Last year was a case of so near – two yards in fact – and yet so far for the Seattle Seahawks. They were moments away from winning a second straight Lombardi Trophy, until the they called a pass play instead of running Marshawn Lynch. Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson’s throw, and that was that.

So, after two straight Super Bowl appearances, the 12’s up in the Pacific Northwest will deem anything less than an appearance in a third as a failure. No pressure Pete!

2014 season

See above!

Despite another successful regular season, and one of the craziest comebacks of all-time against Green Bay in the NFC Championship game, last season will always be remembered for that one play in Seattle.

The Seahawks ended the 2014 regular season with a six-game winning streak that took them to a 12-4 record and got them the vital homefield advantage in the playoffs.

Personnel changes

The biggest offseason move the Seahawks made was a trade for tight end Jimmy Graham. They gave the New Orleans Saints their first-round draft pick, plus center Max Unger, in exchange for Graham and a fourth-rounder.

Another key note is that, at the time of writing, safety Kam Chancellor is holding out for a new deal and will not play in the opening game against St Louis.

Team strengths

The obvious strength of this Seattle team is its defence. Its front seven contains studs like Michael Bennett and Bobby Wagner – and the secondary? Well, it’s the Legion of Boom. Chancellor will come back in at some point and will join Earl Thomas to re-form the best safety duo in the league, and, of course, they still have Richard Sherman on the outside.

Another strength, and this is pretty obvious too, is the running game. Marshawn Lynch is known as Beast Mode for a reason, and the Seattle offense depends hugely on him.

Russell Wilson is developing into a star quarterback too, and with the addition of Graham, the passing game could take a leap forward too.

Team weaknesses

The loss of Max Unger will hurt the Seahawks offensive line, but with Lynch being, well, Lynch, and Wilson’s ability to escape pressure, that might not be as big a deal as it would for other teams.

The addition of Graham gives Wilson a huge target in the passing game, but the Seahawks don’t have an outstanding group of wide receivers, so if they do lose Graham for a period of time, it would be fair to expect said passing game to fall away significantly.

Best case

Best case is that the Seahawks get to the big game again. They are still one of the best teams in the league – if not THE best – and it would be no surprise if they went 12-4 and won the Super Bowl again. To do it in San Francisco would be extra sweet for them too.

Worst case

The NFC has some strong teams in, and the Seahawks own division looks competitive too. If things fall away, 9-7 isn’t out of the question, and that might not necessarily get them into the playoffs.

Prediction

I predict that the 11-5 Seahawks play the 12-4 Packers in the NFC title game at Lambeau Field, and the Packers get revenge and stop the Seahawks from getting to a third straight Super Bowl.