Love is Blind is two people going to extreme lengths for fame and clout.

Now that’s fascinating!

Many of you already know this, so excuse me for being the last to catch on to the real beauty of shows like the ones in The Bachelor universe or Love is Blind. Nathan Fielder did a much better job of exploring this concept on HBO’s The Rehearsal than I ever could, so I would suggest watching that whether you do or don’t watch reality TV.

“Reality in a nutshell” - The Rehearsal^^

But I also think that if you’re not watching reality TV, you’ve fallen out of touch with modern times; scripted comedies have such huge mountain to climbs these days if they want to match the hilarity of what “real people” will do for a taste of fame. Who wouldn’t want to miss out on their chance to be the next “Cash Me Outside” girl? Seems like such a great life…

SAY CHEESE! 👄🧀 @SaycheeseDGTL

BhadBhabie shows off her new look

If you’re not familiar with the concept of Netflix’s Love is Blind, here’s the short answer: Single people talk to each other through a wall for somewhere between a few days and a week and then some of them get engaged before ever seeing the other person so that they can move onto the next stage of the show, at which point they meet each other’s families and must decide by the end of the month (at the altar) if they want to get married. At a time when most people are waiting until they’re retired and living in Florida to get engaged and have kids, these TV whores are willing to say “I do” to a complete stranger while they’ve still got “I’m goin’ to the club” years left in them.

Seaside Jay and I have a handful of episodes left in season three of Love is Blind and without giving out any spoilers (and I pray, also not receiving any spoilers from you!) I’m enthralled watching these couples go on dates with each other as they force the words “I love you” through their teeth to someone who they clearly hate. It’s actually a little reminiscent of the obsession with quarterbacks in the NFL.

It doesn’t seem to resonate with people that the vast majority of first round quarterbacks end up as disappointments, or that even a four-time MVP like Aaron Rodgers has only been to one Super Bowl, or that you could pay a guy like Josh Allen and be happy but who knows if maybe the Bills never win a championship because they can’t afford to build around him.

When it comes to quarterbacks, is our ability to reason with good judgment clouded by our fantasies of “what could be” if this is the magic moment when we fall in love? I know that could be the case with me and Grayson McCall. But do I care?

You call him a quarterback. I call him “my person.”

At this point, the only thing I want coming out of my television is entertainment. It doesn’t have to be smart, sophisticated, or avant-garde. I don’t need TV to make me a better person. I don’t need content to elevate my intelligence or my status. I’m not above shows that other people call “trashy” and I don’t believe in terms like “guilty pleasure.” What am I meant to feel guilty about?

Watching people willfully debase themselves because they believe it will lead to 100,000 followers and more DMs from strangers on Instagram and Twitter?

How is that MY guilt?

What entertains me now: Reality shows, the NFL, the one podcast that I listen to regularly, and whatever the most recent album is at the moment from any hugely successful artist who is also probably debasing themselves for clout but with the excuse of actually getting rich off of it.

That’s what I think of reality dating shows. But what do I think about the Seattle Seahawks?

It’s interesting that I do this job literally every day, sending this newsletter for over 193 weeks in a row now as of today, but the most basic of concepts like “How good is this team?” often slide right past me without even considering the potential answers. Then yesterday, a friend of mine who isn’t a Seahawks fan texted me:

“What do you think of the Seahawks?”

Hmmm, what do I think of the Seahawks?

At the beginning of the season, I did not expect Seattle to win more than six games. Now they’re 6-4 with seven games left on the schedule and four of those are against opponents who are 3-6 or worse. The Seahawks have an opportunity to double my greatest expectations of them! But are the Seahawks good, fine, great, overrated, underrated, or all of the above?

I know one thing for sure: They’re finally ENTERTAINING again!

A better question than what I think of the Seahawks though was my friend’s follow-up text:

“How about Geno? Can he win a playoff game?”

This was easier for me to answer:

“I think he can because of Pete Carroll. The Seahawks are better when they don’t put all of the pressure to win on the quarterback and Geno Smith is capable of running the offense exactly as Pete wants from the position. But the defense isn’t there yet. Next year.”

Seattle is off this week, but if the San Francisco 49ers lose to the Cardinals in Arizona, FiveThirtyEight projects that the Seahawks’ odds of winning the NFC West go from 37-percent (with the Niners at 60%) to 53-percent (and SF’s odds drop to 39%). And no matter what, Seattle should have greater than 70% odds to reach the playoffs this year.

What was that number before the season started? 3-percent?

The Seahawks are already ahead of the rebuilding curve thanks to the advanced play of their younger starters and better-than-average execution by Geno in his return to being a number one quarterback. Whether Seattle ends up as a three seed or a seven seed, I think the Seahawks should be one of those playoff teams that “nobody wants to face” because Pete Carroll has won 10 postseason games in the last 12 years, and not always when Seattle was the better team.

However, when it comes to surviving a gauntlet of teams that will be better than most of the ones that the Seahawks have beaten this season (the Giants are the only team that Seattle has beaten that is currently set to make the playoffs), like the 49ers, Vikings, Eagles, Cowboys, and Buccaneers, I haven’t borne witness to a Pete Carroll offense or defense this year that looks ready to do that.

You could say that the Bengals reached the Super Bowl “ahead of schedule” last season and note that anything can happen once the postseason gets here. I’d agree with that. I think the “best team” is actually just the team that becomes “Too Hot To Handle” in the playoffs and we can’t predict “hot.” We couldn’t even predict the 2022 Seahawks!

But the question wasn’t “What could happen to the Seahawks?” The question was “What do you think of the Seahawks and can Geno win a playoff game?”

I think the Seahawks are a mid-tier team that needs another superstar or two to emerge from this roster or to be added next year and then they could be a top-tier team. Seattle could definitely win a playoff game this year with Geno, but I would be surprised if he and they could beat four playoff teams in a row.

I’m more than open to being surprised again by the Seahawks though. What could be more entertaining than that?

Now I NEED to know something from you, the Seasider, so please tell me: What do YOU think of the Seahawks?