This past offseason was different for the perennial NFC superpower Seahawks.
Two years ago, they were flying high off of the first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history. Last year, they spent the offseason reeling from a devastating last-minute Super Bowl loss deemed by coach Pete Carroll "the worst result of a call ever."
Ever since Seattle's season-ending loss to Carolina, though, the team has been channeling a feeling they haven't experienced since the summer of 2013.
"It feels like the [Super Bowl] 48 year," safety Kam Chancellor said, via ESPN.com. "It feels like everybody bringing that intensity. Feels like everybody is out to prove something, which it may be or may not be. It just feels that way."
The Seahawks stumbled out of the gates in 2014 and 2015, starting those seasons 3-3 and 4-5, respectively. Carroll believes this year's team can capitalize on the momentum from the end of last season, when his team racked up an astonishing 156-55 point differential over the final six games.
"I think there is something going on here that's come over a few years' time," Carroll explained. "I think there is a little bit of a frustration that we are not really in control of the things like we would like, and everybody's worked with a mindset of bringing it for this camp right now, for the guys that are sitting across from them, and I really like it."
Carroll compared this year's hunger to that of the 2013 team motivated to get over the hump following a 30-28 playoff loss in Atlanta.
"There was something," Carroll said, "so maybe that is what (Chancellor) is talking about."
In an enlightening July interview with SI.com's Greg Bishop, Carroll revealed that the "whole offseason was about growth and expansion," as the head coach "felt it necessary to elevate the depth" of the relationship with his players after six years in Seattle.
Carroll, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and quarterback Russell Wilson all told Bishop that they had never been this far ahead in their offseason program or as in-sync entering training camp.
The defense is stout, the offense is ready to take the league by storm and the core group of leaders are as smart, proud and intensely competitive as any we've seen in the past decade.
Chancellor is on to something: this Seahawks squad is giving off a Super Bowl vibe leading up to the 2016 season.
