This is not an obituary for the Seahawks, because it is still too early, and also foolish, to write off this season, as devastating as Monday’s loss to Atlanta was. A team that can hang with the defending NFC champions even while shorthanded and even while making egregious mistakes is still fully capable of a run.
But it is a lament, of sorts. This might be too melodramatic, but it seems as if something tangible, and especially intangible, has changed with the Seahawks, a big-picture transformation of the very essence of the franchise for these past five years.