One year later: Familiar foe, familiar position for Seahawks
It's beginning to feel a lot like last season in the Pacific Northwest, which is why the Seattle Seahawks are not particularly concerned about turning things around following a slow start.
“I’m always confident in our ability,” Seahawks safety Earl Thomas said. “We’re going to get it fixed. We’re going to keep fighting and see what happens. I know who we are. ... Ain’t nothing changed.”
Seattle (2-3) was in a similar position a year ago, suffering back-to-back losses to drop to 3-3 entering a road game at the Carolina Panthers. The Seahawks eked out a 13-9 victory to ignite a 9-1 closing run to the regular season.
Coincidentally, Sunday's opponent happens to be NFC South-leading Carolina, which will bring a perfect 4-0 record into the rematch with the Seahawks.
“Everybody in here has been in this position before in their life, kind of back-against-the-wall, people doubting, and we’ve always came out,” Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “I’m confident in us, I believe in us. I know we’re 2-3, but we’ll be fine.”
Coach Pete Carroll said that while he thought the team was "floundering" last year, this season's edition is much better equipped to get back on track.
"We’re connected differently at this time, but we still have to improve our play," Carroll said. "This is the week to get moving as opposed to the next week -- we run out of time for making a real turnaround here early. I’d like to see us do that.”